Coal Company Promises Less Invasive Excavation Technique

A spokeswoman for an Indiana-based coal company says she wants to set some minds at ease as its officials evaluate land in Champaign and Vermilion Counties for a possible underground mine.

Suzanne Jaworowski with Terre Haute-based Sunrise Coal says the mining technique they would use if they open a coal mine on the Champaign-Vermilion county border would not damage farmland. She says the company plans to use a room-and-pillar approach, which leaves the surface area intact and sustains it by only removing a certain portion of the coal undernearth. Farmers in the affected area south of Homer have been concerned that Sunrise would use what's called 'longwall' mining. Jaworowski says that technique carries the potential for damaging the land by removing large portions of coal at once.

Jaworoski says Sunrise plans to pursue a permit for work that would not result in subsidence or ground sinking as a result of building the underground mine. She says the company will release more information on its plans in the next week.

Sunrise Coal operates a coal mine in Carlisle, Indiana. the company is a subsidiary of Hallador Energy.

On Tuesday night... Champaign County Board members tabled discussion on zoning regulations for the mine. Board members say they first want to research how other counties have handled zoning for coal mines.