I have been living in the same place for 30 years. Most of the area was strip mined some 40 or
50 years ago. Leaving behind rough scrubby land that cannot grow grass. After many years,
the land grows Southern White Pines. The coal rapers come back, and they become loggers, or
hire loggers, to pull every mature tree down, and take it off to the sawmill, or if it is a little
tree, the pulp mills it for paper.
The profiteers of the land, they don't even live in the area. They don't even live in Alabama.
But, oh how they love the land. Love to rape the land. I own 20 acres that is surrounded by
mega corp land, which has been mined, and timbered. My land was also mined many years ago.
Leaving behind a lake, a beautiful lake whiich I now own. I don't timber my land, so the
birds, squirels and muscrats, beaver, they are welcome to enjoy the large trees. The red
headed woodpecker, the trees are yours to enjoy.
There are very few pieces of land that have not been stripped in the area. Mostly pasture for
cows and horses. It is a farming area. Even though the housing boom has come to Morris,
Kimberly, Alabama , there are still a high proportion of farm land. Untouched by a bull
dozer or high explosive.
So the area grew. Neighborhoods sprung up, where it used to just be a cow pasture. Not
just small homes, but large ones too, The 500.000 homes. Probably be a million dollar
homes in New York.
Three developments, close to a new junior high school for the growing community, with a new
high school in the works. Not to mention all the add-ons to the existing elementry and high
school. But what to do about a couple of 100 acres of land, that still has coal under the
green cow pasture. What to do, oh my!!
First, the coal company tried to buy out the town of Morris, for a lovely pasture right next to
Turkey Creek, and partial flood plain. They are like, we can fix the flood plain problem,
when we are done digging all the coal out. Oh, and here is about 350 grand for your town.
Morris, who have been working on trying to improve their town, with a walking park,
ball park, and nice homes, turned them down flat. Proclaiming they were done with
strip mining the land, and that their town wanted better things for the future. LIke land
they could live on, and not cracked foundations from blasting, or a polluted Turkey
Creek, which has fish that don't exist anywhere else in the world.
One town up. there sits 3 new developments, square in the middle are 113 virgin acres of wild
land. Woods, and creeks, untouched. The town of Kimberly thought it was a fine idea to
let the mining company come in and strip these 113 acres. Until the town found out, a great
outcry happened, with protests from the townspeople. And the mayor, town council were
forced to turn the mining company away.
The people had won. Or so they thought. Those in charge at Kimberly City Hall had other plans.
I heard they were paid off by the mining company, but it is only gossip. Why else would you
want to destroy the enviornment in your own community, unless you profit. It just dosn't really
make good economic sense to trash the land, when you are trying to build up a community, and
folks have invested 1000s of dollars in new delvelopments, and roads, because the area is
growing.
Kimberly de-annexed the land back into the county. The mining company went to the county to
get zoning to mine the land. Once again the people protested. The mining company lost.
The people had won again. Or so they thought. But the mining company wasn't done yet.
They hired a lawyer and filed for a variance. (not zoned, but you can use the land for a certain
time period, usually for businesses that are in the process of relocating.) A variance is totally
absurd, since they are going to totally change the topography of the 113 acres, but the
mining company wanted that coal! The town had their own lawyer, but they did not have the
deep pockets the mining company had.
The matter was turned over to a judge. You know that spells trouble. How can one person
decide what is good for a whole town. And he dosn't even live in the community. He didn't
come out and look at the homes and neighborhoods that would be impacted by the
strip mining operation. I suspect maybe he was influenced unduly by the coal interests,
(maybe a little extra in his pocket too, just like the mayor of Kimberly) Can't prove it, but
most folks think this is what happened.
Even if you weren't a judge, common sense says 113 acres is a very small plot of land,
to expect to yeild much coal. This is strip mining. Where they dig from the top down,
stripping off every layer of soil until they get to the coal. Then trucking it out, leaving
a giant hole. Then the coal company is supposed to reclaim the land. (put the top soil
back, plant trees etc.)
And we are supposed to believe they will do this with no explosives, or 24 hour work
shifts. Part of the variance agreement, which I suspect they will not obey. Here is the original
article from my local paper, The North Jefferson News:
Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge J. Scott Vowell ruled late Wednesday in favor of RJR Mining Company Inc.
RJR had appealed a Feb. 25 decision of the Jefferson County Board of Zoning Adjustment to deny a variance on the property at 8800 Bill Jones Road, which would allow RJR to surface mine 133 acres for coal.
The property, 264.5 acres total, is zoned I-3 (industrial).
