Digging for coal beneath the trout
A Pennsylvania-based coal company has proposed tunneling beneath the Casselman River, a popular trout stream in western Maryland. According to this report on forbes.com by David Dishneau of the Associated Press, the mine owner and state regulators say there's no reason to think it can't be done without harming the stream or its fish.
The head of the Maryland Bureau of Mines told the AP that it could take up to a year to review the mining plan filed by Maryland Energy Resources LLC, a subsidiary of Joseph Peles Coal Co. of Indiana, Pa.
The AP story quoted a Sierra Club representative, Sam White, who was skeptical that the mine would have no impact. But John Carey, the chief state mining regulator, recalled that Mettiki Coal Corp. had been allowed to tunnel beneath the North Branch of the Potomac River several years ago in Garrett County. Carey said there had not been any problems in that case.
The mine would be some 400 feet beneath the Casselman's South Branch, near Grantsville. The company foresees extracting an estimated 360,000 tons of coal annually for 20 years from the seam. It would be the state's largest deep mine, the AP says, though tiny by comparison to large coal operations in neighboring states.
The state is expeded to post a public notice about the mining application on Oct. 7. The state plans a public meeting on the project.
I report on the environment and Chesapeake Bay. A native of West Virginia, I have focused mainly on Maryland's environment since moving here in 1983. Along the way, I've crewed aboard a skipjack in the bay, canoed under city streets up the Jones Fall from the Inner Harbor, and gone deep underground in a western Maryland coal mine. Recently, I have been covering the growth and development transforming the landscape. I love seafood, rambles in the country and good stories. I hope to share some here.
