Rock N Roll Coal Company Seeks Inactive Status for McDowell County Permit

Rock N Roll Coal Company, Inc. filed an application with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection seeking inactive status for Permit Number U400503, a permit tied to coal operations near Panther in the Sandy River district of McDowell County.

The application, filed March 9, requests that the permit be placed on inactive status rather than continued as an active operation. Inactive status under West Virginia DEP regulations allows permit holders to temporarily suspend operational requirements while maintaining the permit's legal standing, a distinction that carries implications for reclamation obligations and the long-term condition of the affected site.

The DEP is accepting public comments on the application through April 6, giving McDowell County residents roughly three weeks to weigh in on a request that directly concerns land in the Sandy River district. Anyone with knowledge of conditions near the Panther site or concerns about environmental compliance and post-mining reclamation has standing to submit comments to the agency before that deadline.

The Panther area sits in one of the more remote stretches of McDowell County, a county that has watched coal operations wind down, scale back, or shift status with increasing frequency in recent decades. Permit U400503 represents one more data point in that longer pattern, with the outcome of this particular application likely determined by both the DEP's administrative review and any public input submitted before April 6.