The Ohio Division of Mineral Resources (ODMR) has approved Ohio Valley
Coal Company permit D-0360-12 to undermine all three old growth forest areas of
Dysart Woods.
While The ODMR claims that there will be no subsidence from this mining,
that is an absolute lie based on proven examples of room and pillar subsidence
of the #8 Pittsburgh Coal seam throughout Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Dysart Defenders will appeal the permit, and demands that Ohio
University, which owns Dysart Woods, do the same.
The Ohio University Ecology Committee, which is made up of a majority of
administrators and is the environmental think-tank of OU policy, passed a
resolution requesting that OU appeal the permit.
OU President Robert Glidden needs to send a strong message that OU will
follow its commitment to the Nature Conservancy when it purchased Dysart Woods
in 1966 to protect the most significant of the last .004 percent of the ancient
forest left in Ohio.
The decision, predictably, occurred on a Friday afternoon while school
was out at OU and when the majority of vacationing occurs. All permit decisions for coal mining near Dysart Woods have
occurred on just such occasions.
“The ODMR is trying to slip this through and say that they are
protecting Dysart Woods when what they are approving would undermine the most
significant of the .004 percent of the remaining old-growth forest left in
Ohio,” said Dysart Defenders Coordinator Chad Kister.
“Dysart Defenders demands that Ohio University appeal this permit.
The OU Ecology Committee has already recommended that this permit be
appealed. It is imperative that OU
follow this guiding wisdom before it is too late.”
All interested parties have only 30 days in which to appeal the permit.
Furthermore, a stay of action must be won extremely soon in court or OVCC
can proceed with mining while the permit is under appeal, because of the
pro-industry bias of Ohio law.
“Now is the time for heavy oversight and attention of this critical issue,” Kister said. “It has been a long, long struggle. But these are, unquestionably the final days, and this is the final permit that would destroy this great forest, unless it is stopped.”