OSM News
U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of Surface Mining
                    
For Release: March 1, 2000         Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719
                                             jchildre@osmre.gov

       OSM ANNOUNCES AVAILABILITY  OF  FALL CREEK FALLS 
            FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT   
                                
     Kathy Karpan, Director of the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining
(OSM) today announced the availability of the final environmental impact statement
(EIS) on a petition to designate lands within the watershed that includes the Fall Creek
Falls State Park and Natural Area of Van Buren and Bledsoe Counties in Tennessee as
unsuitable for surface coal mining operations.

     A notice of the filing of the final EIS with EPA is to be published in the Federal
Register on March 3, 2000.  According to regulations, the Director of OSM can not
make a final decision on the petition until at least 30 days from the publication of the
notice.
 
     OSM prepared the impact statement and detailed analysis, as required by the
Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), after being petitioned by Save
Our Cumberland Mountains, Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, and 49
individual citizens, to designate the entire watershed and viewshed of the Park, about
85,588 acres, unsuitable for surface coal mining operations.  Three companies (Skyline
Coal Company, Cane Tennessee, Inc., and Colten, Inc.) objected to the unsuitability
designation and intervened in the petition process.  

     According to Karpan the statement evaluates the potential coal resources of the
area, the demand for coal resources, and the impacts of the petitioners' proposed
action and potential alternative actions on the human environment, the economy, and
the coal supply.

     Karpan said that concerns raised in the petition primarily deal with disturbing the
acid- and/or toxic-producing zone in the shale that overlies the Sewanee coal seam,
which is the dominant seam of importance in the southern Tennessee coal fields.  Past
mining of the Sewanee coal seam has in some cases resulted in the production of acid
mine drainage and caused adverse water quality impacts to the receiving streams. 
                                                       
     "The petitioners contend that the technology does not currently exist to mine the
Sewanee coal seam and prevent acid mine drainage," Karpan said.  "Consequently, the
petitioners conclude that mining the Sewanee seam in the petition area without the
technology to prevent acid mine drainage would result in adverse water quality impacts
to the surface water regime within Fall Creek Falls State Park, which in turn would
impact other natural resources and the socioeconomics of the Park."  

     The preferred alternative in the final environmental impact statement, prepared
by OSM's Knoxville Field Office, stated that surface coal mining operations in the Park
and in portions of the petition area outside the Park would pose an unacceptable risk to
the fragile lands of the Park, and that the risks are incompatible with the Park's land use
plans and programs.  Because the adverse impacts from surface coal mining
operations in the Park and in portions of the petition area outside the Park could be
significant, the risk to the Park would be unacceptable.

     "The preferred alternative identified in the final impact statement is to prohibit
surface coal mining operations in the Park and in the Cane Creek, Meadow Creek, and
Falls Creek watersheds outside the Park," Karpan said.  "The preferred alternative
would also prohibit surface coal mining operations in the lower stream reaches of the
Piney Creek watershed because of their proximity to the Fall Creek Falls State Park
and the unacceptable risks posed by such operations."  

     Under the preferred alternative, surface coal mining operations would not be
prohibited in the headwaters or upper reaches of the Piney Creek watershed as long as
the proposed operation included areas that had been adversely impacted by pre-
SMCRA mining.  "The water quality in the upper reaches of the Piney Creek watershed
has been significantly impacted by pre-SMCRA mining operations and the remining of
these unreclaimed mine sites could have the potential to improve water quality, thus
restoring the aquatic communities and stream health of the area and reconstruct Piney
Creek proper and other headwater streams, Karpan said.  "A remining effort could also
reclaim abandoned spoil piles, restoring the area to more beneficial land uses of
forestry and agriculture."  

     Under the preferred alternative, the Dry Fork watershed would not be designated
as unsuitable for surface coal mining operations because mining in the watershed
would not affect the fragile lands of the Park and would not be incompatible with the
existing land use plans or programs for the Park.  "The streams of this watershed have
no impact on the Park because they subside underground except during high flow
seasons, and re-emerge north of the Park boundary," she said.  

     Under this alternative about 61,420 acres within the petition area would be
precluded from mining and about 35 million of the 49 million tons of coal in the petition
area would not be recoverable.     
                               MORE
     Persons wishing to obtain a copy of  the final environmental impact statement or
who require additional information,  should contact Beverly Brock, Office of Surface
Mining, 530 Gay Street S.W., Suite 500, Knoxville, TN 37902; telephone: (865) 545-
4103; e-mail: bbrock@osmre.gov.    

                              -OSM-