The Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit to Highland Mining Co., a subsidiary of Massey Energy Co., to begin operating its new Reylas Surface Mine in Logan County, W.Va.

The mine will employ about 100 people for six years, producing about 1 million tons of coal per year, the company said.

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to both provide good paying jobs in Logan County and to create a one-of-a-kind site that will help local residents affected by flooding and other emergencies," said Mike Snelling, Massey's vice president of surface mining.

The permit allows the company to dump debris into 13,743 linear feet of waterway and authorizes one valley fill and one sediment pond.

Highland applied for the permit in August 2007, but U.S. EPA recommended its denial in 2009.

"EPA has expressed its significant concern regarding the impact to the human environment through a lack of avoidance and minimization efforts undertaken for this project, the cumulative impacts on the watershed, forest and habitat destruction and fragmentation," the agency wrote then.

EPA and the corps have toughened standards for Clean Water Act permits since President Obama took office. Many projects allowed to move ahead have modified their plans to mitigate environmental concerns (Greenwire, March 2).

Highland Mining Co. reduced the project's environmental impact and called off the extraction of 2.5 million tons of coal. The company must also restore 1,154 linear feet of stream channel and create almost 30,000 linear feet of stream channel on site, according to the Corps.

"The permit, as authorized, represents the least environmentally damaging practicable alternative while meeting the project's stated purpose and need," the corps said in a release.