The meeting started at 6:00 p.m. night with about 40 people sitting in metal chairs in the middle of what used to be the Matoaka High School gymnasium. Some wanted to learn about the process of strip mining others wanted to voice opinions and concerns about a pending mining permit.
Most of the comments came from those in opposition of the permit. Wendy Johnston was one of them. Her parents live less than a mile from the proposed blasting site.
"They moved there for the peace and quiet of the mountains," she said.
"If this site is granted they will then hear and feel blasting as well have to deal with vehicles that are too large to travel their road and be concerned about their water source as well."
Sammy Tibbs was one of the people who spoke in favor of the permit. He works at another site owned Met Resource LLC, the company seeking permit.
"I make my living hauling coal and I don’t how else I could make the money that I do hauling coal," Tibbs said.
"Truth be told I’m hauling coal from this job right now," he said. "These are the most straight up people I’ve ever worked for. What you need to do is do a little research on them. Don’t condemn these folks here for what’s been done in the past."
Rich Preservati works for Met Resource LLC. A lot of comments at the meeting referred to mountain top removal, but Preservati says the permit is for a contour mine.
"Mountain top mining involves removing the top stratta down to the lowest coal seam," he said, "where contour mining you take a slice around the side of it and lot of times what coal is underneath is mined."
He says the job will actually eliminate 12,000 feet of dangerous highwalls created by mine companies more than 50 years ago.
"We’re going back in and mining a previously mined area," he said, "in the process reclaiming it and getting rid of some of the highwalls in the area."
The permit says the reclamation plan is for reforestation, something oppositioners say is impossible.
Bill Skeat is from Athens, about 15 miles from the proposed permit area. He says he came to the meeting because he was concerned about the people in the region, and the rebuttals from industry and testimonies from employees did not set his mind at ease.
"I wouldn’t want to live next to any kind of above ground mining," he said. "Whether they call it mountain top removal or contour mining, I don't think I'd want to live there, or downstream from it."