Blount County Folks Pack Hall to Fight Coal Mine
July 27th, 2009
by Glynn Wilson
ROSA, Ala. — More than 75 people packed the Rosa Town Hall to overflowing Monday night to learn about a giant coal mine planned for Blount County within 100 feet of the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River that, if approved, would destroy hundreds of acres and dump millions of gallons of toxic sludge over five years into a river that is already stressed nearly to the breaking point.
The public did not even find out about the permit application from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management until it was basically too late to launch a full-scale fight. A tiny legal notice was published in The Blount Countian, a local weekly newspaper with a marginal Web presence that doesn’t tell people much about the world. No one at the paper even thought to do a story to notify the people who live on land adjacent to where the 2,000 acre coal mine is planned.
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| Glynn Wilson |
| Dwight Norris tells his story… |
They may not have found out at all if not for Dwight Norris, who hiked into the woods to investigate when he heard a bulldozer digging some test holes in the area.
After hearing the presentation from Black Warrior Riverkeeper Nelson Brooke and seeing the overwhelming turnout, Norris said he has some hope that the people can launch a movement to stop the mine.
“This gives me some hope,” he said.
The public has only until August 1 to write in public comments for the Alabama Surface Mining Commission permit, although now that people know about it, they may try to bring some political pressure on the Blount County Commission, their state legislative representatives and the Alabama Environmental Management Commission to extend the public comment period. The mining commission is planning a public hearing of sorts for the third week of August
