DEP allows coal company to operate strip mining complex, including impacts to national forest, without first obtaining necessary approvals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 1, 2026

CONTACT
Dan Radmacher, Media Specialist, (276) 289-1018, dan@appvoices.org 

Today, a coalition of conservation groups submitted a complaint and public comment objecting to a decision by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to grant “advanced approval” to two mining companies that want to take over South Fork Coal Company’s permits for operations near the Monongahela National Forest, including a haul road that illegally runs through part of the forest.

DEP gave approval to Clearco Processing Corporation and Aurevo Resources Inc. to operate a 3,600-acre complex of surface mines, a deep mine, a coal processing plant and coal haul roads, despite the company not having yet obtained the necessary permit transfers. The operations include the 1,100-acre Rocky Run Surface mine that sits on the edge of the Monongahela National Forest and a coal haul road that crosses through the national forest.  The advanced approvals were granted on May 8 for seven of the operations and on May 11 for the other three. 

The complaint submitted today by the coalition of conservation groups details reasons these permit transfers are not eligible for advanced approval, and asked that DEP immediately withdraw advanced approval. 

Under West Virginia law, DEP may grant a coal company advanced approval of permit transfer for coal mining and related activities before the close of a mandated public comment period only if the application meets all requirements for approval. If information provided to the agency precludes approval, then advanced approval must be immediately withdrawn.

In the June 1 complaint and public comment, Appalachian Voices, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance provided documentation demonstrating that neither Clearco and Aurevo nor South Fork Coal Company — the current permittee for these operations — has authorization from the U.S. Forest Service for operating within the Monongahela National Forest. Similarly, none of the coal companies have a necessary determination of “valid existing rights” to impact national forest land from the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. These authorizations are required prior to the transfer of the state mining permit for the haul road that crosses through the national forest. 

Additionally, the complaint explained that neither Clearco nor Aurevo are currently in the Applicant Violator System, a federal database that the DEP must reference to determine whether a company is legally eligible to hold a mining permit. 

The complaint also explained that South Fork Coal Company’s permits lack protection and enhancement plans and species-specific protective measures, documents required under the Endangered Species Act to ensure that operations will not harm endangered species such as the candy darter. The complaint also noted that the companies have no “incidental take coverage” — permission to harm endangered species — in light of a federal court decision from May 29. The South Fork of Cherry River, which has been impacted by increased sediment and heavy metal discharges from these operations, is designated as protected critical habitat for the candy darter.

“We have a permitting program for coal mines in this country for a reason,” said Willie Dodson, Coal Impacts Program Manager at Appalachian Voices. “Before mining companies were required to obtain permits, the industry could freely pillage natural resources with no regard for local impacts. By giving Clearco and Aurevo the greenlight to mine and haul coal — impacting our public lands, no less — without any of the permits it needs and despite clear evidence that approval of permit transfer is not currently possible, the DEP has discarded the lawful process.” 

Appalachian Voices, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance and other organizations have been monitoring the impacts of these mines and have filed lawsuits and administrative complaints in order to advocate for the Monongahela National Forest and the Cherry River since 2023. The current permittee, South Fork Coal Company, went bankrupt and idled operations last year, leaving numerous violations of the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws outstanding and ongoing.

The Rocky Run Surface Mine and numerous other mining permits are located on land leased to South Fork Coal Company by Weyerhaeuser, the international logging corporation that is responsible for massive clearcuts near Richwood and Nettie, West Virginia. Weyerhaeuser owns over 250,000 acres in the state. Along with any mining company it leases land to, Weyerhaeuser shares in the culpability for mining-related pollution of waterways like the Cherry River.

“Weyerhaeuser claims to care about West Virginia, but their actions here don’t match their words,” said Olivia Miller, interim executive Director of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy. “The clear-cuts are bad enough, but to allow a coal company to strip their land and pollute a river that people depend on, and to use our national forest to do so — it’s an entirely different level of disgraceful. I’ve come to expect this sort of thing from coal companies and, unfortunately, from the DEP. Weyerhaeuser talks a big game about environmental sustainability.  But they don’t seem to actually care about being a good steward of the land, at least not in West Virginia.”