An environmental advocacy group contested information that could lead to mining under Dysart Woods yesterday in a six-hour session of a series of appeal hearings before the Ohio Reclamation Commission.
The hearings did not yield any results, but will continue until the Ohio Reclamation Commission -which acts as an appeals court for mining permits -decides it has enough information.
The Buckeye Forest Council, a grassroots forest-protection group, is appealing a permit that would allow the Ohio Valley Coal Company to mine in the area of Dysart Woods, arguing the data used to get the permit was flawed.
There wasn't enough data taken
said Susan Heitker, executive coordinator of the council and a 1998 Ohio University graduate in geology.
She said David Anderson, the hydro-geologist responsible for collecting information to justify the company's permit, used information from nearby mining projects -not in Dysart -to judge the paths and quantity of water that flows through the old growth forest.
Anderson could not be reached for comment.
The Buckeye Forest Council appealed the permit to mine until the proper tests can be done, Heitker said. The company stopped mining 17,000 feet from the ancient forest, which is used as a field laboratory by OU.
Although Barbara Rush, the company's public relations coordinator, said the company had no comment on yesterday's hearings, Robert E. Murray, the company's director, said its underground mining would have no impact on the forest, according to a 2003 press release.
-Marshall Thompson 17
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