News
Ohio EPA To Hold Public Meeting On Mining Project in Trimble
By: Susan Tebben
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The public will be allowed to comment on certification for a mining project in Trimble Township later this month, according to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
A public information session will be held at 6 p.m. on May 25 “to discuss a water quality certification application for a mining project in Trimble Township near the intersection of Johnson Run and Oakdale roads,” according to a news release from the Ohio EPA. The mining project in question is one for Oxford Mining Company.
In the application for the water quality certification, signed by Steve Cassidy, environmental coordinator for the mining company, Oxford states it plans to recover a coal seam “by surface mining operations.”
The project is proposed to cover 299.3 acres and is estimated to recover 1,160,000 tons of coal, a project overview included with the certification application states.
“Construction…would result in the discharge of approximately 4,715.83 cubic yards of fill material into jurisdictional waters.”
The company wrote that the project would cause “primary impacts” to more than 1,200 feet of streams and 2.51 acres of wetlands.
“Surface water impacts proposed in this application were determined to be unavoidable to economically extract and maximally utilize coal resources on the site,” the application stated.
The Athens County Regional Planning Commission gave the company a “special flood hazard area development permit” for the Johnson Run Road property in July 2016, approving the company’s permit for surface mining, according to EPA documents.
Construction is projected to begin this month and last until May 2022.
They asked the EPA to review impact to wetland, streams and lakes.
“Discharges from this project have a potential to affect the quality of streams and wetlands in the Sunday Creek Watershed,” the release stated. “Although the project may result in a change from current water quality conditions, the changes cannot violate Ohio’s water quality standards that protect human health and the environment.”
The meeting and a public hearing following the meeting will be at Trimble High School in Glouster.
Comments can also be submitted in writing, and sent to Ohio EPA-DSW, Permits Processing Unit, P.O. Box 1049, Columbus Ohio, 43216-1049. They can also be emailed to dswcomments@epa.ohio.gov.
The public comment period ends June 1.