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December 4, 2009

Smith Lake residents to discuss strip mining at meeting

By Trent Moore The Cullman Times

CULLMAN — Concerned citizens will meet tonight at the Brushy Pond Community Center at 6:30 p.m. to discuss plans to oppose mining near Smith Lake.

The meeting is in response to a permit request by Birmingham-based National Coal of Alabama for proposed discharges resulting from storm water runoff from a surface coal mine, to be located in the Brushy Pond community, to unnamed tributaries to Coon Creek, Ryan Creek and Alder Branch.

The 2008 permit request is under consideration by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

Mining operations at the Cullman site would include strip mining. Strip mining is the practice of mining a stream of mineral by first removing a long strip of overlying soil and rock.

“We are going to come up with topics, procedures and ideas to defeat strip mining in our community,” Smith Lake Environmental Preservation Committee member Eddie Hand said. “We are going to form committees and find out some information from the surface mining commission on who National Coal of Alabama is, because they’ve applied for that permit.”

Hand said he is concerned because the area in question is very close to Smith Lake, and runoff from mining operations could affect the area.

“We feel the health, safety and welfare of the community will be deteriorated, along with our property values,” he said. “We’re just totally opposed to that, because it could deteriorate water quality, as well as our community — with blasting and coal trucks running up and down County Road 222.”

The Brushy Pond Community Center is located at 2729 County Road 143, Bremen 35033-3090. For more information, contact Eddie Hand at 287-1545.



* Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 225.

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