Public Hearing Set for Water Quality Impacts From Tuscarawas County Coal Mining Project

5/12/16
PUBLIC INTEREST CENTER, (614) 644-2160
MEDIA CONTACT: Heather Lauer
CITIZEN CONTACT: Kristopher Weiss

Public Hearing Set for Water Quality Impacts From Tuscarawas County Coal Mining Project

Meeting to be Held Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Ohio EPA will present information and receive testimony at a public hearing for a proposed wastewater discharge associated with the proposed Oxford Mining Company’s Hunt 4 Adjacent Mining Area located in Clay, Salem and Washington townships, Tuscarawas County. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 25, at Gnadenhutten Village Hall, 141 S. Walnut St., Gnadenhutten.

Impacts from the proposed activity could impact 5,387 of intermittent streams, 1,274 linear feet of ephemeral stream and 7.96 acres of category 2 wetland.

The proposed project may result in a change from the current water quality conditions but cannot violate Ohio’s water quality standards that protect human health and the environment. Ohio EPA will consider the technical, economic, social and environmental aspects of the project before deciding to issue or deny a permit.

Ohio EPA values comments from the public and will accept written comments about this permit until June 1, 2016. Comments should be submitted to epa.dswcomments@epa.ohio.gov or EPA-DSW, Attention Permits Processing Unit, P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, Ohio 43216-1049.

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The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1972 to consolidate efforts to protect and improve air quality, water quality and waste management in Ohio. Since then, air pollutants dropped by as much as 90 percent; large rivers meeting standards improved from 21 percent to 89 percent; and hundreds of polluting, open dumps were replaced with engineered landfills and an increased emphasis on waste reduction and recycling.

Public Hearing Set for Water Quality Impacts From Tuscarawas County Coal Mining Project
Source: Ohio Environmental News