Tennessee

The federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) has issued 39 cessation orders against three Jim Justice owned companies in Tennessee. The subsidiaries in question - National Coal, Premium Coal and S&H Mining - have also been issued "Notice of Violations” from OSMRE under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) for failing to report water monitoring data and for road maintenance violations and a failure to meet mine reclamation requirements. The total financial cost of the violations is not known at this time. OSMRE recently held public hearings on cessation orders against Premium Coal mining operations in Anderson County, Tenn. The hearings were held to address the company's failure to meet reclamation requirements when they did not plant trees and other vegetation on disturbed areas at two mine sites within the timeframe required by their mining permits. Since the hearings, a letter of decision for both permits has been issued by OSMRE denying Premium Coal's request to drop the cessation orders. "You’d think a coal billionaire could hire firms that can plant a tree the right way around. Sadly, Premium Coal's reasoning for not meeting permit requirements was simply that they ran out of time and hired a bad crew that planted trees upside down with the roots sticking up," said Sierra Club Organizer Bonnie Swinford. “Justice and his firms have a legal responsibility to ensure adequate reclamation of strip-mined land in our state—and upside-down trees don’t cut it. Justice owned companies should hire local tree-planting companies and use the best possible reclamation practices.”