CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Massey Energy does not yet have several key approvals needed before it can begin blasting apart a mountain where environmental groups had hoped to instead encourage construction of a large wind-power operation, officials confirmed Tuesday.

"If they blast, they do so illegally in our opinion," said Randy Huffman, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Massey had announced late last month plans to begin blasting at its Bee Tree Surface Mine in Raleigh County as early as sunrise today, and Gov. Joe Manchin on Tuesday rejected a request by citizen groups that state officials intervene.

Citizen groups are promoting construction of 220 2-megawatt wind turbines on Coal River Mountain ridges. A wind study, funded by North Carolina-based Appalachian Voices, concluded the spot is a good location for a wind farm. The project, Whitesville-based Coal River Mountain Watch says, would create enough wind power to "keep the lights on" in 150,000 homes "while preserving the mountain for future economic and community benefits."

But Richmond, Va.-based Massey Energy holds two strip mine permits in the area, and is seeking two more, for a total mine area of more than 6,000 acres.

Earlier Tuesday, Manchin communications director Lara Ramsburg said the governor would not get involved because Massey already had the necessary regulatory approvals.

"It would be inappropriate for the governor to interfere in the regulatory process," Ramsburg said in an e-mail statement.

By the end of the day, top DEP officials confirmed that agency officials had not yet approved a necessary revision Massey sought for the Bee Tree permit.

Tom Clarke, acting director of the DEP Division of Mining and Reclamation, also said that his agency had not yet received an application for a required permit to blast within 500 feet of an existing underground mine.

"It is not approved," Clarke said of the blasting announced in the company's public notice, published Aug. 29.

Clarke said DEP officials are also awaiting notification that Massey has received approval from federal mine safety officials for its blasting activities.

Coal River Mountain Watch had gone public Tuesday morning, warning that blasting could start that would effectively end any hope for the wind project.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Massey Energy does not yet have several key approvals needed before it can begin blasting apart a mountain where environmental groups had hoped to instead encourage construction of a large wind-power operation, officials confirmed Tuesday.

"If they blast, they do so illegally in our opinion," said Randy Huffman, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Massey had announced late last month plans to begin blasting at its Bee Tree Surface Mine in Raleigh County as early as sunrise today, and Gov. Joe Manchin on Tuesday rejected a request by citizen groups that state officials intervene.

Citizen groups are promoting construction of 220 2-megawatt wind turbines on Coal River Mountain ridges. A wind study, funded by North Carolina-based Appalachian Voices, concluded the spot is a good location for a wind farm. The project, Whitesville-based Coal River Mountain Watch says, would create enough wind power to "keep the lights on" in 150,000 homes "while preserving the mountain for future economic and community benefits."

But Richmond, Va.-based Massey Energy holds two strip mine permits in the area, and is seeking two more, for a total mine area of more than 6,000 acres.

Earlier Tuesday, Manchin communications director Lara Ramsburg said the governor would not get involved because Massey already had the necessary regulatory approvals.

"It would be inappropriate for the governor to interfere in the regulatory process," Ramsburg said in an e-mail statement.

By the end of the day, top DEP officials confirmed that agency officials had not yet approved a necessary revision Massey sought for the Bee Tree permit.

Tom Clarke, acting director of the DEP Division of Mining and Reclamation, also said that his agency had not yet received an application for a required permit to blast within 500 feet of an existing underground mine.

"It is not approved," Clarke said of the blasting announced in the company's public notice, published Aug. 29.

Clarke said DEP officials are also awaiting notification that Massey has received approval from federal mine safety officials for its blasting activities.

Coal River Mountain Watch had gone public Tuesday morning, warning that blasting could start that would effectively end any hope for the wind project.

"Once the demolition begins, it will be very difficult to stop it, and once the mountain is removed, it won't grow back," said Lorelei Scarbro, community organizer with the group and a resident of nearby Rock Creek. "The potential for wind energy and good jobs will be gone forever, along with our renewable water and forest resources."

Jeff Gillenwater, a Massey spokesman, said that his company "supports many forms of energy, including wind energy."

"We encourage the Coal River Mountain Watch to do what any responsible energy producer would do: Identify and acquire a site for their project and obtain the permits and infrastructure necessary to make that project happen," Gillenwater said in an e-mail to various news outlets. "However, the Coal River Mountain Watch's focus on this particular site, to the exclusion of any other, is perplexing to us. Wind energy can be produced on other sites or possibly even this site after mining."

Rory McIlmoil of Coal River Mountain Watch said that mining the area would lower the ridges and reduce the wind-power potential available.

Wind project proponents met last month with Manchin, presented what "appears to be a well-intentioned effort to promote renewable energy and expand West Virginia's energy portfolio," Ramsburg said.

So far, Manchin's energy policy has focused almost exclusively on promoting more coal production and new coal-fired power plants. Early last month, Manchin told the Southern States Energy Board that he planned to begin promoting renewable energy projects ranging from hydroelectric dams to solar power. "I'm going to push that envelope," the governor said, according to an Associated Press account.

Public concern over the Coal River wind project erupted on the same day that a coalition of labor and environmental groups released a report that showed the United States could create 2 million jobs over two years with a "rapid green economic recovery program" aimed at combating climate change.

The recovery program aims to boost private and public investment in six energy-efficiency and renewable energy strategies: retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency, expanding mass transit, constructing "smart" electrical grid systems, and increasing the production of wind power, solar power, and next-generation biofuels.

A majority of the 2 million new jobs would be in the same areas of employment that people already work in today. For example, constructing wind farms creates jobs for sheet metal workers, machinists and truck drivers, according to the report prepared by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst for the liberal Center for American Progress.

The report projected net creation of 12,000 jobs in West Virginia, and a reduction in the state's unemployment rate from 5.5 percent to 4 percent over two years.

The proposal, which includes $100 billion in "green investments," does not outlaw coal. Instead, it would require coal plants to capture and sequester their greenhouse gas emissions, and would require 25 percent of U.S. energy to come from renewable sources by 2025.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or 348-1702.