The BLM, in response to two lease applications to develop federally owned coal near East Lynn Lake in Wayne County, conducted a land use analysis and environmental impact statement for the area and filed the results.

In it, the agency said the preferred alternative for the area included a process for a competitive federal coal lease sale for the 13,089 acres.

The interested parties indicated they would seek to extract coal by underground mining methods from two existing deep mine shafts on adjacent private land the using room and pillar.

Should that alternative move forward, the competitive leasing process would be open to all qualified bidders.

Winning proposals would undergo geological study and risk assessment analysis of the buffer before any operations could begin.

This plan, however, comes with stipulations, according to the BLM.

The bureau joined with the US Army Corps of Engineers, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources and the Office of Surface Mining on the requirements that must be met for any proposed coal mining in the area.

“In order to ensure the structural integrity of the East Lynn Lake dam structure and the lake’s recreation area, the land use plan and final EIS specify that no mining will be done beneath East Lynn Lake and the dam, or within 1585 feet of the dam,” officials said.

“Additionally, a minimum of 100ft of overlying material will be maintained and a minimum of a 200ft buffer around the lake will be established through a geological study and risk assessment analysis.”

BLM state director John Lyon said the agreement came from “productive dialogue” with the public as well as the involved state and federal offices.

“[It was to] ensure that we are taking a balanced approach to developing a key resource in our nation’s energy portfolio and ensuring the integrity of the lake’s dam and natural resources,” he said.

“The next step is for BLM to issue a decision on the proposal before moving forward with a competitive lease sale.”