The coal seam reportedly contains 300,000 tons of coal that would sell for $60 per ton. That makes the estimated market value of Kimberly’s coal $18 million, according to Vowell’s written final judgment.
Vowell, in his final judgment, wrote that he would not have ruled in RJR’s favor if he could not have placed restrictions on the mining.
He in fact included 15 conditions to which RJR must adhere (see table below), with the court retaining jurisdiction to enforce the conditions.
Vowell acknowledged that the “testimony is in sharp dispute.” The 15 conditions were his response to citizens’ outcry that mining the area would create hazardous conditions in the community.
He also wrote that to “deny the owner with the use of the property is a ‘hardship.’”
Drummond Company Inc. owns the property and has “engaged RJR to mine the coal,” according to the judgment.
RJR attorney Wendell Allen with Bradley, Arant, Rose and White LLP, said he does not know when the mining will begin.
Opponents to mining in Kimberly have been vocal and active.
At a public hearing at Kimberly Town Hall in October 2007, hundreds of people showed up to protest the mining.
The result was that the Kimberly Town Council on Nov. 13, 2007, voted not to enter into a mining agreement with RJR, despite handsome financial incentives that RJR offered the town.
Then in January, the Kimberly council voted to de-annex the property, which put the land into unincorporated Jefferson County.
RJR’s next move was to request a zoning variance from the Jefferson County Board of Zoning Adjustment.
Kimberly residents continued to fight the matter all the way through the Oct. 14-15 bench trial by testifying in court, gathering evidence and donating money to help with court costs.
Attorney Scott Morro of Morris played a key role in the fight by organizing the testimony and leading the way in court during the bench trial.
Morro, disappointed by the decision, said the judgment was based on erroneous information that was put forth during the trial.
According to Lindsey, RJR and Drummond “out dollar-ed us,” so there will be no appeal.
Mining restrictions
Judge Scott Vowell placed the following conditions on the variance granted to RJR Mining Company Inc.:
• The variance to allow for surface mining is solely for the 133 acres contained in the parcel.
• RJR will engage in active mining, including the loading of coal, Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• RJR shall be entitled to perform maintenance and service on equipment on weekdays outside above hours and on Saturdays.
• RJR will not perform any work on the property on Sundays.
• RJR will ship up to 14 loads of coal daily and only on weekdays.
• Every load of coal will be tarped. Loads of coal will not be released between 7-8 a.m. or 3-4 p.m. when school buses are running.
• Applicable weight limits on the trucks will be strictly enforced by RJR.
• RJR will have no more than seven employees, in addition to supervisors and inspectors, working on the site at any one time.
• RJR will leave a standing timber buffer around the permitted area and shall build a privacy slatted fence at least 10 feet tall as a buffer on the portion of Anderson Road where timber has been cut.
• RJR will gate the access road and keep it locked when employees are not on the site.
• Any water on the property sufficient to cause danger to children or others, including retention ponds, will be fenced in such a manner as to prohibit trespassers from gaining access thereto.
• All coal trucks will enter and exit the mine onto Morris-Majestic Road and all shipments of coal shall occur using the route of Morris-Majestic to Alabama Hwy. 79.
• RJR shall not be entitled to use blasting or any type of explosives as part of its mining operations on the property.
• RJR, its employees and its transportation company will comply with all local, state and federal laws.
• At the conclusion of the work, the property will be restored and reclaimed as required by Alabama and United States law.
The mayor and council were so against it, that they de-annexed, so the county could have
a wack at making sure it didn't get mined? That makes so much sense, not!
Unless there is someone watching these clowns, 24/7 they will not go by the rules. It is
unlikely they will not blast, since it is the quickest and cheapest way to move alot of dirt.
If you saw the curvy two lane black top road they expect to drive the trucks up and down all
day. And the danger to the citizens, it truly is a crime against our town. Once again, it
shows big corporations can throw their power and money around and the little guy has
to suffer.
This time it is the good people of Kimberly, not to mention the wildlife, our
air quality from all the coal dust, and the horses who live nearby. Their lungs are very
sensitive, and they are nervous animals. Well there are hundreds of reasons why this shouldn't
of been allowed to happen. But I guess they won't be happy until every square inch of North
Jefferson County has been raped for it's minerals, timber. And those rules, well if you google
Morris Majestic Rd., it dosn't even lead to Hwy 79, so the rules are total BULLSHIT. And who has
to enforce those rules, the mining company. Kind of how Wall Street enforced its' own rules.
Oh, and will the town see any of the 18 million in revenue..That's a big NO.....