Project Gallery
Looney Creek Surface Mine
Client: A & G Coal Corporation—Wise County, Virginia
A & G Coal Corporation has mined the Low Splint, High Splint, 13, and 13 Rider coal seams on Black Mountain in Wise County Virginia for several years. In 2009, A & G obtained a lease for these same seams on the Kentucky side of Black Mountain on Looney Creek in Harlan County, Kentucky.
Obtaining the necessary permits for the new lease area presented quite a challenge due to many environmental and cultural concerns. The proposed mining area was adjacent to environmentally sensitive areas on Black Mountain and was also located within the watershed of Looney Creek which is a protected cold water habitat stream. The mine site was also located adjacent to the City of Lynch, Kentucky which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Also, the intake for City of Lynch municipal water system was located on Looney Creek downstream of the proposed mine site.
Working with A & G Coal, Summit Engineering was able to successfully develop a mine plan that adequately addressed all of these concerns. The mine plan included an innovative sediment control plan and a provision that would allow all of the excess spoil from the Kentucky operations to be hauled to existing spoil disposal areas located on the adjoining Virginia permit thus eliminating the necessity for a new USACE 404 permit.
This project included coordination of permits with both the Kentucky Division of Mine Permits and the Virginia Division of Mined Land Reclamation to insure there were no conflicts between the agencies. The Virginia permit was approved in late 2010 and the Kentucky permit was technically approved in January 2011. Issuance of these permits will provide an additional 7,000,000 tons of mineable reserve and allow A & G Coal Corporation to extend the life of this mine 5 to 7 years.
