Victory! Surface Mine Permit Thrown Out in McDowell County

In the summer of 2007, coal company executives in McDowell County applied for a surface mine permit for a face up (entrance to an underground mine) and a small valley fill right behind Jerry Crabtree’s home near War, WV.

Jerry saw the deceitful ways the company tried to get the community to agree to the haul road coming up Pruett Branch Hollow. He saw how his neighbors were threatened with losing their leases if they dared to speak out. It was only Jerry, his brother, and a few others who wrote letters and spoke out in opposition to the permit.

Their request was logical. They suggested the fill and face up be put on the other side of the ridge where no one lived. That way, if the fill were to increase flooding, or if the water said to be in the mountain were to blow out, the homes on Pruett Branch might not be wiped away. If the fill went on the other side of the ridge, then the community might be saved from harm.

Jerry is one of the few people in the hollow who does not live on leased land. It is his family’s land, which he has lived on his whole life. "I’ve done a lot of work here in my life. Saving this land is like saving my life," said Jerry.

Jerry called OVEC and the Mingo County organizer drove down to meet with him and his brother. They first took a look at the Cumulative Hydrologic Impact Assessment (CHIA). This is the part of the permit that talks about the impact on water, and this is where they started to question the accuracy of the permit. Jerry was concerned about the water already in the mountain. He didn’t believe the company’s plan to drain the water, detailed in the permit, was sound.

The next step was to involve more people in the community. The brothers knew that if they were going to appeal the permit to the Surface Mine Board, they’d have to show that people were behind them. Even though most people in the community are elderly and have health problems, Jerry persisted. He kept talking to his neighbors.

The organizer provided Jerry with a list of people to contact who could provide him more advice, including expert witnesses and lawyers who might take the case. Jack Spadaro, a mining reclamation expert, responded to the call. They all met one day in McDowell County to look at the maps and survey the land.

"The map had the water from the mountain discharging in the field that Jerry owns," Jack pointed out. "That’s not legal."

Jerry finally convinced a lawyer to take his case at the last minute. With Jerry’s persistence and Jack’s testimony, they found out just days before they were to appear before the Surface Mine Board that the permit had been thrown out. The company would have to start from scratch with a new permit.

"They were going to destroy my home with this fill behind it. Now I am going to be able live here in peace," said Jerry. "If we hadn’t contacted OVEC, we wouldn’t have won this. You connected us to the right people and made this possible. Getting this thrown out is like hearing someone in your family died and then finding out they didn’t.

"See, nobody fights the company, even when we know they are doing wrong, and that’s why communities just get wiped out. Now that we’re fighting we just might have a chance!"