The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Today's Front Page

October 11, 2012

Lawmakers to get up-close look at mine reclamation

By Mannix Porterfield Register-Herald Reporter

Decades ago, surface mining was a hit-and-run affair in the hills of West Virginia.

Once the coal was removed, operators simply pulled up stakes and left the land behind, generally unfit for any future use

All that has changed since new federal regulations came on line, and next week, some West Virginia lawmakers plan to get a close up look at how land can be converted into a variety of uses.

Members of the finance committees in both the Senate and House of Delegates will leave a staging area along Corridor G for a two-day tour of Mingo County.

Over the two-day period, House Finance Chairman Harry Keith White, D-Mingo, will serve as host for visits to a golf course, a coal-to-liquefaction project, 13 miles of proposed four-lane highway, a new school, hardwoods factory and a new airport — all built on former mining property.

“This is a small sample of some of the things that have happened from post-mine land use in southern West Virginia,” White said Wednesday.

“We just want to make the Legislature aware of what’s going on and what can happen and with the future development of these properties, whether it be industrial or whatever.”

Strip mining has come under intense fire in recent years, and White says he wants to show a positive side of the practice in the Monday-Tuesday visit.

“There are things that can happen after the mining is over to try to produce and be able to have additional economic development in southern West Virginia,” the finance chairman said.

White said opposition to mining, or any other endeavor, is hardly new under the Capitol dome.

“I’m going to guess there is probably a little bit of anti-almost anything, anywhere you go,” he said.

“At the same time, what our goal is, is to just try to showcase what can happen with the proper post-mine land use put in place, when you file all the permits.”

Before the government cracked down, mining at times was shoddy.

“Obviously, in the old days, when the coal was gone, the property just lay there,” White said.

“In the past, it wasn’t always done with economic development in mind.”

Over the past two decades, however, he said the idea has been to leave abandoned mine lands in a manner that is suitable for a single-family dwelling or an industrial site to generate job growth.

Under federal guidelines, operators are obligated to restore old lands so that it is as good or better before extraction began.

“What we’ve done is take it a step further, and we try to leave some kind of development on that site after they’re gone,” he said.

This Friday, a dedication is planned at a new airport with a 5,000-foot runway that could be expanded to as much as 7,000 feet.

“Our goal is to move most of that commercial air traffic through there and get UPS or Fed-Ex to use that as a major distribution point,” White said.

“We’ve got the National Guard doing touch-and-gos down there now.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com

Text Only
Today's Front Page
  • 061913 1A News Flooding 1.jpg Heavy rain brings flooding

    Every time a heavy rain comes to the area, Jerry Fox and Dollie Stilton’s home on Ewart Avenue floods.

    June 19, 2013 3 Photos

  • Councilmen recommend no further action against Mayor Pugh

    After seeking outside legal guidance to determine whether or not Council could remove Beckley Mayor Emmett Pugh from office, Councilmen-at-Large Tim Berry and Cedric Robertson have recommended that no further action should be taken against the mayor.

    June 19, 2013

  • 061913 Miley swearing in.jpg Tim Miley sworn in as speaker of the W.Va. House of Delegates

    Tim Miley says he never dreamed that the day would dawn when  the speaker’s gavel would rest firmly in his hands in the House of  Delegates.

    June 19, 2013 1 Photo

  • We appreciate your patience

    Beckley Newspapers is continuing its transition into another location during the temporary closure of our plant at 801 North Kanawha Street.

    June 19, 2013

  • Beckley Council will take no further action against Pugh

    After seeking outside legal guidance to determine whether Beckley Common Council could remove Mayor Emmett Pugh from office, Councilmen-at-Large Tim Berry and Cedric Robertson have recommended that no further action should be taken against the mayor.

    Although they have elected not to take action to remove the mayor from office, the two said according to their attorney, they had a right to do so.

    June 18, 2013

  • Miley officially takes gavel as Speaker of the House

    Judiciary chairman Tim Miley was elected speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates Tuesday in a strictly party line vote over Tim Armstead. Miley collected 53 votes and Armstead, D-Kanawha, 44. Three delegates were absent.

    June 18, 2013

  • Heavy rains cause flooding issues around Raleigh County

    Every time a heavy rain comes to the area, Jerry Fox and Dollie Stilton’s home on Ewart Avenue floods, the couple said Tuesday.
    Heavy rains in the area Monday night and steady showers throughout the region Tuesday morning caused a nearby creek to rise and water from run-off to flow into their backyard.

    June 18, 2013

  • parkway First 1.36 miles of New River Parkway completed

    U.S. Rep. Nick Joe Rahall, D-W.Va., was in Summers County Monday morning to celebrate the ribbon-cutting of the New River Parkway.

    June 18, 2013 2 Photos

  • Trap Hill teacher fired by BOE for alleged sexual text messages

    The Raleigh County Board of Education voted unanimously Monday morning to fire a Trap Hill Middle School teacher accused of sending inappropriate texts to her student.

    June 18, 2013

  • Mingo sheriff murder suspect denied bail

    A West Virginia man accused of gunning down Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum was denied bail Monday prior to his first-degree murder trial, even as defense lawyers questioned whether evidence showed the killing was planned.

    June 18, 2013