WVDEP Notifies Owners, Plans Reclamation at Revoked Blue Ridge Mine Near Iaeger

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection has published a Class III legal advertisement saying it will complete reclamation at a revoked mine site identified as Blue Ridge Mining, LLC, Permit Number U-4007-07, located near Iaeger in McDowell County, Longitude -81° 48' 01" Latitude 37° 26' 53". The notice instructs owners of equipment and facilities on the forfeited permit site to prove ownership or face state removal of those items.

The advertisement states, "The purpose of this advertisement is to determine ownership and to notify owner(s) of equipment and/or facilities at the above forfeited permit(s) site to claim and make provisions to remove said equipment and/or facilities." The posting is classified in the notice as a Class III legal advertisement and includes procedural language governing claims and removal.

Submission instructions in the notice direct claimants to the WVDEP, DLR/Office of Special Reclamation at 1159 Nick Rahall Greenway, Fayetteville, West Virginia 25840, and list a telephone contact as "(304) 574-4465, ext. 00328." The notice carries an attention line for "Mr. Richard L. Pino, Technical Analyst." The reproduced text includes ellipses in places indicating material omitted in the public posting.

The notice sets an ownership-proof deadline in two forms: "Ownership of the equipment and/or facilities located on site must be proven to the WVDEP, no later than April 19, 2026, or thirty (30) days from final date of publication." If ownership is proven, the advertisement defines "timely removal" as: "the owner shall have all equipment and/or facilities removed within 30 days of the last published date of this legal advertisement."

The notice explains the consequence of inaction in statutory terms: "If ownership is not determined during the period established in the above legal advertisement and the equipment and/or facilities are not removed, the items will be considered abandoned. Disposition of said items, equipment, and/or facilities shall then be made part of the land reclamation process as required by state law under Chapter 22, Article 3. Any abandoned equipment and/or facilities will be removed by the WVDEP after 45 days of the last published date of this legal advertisement."

This Blue Ridge Mining notice is separate from recent enforcement activity involving Bluestone Coal at the Poca Surface Mine on the border of Wyoming and McDowell counties, where the DEP issued 13 notices of violation and 16 cessation orders in the past 12 months and a federal inspection in May observed mining activity despite a permit suspension. In that case, Willie Dodson of Appalachian Voices said, "I just think it is so disappointing that there are coal miners who were employed to scrape the coal out of the ground up there who are now not being given the hours that they are entitled to to actually reclaim the land," and urged DEP action on bonds and reclamation.

The Blue Ridge notice does not specify the date of revocation, bond status, the scope or cost of planned reclamation, or any contact for Blue Ridge Mining, LLC. With the calendar date of April 19, 2026 printed alongside a "30 days from final date of publication" formulation, the notice leaves the operative deadline ambiguous; absent further WVDEP clarification, equipment at the coordinates listed faces state removal and disposition under Chapter 22, Article 3 if not claimed within the windows the department set.