The Ohio Department of Natural Resources will be holding a public forum today pertaining to the proposed strip mining of 347 acres in Joy Hollow of Athens County by Oxford Mining.
The meeting will be held at 3 p.m. at the ODNR in Athens on East State St. According to a press release from Save Our Rural Environment, this forum will be the last chance for citizens to voice concerns regarding the proposed mining permit.
In its permit application, Oxford claims to be applying for permits from both the EPA and the Army Corp of Engineers that are necessary to begin mining. In the press release, SORE says that both agencies were contacted and both reported that no applications had been received for the proposed mining site.
“Oxford is a big mining company and they know how to conduct business through permits,” said Sandra Sleight-Brennan, spokesperson for SORE. “Our fear is that they will get a provisional permit from ODNR that will allow them to begin mining before they get the other two required permits from the EPA and The Army Corp of Engineers.”
The meeting was originally going to be hosted by the Division of Mining and Reclamation and was to be held in private. The decision to close the meeting to the public was made by former DMR Chief John Husted. His replacement, Lanny Erdos, spoke out against the privatization in a news release, according to a previous Post article.
“The idea of holding a public hearing in private violates all public trust,” states the release. “To deny the public and press from listening to testimony in a public setting for the public flies in the face of our 1st and 14th amendment rights.”
Under the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act, public hearings and informal conferences must be public.
The director of ODNR has the final say as to whether the permit is granted.
