This article originally published by The Charleston Gazette

May 17, 2007

Labor re-enters mining battle

Miners to rally over mountaintop rulings made in U.S. court

By Ken Ward Jr.
Staff writer

Ricky Workman lost his job at Dal-Tex in 1999, when a federal court case over mountaintop removal shut down the sprawling Logan County mine.

Workman moved to North Carolina for a couple of years, until he got back on at another Logan County coal operation, Apogee Coals Guyan Mine.

Now, Workman faces another layoff. Environmental groups want to block a permit for Apogee to shift production from Guyan to an adjacent property called the North Rum Surface Mine. A hearing is scheduled for May 31.

I dont see how people like the anti-mining groups can put a tree or a lizard above a man supporting his family, Workman said in a sworn statement filed in federal court. Ive had to leave here once and I dont want to leave here again.

Tonight, Workman is among the expected speakers at a Save Coal Jobs, rally at Logan Middle School.

I am proud to be a coal miner, Workman said. We leave the land in better shape than what it is currently.

With tonights rally, another major coal industry player the United Mine Workers also re-enters the ongoing battle over mountaintop removal.

In 1999, UMW officials organized protests on the federal courthouse steps and a march through downtown Charleston to protest a ruling by then-U.S. District Judge Charles H. Haden II to more tightly regulate mountaintop removal.

UMW involvement helped fuel unsuccessful efforts by Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., to overturn Hadens decision.

But this March, there were no large rallies or public outcries when U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers blocked four mountaintop removal permits sought by non-union Massey Energy.

U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin, though, is being asked to revoke a permit where the miners are members of the United Mine Workers union. Apogee, formerly part of Arch Coal Inc., is now a unit of Magnum Coal.

Last month, UMW members and leaders filled the courtroom when Goodwin held an initial hearing. On Wednesday, Apogee bought a full-page ad in Charleston newspapers. A worker petition asked West Virginias congressional delegation and Gov. Joe Manchin to do whatever they can to help keep this mine open and to help save their community.

Tonight, UMW President Cecil Roberts is one of the headline speakers at the Logan rally. And this week, state AFL-CIO President Kenny Purdue joined Chamber of Commerce President Steve Roberts in a newspaper opinion piece that blasted environmental group lawsuits over mountaintop removal.

West Virginias coal industry and its miners are facing a growing barrage of lawsuits and legal maneuvers from activist environmental groups and advocates who seem to have a singular mission of destroying coal mining in our state, the opinion piece said. What the coal industry and our state does not need are more attacks and legal actions by groups bent on its destruction.

The opinion piece singled out the Apogee permit fight, but did not get into the legal arguments over its approval by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Logan County Commissioner Art Kirkendoll is among the sponsors of tonights 6:30 p.m. rally. Kirkendoll said he has not read Chambers ruling on the Massey permits, but did read part of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition challenge to the Apogee permit.

Kirkendoll said he did not necessarily disagree with what he read, but that he still opposes a court order blocking the permit.

If the judge finds something wrong with the permit, then fix it on the next permit, and let these people work, Kirkendoll said Wednesday.

Environmental group lawyers argue that the corps should not have approved the Apogee permit through a controversial streamlined review process meant for activities that cause minimal damage to streams. They want Goodwin to issue a preliminary injunction to block further mining until the judge can hear the full case.

The case is part of a broader and more complicated legal battle over the way the corps approves the burial of streams by coal operators.

Three weeks ago, Goodwin refused to issue a temporary restraining order after a company engineer testified that the streams involved were already buried by a 3- to 6-foot deep rock drainage system.

Last week, environmental group lawyer Joe Lovett said in a legal brief that Apogee could remove the rocks. Even if that doesnt happen, Lovett said, a preliminary injunction would prevent the company from dumping more rock and dirt, adding to the stream damage.

Robert McLusky, a lawyer for Apogee, responded that the damage has already been done. But in court papers, McLusky outlined the companys real concern: A preliminary injunction could lead to a permanent revocation of the corps permit.

Apogee predicts that a preliminary injunction could cost about 25 workers their jobs immediately. Within four to six months, another 50 workers would be laid off, the company said. Without the permit, all 260 employees would lose their jobs in about a year, McLusky said in court papers.

Like Ricky Workman, Apogee miner Ancil Bell Jr. lost his job before, when a federal court challenge shut down the Dal-Tex Mine.

I have lived in Southern West Virginia all my life, Bell said in a sworn statement. This is the only home that Ive ever known. I would like to be able to raise my child here.

To contact staff writer Ken Ward Jr., use e-mail or call 348-1702.