TN Bill That Would Have Placed Some Limits On Mountaintop Mining In Areas Above 2,000' Dies
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Senate Bill 99 would have denied water permits for new mining projects that disturb ridgelines higher than 2,000 feet. Existing mines would have been able to continue under their current permits, as well as mines that use underground mining techniques, supporters said.
There was little chance the bill would clear the state legislature, which has rejected such measures repeatedly in the past. But witnesses for both sides were on hand to debate the bill, if necessary.
About 30 people wearing hard hats, work jackets and black shirts with pro-coal slogans filled three rows at the front of the hearing room. Committee members — six Republicans and one Democrat — welcomed them warmly at the start of the meeting.
“This bill was an attempt to do away with coal mining in Tennessee,” said Chuck Laine, president of the Tennessee Mining Association. “It didn’t do anything to timber, windmills, cellphone towers. Nothing else was included but coal, because this was an attempt to do away with coal.”
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http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013303210057&nclick_check=1
