Proposed strip mine would damage local enviroment
The renewed proposal of opening a mine has sparked a potentially explosive debate.
Oxford Mining Company, of Coshocton, is awaiting completion of its new permit to open the Joy Hollow mine site near Sharpsburg on the edge of Athens County.
At a meeting before the Athens County commissioners, members of Save Our Rural Environment argued against the reopening, and for good reason.
Reopening the strip mine would open the area to myriad environmental risks. Joy Hollow is no stranger to the effects of such coal removal methods. Decades of the mine’s being closed have allowed nature to heal the area.
But reopening the mine would undo that rejuvenation. Blasting in the mine site could sully clean water that has filled the previous strip pits. Game fish now residing in the strip pits would be threatened by potential acid runoff. A return to mining would destroy an area that has only recently recovered from the previous devastation.
Proponents of renewed mining cite the potential economic benefits to the area. Save Our Rural Economy touted job growth as an argument for the site. But reopening the mine would bring only about 40 jobs. Many would be given to local residents, but the company would pay taxes to the state, thereby not benefiting Athens County.
Besides, the site would be excavated for only about three years. The end of excavation would mean the termination of those local employees. Any benefit would be short-lived. Preventing the reopening would deter the company from bleeding the mine dry and then skipping town.
Jeff Roberts, president of TCCI Laboratories, a New Lexington water-testing laboratory, said, “If we want to make jobs, we have to invite industry in, not chase industry out. I personally don’t want to live in a Third World.”
Neither do we. Nor do we want to encourage false hope that a temporary patch will fix a much larger hole.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
