Corps Acts Quickly To Issue Permit For W.Va. Mine

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) – The Army Corps of Engineers wasted no time issuing a controversial permit for a mountaintop removal coal mine in West Virginia.

Patriot Coal says the corps issued the permit for its Hobet 45 mine Wednesday morning, less than a day after the Environmental Protection Agency agreed to allow the project.

Patriot says the action will keep about 460 people working at its Corridor G complex in Lincoln and Boone counties.

The EPA assented after Patriot agreed to cut the number of stream miles to be buried under excess material removed during mining and direct mine drainage away from surface water, among other things.

The Sierra Club and other environmental groups criticized the EPA decision.

St. Louis-based Patriot operates mines in West Virginia and Kentucky.