On Jan. 30, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency announced it was withdrawing the wastewater discharge permit for a proposed 500-acre surface coal mine slated for Perry State Forest in eastern Ohio. The move raises doubts about whether the company, CCU Coal and Construction, will pursue its plans for the site.
Local grassroots organization Friends of Perry State Forest and the statewide advocacy group Ohio Environmental Coalition had filed an appeal of the permit on Jan. 22, 2019.
“The state heard from more than 1,000 local residents, businesses and recreationists who spoke loud and clear that they didn’t want to see our public forest handed over to a private company to be destroyed,” Lauren Ketcham, a farmer in New Lexington, Ohio, and public relations chair for Friends of Perry State Forest, said in a press statement.
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