Environmental groups put Clearco on notice of intent to sue over illegal coal haul road through the Monongahela National Forest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2026

CONTACT:
Dan Radmacher, Media Specialist, (276) 289-1018, dan@appvoices.org
Jordan Howes, Communications Coordinator, (304) 282-8448, jordan.howes@wvhighlands.org

RICHWOOD, W.Va. — Today, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Appalachian Voices and the Sierra Club sent a 60-day notice of intent to sue Clearco Processing Corporation for conducting unauthorized surface mining-related activities in the Monongahela National Forest in violation of federal and state laws. The groups are represented by attorneys with Appalachian Mountain Advocates.

The notice targets Clearco’s use of 1.2 miles of U.S. Forest Service Road 249 connecting the Rocky Run Surface Mine to the Clearco coal processing facility. The road crosses part of the Cherry River watershed, which contains federally protected habitat for the endangered candy darter. 

Surface mining activities, including the hauling of coal, are prohibited on national forest land unless the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement determines that a company had “valid existing rights” to conduct the operation prior to the passage of the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, or prior to the impacted land becoming part of the national forest. Clearco has not obtained such a determination, nor does it have authorization from the U.S. Forest Service to use Forest Road 249 for coal hauling or other mining-related activity. 

If Clearco does not come into compliance within 60 days, the groups intend to file a citizen suit in federal court to stop the transfer of permits and the illegal activity in the national forest. 

The notice follows a June 1 complaint and public comment submitted by Appalachian Voices, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance objecting to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s decision to grant “advanced approval” to Clearco Processing Corporation and Aurevo Resources Inc. to take over South Fork Coal Company’s permits for a 3,600-acre complex of surface mines, a deep mine, a coal processing plant and coal haul roads.

On Jan. 13, 2025, OSMRE ordered South Fork Coal Company to quit hauling coal through the national forest as the company had never received a valid existing rights determination. In July 2025, the company received such a determination, but it lost it just a few months later as South Fork Coal went bankrupt, laid off all its workers and idled operations. 

“Clearco’s operations threaten protected public lands,” said Olivia Miller, Interim Executive Director of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. “This feels like déjà vu after two years of fighting over the same haul road with a different coal company. Clearco is being even more flagrant in its law-breaking. It has literally zero of the state and federal permits that are necessary to operate within the national forest. There must be accountability.”

“Clearco is flagrantly violating the law,” said Willie Dodson, Coal Impacts Program Manager at Appalachian Voices. “Mining activity – which includes hauling coal and equipment – is not allowed in the Monongahela National Forest unless and until any company that wants to do so has gone through a rigorous process to obtain multiple federal authorizations. Clearco hasn’t done any of that, but they helped themselves to the Mon anyway. It’s outrageous.”

“The West Virginia DEP seems determined to allow Clearco to haul coal through the Mon despite the legal process,” said Bill Price, Chairperson of the West Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club.