Two Environmental Groups Ask Ohio EPA to Reject Coal Mine Permit
By Conor Morris
June 5, 2017 - In a joint comment filed last Thursday, the Sierra Club and the Ohio Environmental Council asked the Ohio EPA to deny a permit to Oxford Mining Company that would allow it to impact streams and wetlands at a proposed coal-mine site in northern Athens County.
The two environmental groups charge that Oxford’s water-quality certification application to the Ohio EPA “grossly” understates impacts the proposed coal mine could have on the Sunday Creek Watershed in Athens County. The two groups are joined by other Athens area environmentalists, and some residents near the proposed mine, who are concerned about the project’s impacts to the natural environment in an area that already has seen extensive remediation work for damage due to acid mine drainage.
The total proposed permit area for the project is about 300 acres, located off Johnson Run Road near Glouster (bordering Perry County), not far from the Trimble State Wildlife Area. The proposal calls for a five-year mining plan.
According to documentation of Oxford Mining’s compensatory mitigation plan, the Coshocton-based coal company is estimating 57.2 acres of proposed “surface impacts” through surface mining; the rest of the site (the total area proposed for mining is 299.3 acres) would be highwall or augur mined (mining techniques that burrow into the vertical walls of a previously excavated open-pit or strip mine). The waterways in the area would be affected by “mine through” and “fill” activities, and the total proposed impact is about 2.53 acres of wetlands and about 0.29 acres of waterway. However, also according to public records, Oxford will be required to replace those streams at a one-to-one ratio at their “approximate location” during the remediation process, and to replace the wetland at a 1.5:1 ratio.
In their official comment requesting the Ohio EPA deny the water-quality certification permit, representatives of the OEC and Ohio chapter of the Sierra Club allege that Oxford’s application fails to use – or even acknowledge – existing data compiled by the Ohio EPA and other agencies regarding the “biological and chemical health” of Johnson Creek.
The western branch of the Sunday Creek Watershed already received about $2.6 million worth of restoration projects from 2005 to 2010, which significantly cleaned up about 15 miles of streams from acid mine drainage left over by old coal mines in Athens County.
Oxford representatives involved with the permitting process had not as of Sunday afternoon responded to multiple emailed requests for comment from The Athens NEWS.
According to Oxford’s water-quality certification request, the project would produce 1.16 million tons of coal, valued between $46 million to $52 million; $1.3 million in tax revenue; and would “support” and help the company retain 100 jobs in Ohio (it does not explain whether new jobs would be created in the local area).
The Sierra Club/OEC comments point out that at least three endangered aquatic animals have been found to reside in Johnson Run Creek and the Sunday Creek Watershed. Donald Wiggins Jr., Lake Erie engagement coordinator with the Ohio Environmental Council, said Friday that those species are all freshwater mussels – with the common names Sheepnose, Pink Mucket and Snuffbox.
Oxford’s water-quality certification request says that the project has been evaluated for potential effects to threatened and endangered species.
“Based on a review of all available information, it was determined that the proposed project would not affect any threatened or endangered species,” the permit application reads.
The Sierra Club/OEC comment alleges that Oxford has a history of “mismanaging” waterway and habitat restoration projects after coal-mine projects are complete.
“According to a series of inspections conducted in 2015, among 18 mining sites in southeast Ohio for which Oxford was issued 401 Water Quality Certifications, 12 of them were found to not meet the performance goals required by those certifications (or, if applicable, the approved mitigation plans associated with the mitigated resources) within a five-year monitoring period,” the comment reads. “Moreover, public records indicate that Oxford owes the State of Ohio over $24 million for its ongoing mitigation failures at 16 separate mining sites.”
According to public records provided by Wiggins, an assessment by the Ohio EPA in 2012 and 2013 found that much of the “restoration” of streams Oxford completed after mining projects (which mining companies are required to do by the Ohio EPA) did not meet requirements for that restoration.
A 2014 “inter-office memo” sent by Rachel Taulbee, supervisor of the Division of Surface Water Rules at the Ohio EPA, says that the agency found in total a potential loss of 8.25 miles of stream due to the botched efforts on Oxford’s part to restore streams after coal-mine projects in Ohio.
“In summary, a large percentage of the attempted reconstructed channels consist of channels that do not hold or convey water,” the memorandum reads. “Furthermore, it is debatable if several of these channels meet the definition of streams at all.”
Oxford had attempted to reconstruct a total of 51,297 linear feet of stream in Ohio at the time of the EPA assessment, the memorandum reads, out of about 57,000 linear feet the company claimed to have impacted. Of that 51,297 linear feet of stream reconstruction attempts, only about 14,000 linear feet of stream met the EPA’s “original flow/regime” requirements.
“The majority of the stream channels contained signs of AMD (acid mine drainage), lacked adequate substrate, and were largely unsuccessful at meeting riparian buffer requirements,” the memorandum reads.
According to Oxford’s mitigation plans, the company is planning to monitor the restored wetland and streams it will rebuild after the project is finished on an annual basis for five years. The ODNR’s Division of Mineral Resource Management also indicates that it conducts quarterly inspections of inactive mine sites and reclaimed areas, for erosion and sedimentation as well as for stream quality.
Oxford also has proposed a “re-vegetation” plan to replant trees and plants removed from the area, and will remove certain invasive species when discovered.
The deadline for comments on the water-quality certification request was Thursday last week. The Ohio EPA must review all information and comments on the project before considering whether Oxford can move forward with the coal-mine project (the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers also must still approve a permit for the company to impact waterways in the area).