By Vicki Smith

The Associated Press

MORGANTOWN - State regulators have approved a permit change that will allow Massey Energy to start a mountaintop removal mine on a Southern West Virginia site that environmentalists are trying to preserve for a wind farm.

Federal permits for the 6,000-acre Coal River Mountain project are pending, but last week's action by the state Department of Environmental protection allows Richmond, Va.-based Massey to start mining on a 150-acre tract. It also removes another hurdle to the larger project.

The DEP's decision lets Massey use an existing valley fill, the Brushy Fork impoundment, to dispose of excess rock and dirt from the new mine site. That also avoids a pending ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that could reshape how valley fill permits are handled.

Activists asked for a hearing after Massey submitted revisions to the permit over the summer, but DEP denied that request.

"DEP chose to shirk its duties in favor of an operation they have no hope of properly regulating," Vernon Haltom, co-director of Coal River Mountain Watch, charged Tuesday.

Gov. Joe Manchin has declined to intervene in the dispute, announcing in September that it would be inappropriate for him to interfere with the regulatory process.

Spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg said Tuesday that the governor's position has not changed, despite a flood of 4,000 e-mails, nearly 500 phone calls and a petition with nearly 10,000 signatures.

In mountaintop removal, the practice Coal River Mountain Watch opposes, the forests are clear-cut.

The Associated Press

MORGANTOWN - State regulators have approved a permit change that will allow Massey Energy to start a mountaintop removal mine on a Southern West Virginia site that environmentalists are trying to preserve for a wind farm.

Federal permits for the 6,000-acre Coal River Mountain project are pending, but last week's action by the state Department of Environmental protection allows Richmond, Va.-based Massey to start mining on a 150-acre tract. It also removes another hurdle to the larger project.

The DEP's decision lets Massey use an existing valley fill, the Brushy Fork impoundment, to dispose of excess rock and dirt from the new mine site. That also avoids a pending ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that could reshape how valley fill permits are handled.

Activists asked for a hearing after Massey submitted revisions to the permit over the summer, but DEP denied that request.

"DEP chose to shirk its duties in favor of an operation they have no hope of properly regulating," Vernon Haltom, co-director of Coal River Mountain Watch, charged Tuesday.

Gov. Joe Manchin has declined to intervene in the dispute, announcing in September that it would be inappropriate for him to interfere with the regulatory process.

Spokeswoman Lara Ramsburg said Tuesday that the governor's position has not changed, despite a flood of 4,000 e-mails, nearly 500 phone calls and a petition with nearly 10,000 signatures.

In mountaintop removal, the practice Coal River Mountain Watch opposes, the forests are clear-cut.

Holes are then drilled to blast apart the rock, and massive machines, some with buckets big enough to hold 24 compact cars, scoop coal from the exposed seams.

The rock and dirt left behind, called "spoil," is then dumped into adjacent valleys, changing the natural shape of the earth, lowering the height of the mountain and covering streams.

Coal River Mountain Watch wants a more sustainable use for the land, arguing the mountain's height and wind speeds make it ideal for an industrial farm of 200 turbines that could generate enough electricity for 150,000 homes.

The proposal, however, is based on a study that says the mountain is suitable for wind farm development.

Massey Chief Executive Don Blankenship has said the company would invest in wind farms, but it's not certain how financially viable such operations can be in West Virginia.

"It is time for Governor Manchin to do the right thing for our communities," said Lorelei Scarbro, an activist from Rock Creek. "He has seen research showing that wind is the better economic option for Coal River Mountain, but that depends on the mountain being left intact.

"After presenting not only the moral, but also the economic arguments in favor of wind power," she said, "citizens are wondering what it will take for the governor to stand behind them."

Though the revised permit affects only a sliver of Coal River Mountain, Haltom said he believes it will be more difficult to stop Massey once mining is under way. Still, he said, mining the 150-acre portion does not destroy all the mountain's wind potential.

Massey spokesman Jeff Gillenwater declined comment Tuesday, saying he had not yet reviewed the permit revision.