Highwall in the Cold Branch watershed is typical of the remnants of strip mining at the Rosa mine in years past. The highwall encircles the northern and western slopes of Berry Mountain, along with Cornelius Mountain, Nevis Mountain, and other knobs north of 231 in the Rosa and Cleveland area. Sediment basins like the one shown occur along the base of the highwall throughout the area. More meetings are being planned for citizens to offer their comments and concerns on mining operations proposed by the MCoal Company of Vancouver, British Columbia, in the area occupied by the former Rosa mine.

Second Rosa Town Hall meeting

One is described as the second meeting to educate the public about coal mining issues. It is sponsored by a local group of citizens living in the affected area and opposed to the mining operation. It will be held Tuesday, Aug. 11 at 7 p.m. at Rosa Town Hall.

Guest speaker at the meeting will be John Wathan, affiliated with Friends of Hurricane Creek in Cullman County. Wathan was instrumental in stopping a coal mining project in Tuscaloosa County, according to a meeting notice provided by the local group.

Concerns experessed in the first citizen meeting held at Rosa on July 27 focused on effects of runoff and silting on local creeks and the Locust Fork River, contamination of drinking water, and pollution of streams and rivers by acid drainage and heavy metals. Another concern was effects of a coal-washing operation and the possible contamination of Dry Creek and Andy Branch and resulting effects on livestock drinking from those creeks.

Alabama Surface Mining Commission hearing postponed

A public hearing originally set by the Alabama Surface Mining Commission for Aug. 19 in Oneonta has been postponed until further notice. Randy Johnson, mining commission director, said the meeting will be rescheduled as soon as details concerning legal descriptions contained in the permit application are ironed out with MCoal. Pressed to comment on the length of the delay, Johnson said it could be rescheduled within a matter of a couple of weeks, but that it depends on how long it takes for the company to respond to the application problems.

Work session set ground rules

In an appearance July 9 before the last county commission work session, Sanford Hendon, representing the MCoal company, asked the commission for its requirements for the company to use county roads to remove coal from the mined areas. Hendon is employed by McGehee Engineering of Jasper, and serves as MCoal’s engineering consultant and defacto spokesperson.

County engineer Richard Spraggins replied, detailing county requirements in three areas:

•A culvert permit is and properly-sized culvert is required for each point of entry onto a county road by MCoal vehicles.

•A bond will be required to cover anticipated damage to all county roads used by logging trucks.

•Some construction will be required to reinforce a bridge over Andy Branch that coal company trucks would have to use in hauling coal from their designated mine entrance off Mountain Gap Road.

Probate Judge David Standridge told one couple who expressed concerns at the work session about larger environmental and safety concerns involved in mining that the county had no authority to regulate any aspect of mining operations other than its effects on county infrastructure.

Cornelius Mountain/U.S. 231 affected first

During the work session, discussion centered on that mine entrance as the area to be affected by mining and trucking operations. In a followup conversation after the work session, Hendon notified Spraggins and District 4 Commissioner Waymon Pitts that the company would begin its mining operations in the Cornelius Mountain area, and that trucks would exit the mined area directly onto U.S. 231, thereby not accessing county roads in its initial phase. Hendon said operations would not move to the Mountain Gap Road mine entrance area for another 18 to 24 months. Pitts said no bond amount for county roads would be set until that time.

In early information on economic impact, the company said the project is expected to provide about 25 local jobs for a period of three to five years.