The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in West Virginia has denied a petition which asked them to declare Blair Mountain unsuitable for mining. The June 2, 2011 petition was called frivolous by the DEP lawyer under state law.
Blair Mountain was the site of the largest armed confrontation in U.S. history between union miners and mine management. The battle which took place on the border of Boone and Logan counties in early September 1921 was largely responsible for corporate culture development.
Now the mountain is likely to face strip mining operations. The mine is currently owned by Alpha Natural Resources and Arch Coal who are hoping to gain permission for their mining operations from the state government.
However the president of the West Virginia Labor History Association, Gordon Simmons found it strange that the state government agency could dismiss something as frivolous that involves an important historic event in the state's history.
Regina Hendrix of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition is frustrated by the DEP's logic. She asked if the DEP had the Goldilocks syndrome. First the area is too big, then the area is too small. When will it ever be 'just right' for the DEP to actually consider the question of whether there are some lands in West Virginia like Blair Mountain that ought be off limits to coal mining?