Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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February 5, 2010

Supervisors oppose surface mining refuse control bill

By BILL ARCHER

BLUEFIELD, Va. — The Tazewell County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution Tuesday night, opposing a bill introduced this term in the Virginia General Assembly that would prohibit surface mining in the Commonwealth of Virginia unless coal mine operators can demonstrate that the overburden removed in the mining process won’t be disposed in and intermittent, perennial or ephemeral stream.

“Senator (Phillip P.) Puckett, (D-Russell) has had many calls and e-mails on this bill,” David Larimer, Puckett’s aide said. “The Virginia Coal Association is opposed to the bill and said it would be devastating to coal mining in southwestern Virginia.”

The bill — SB 564 — has been referred to the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee — a committee that Puckett serves on. “The senator is looking forward to voting against the bill,” Larimer said.

State Senator Patricia S. Ticer, D-Fairfax, chairs the Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee, but thus far, the committee hasn’t taken up the bill. The committee meets each Monday with only two more meetings until cross-over when the senate considers legislation that originated in the house and vice versa.

In urging the Southwest Delegation to oppose the bill, the Tazewell board of supervisors stated in the resolution that SB 564 “would jeopardize the well-being of communities that are already battered by a recession.” The supervisors pointed out in the resolution that Virginia coal supports more than 30,000 jobs and that Virginia coal generates almost half of the electricity Virginians use in their daily lives.

– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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