This is an “update” to the earlier notice and is intended to draw attention to the Corps of Engineers’ public hearing in Knoxville, Tennessee since there is a need to attract a crowd in the state where their U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander has introduced legislation in Congress to do away with surface mining.  While there are a limited number of companies mining Tennessee coal there will likely be a large crowd of opponents at the hearing.
 
Friends of Coal are joining with the Eastern Coal Council to assist Dan Roling of National Coal Corp. in Tennessee and Chuck Laine of the Tennessee Mining Association in an effort to get as many coal supporters as possible to Knoxville.  The Eastern Coal Council has a bus leaving from Norton @ 1:p.m. Tuesday, October 13th.  People can park their cars on the Magic Mart’s parking lot near the guard rail. The bus will stop at United Coal’s office in Blountville to get folks from the TriCities area and then travel to Knoxville.  We will be joined by the TN people and then travel to the Convention Center.
 
 If you have questions or need additional information, please call Barbara or Marsha at 276-964-6363.
Barbara’s cell 276-970-5580 Marsha’s cell 276-210-7514.
 
We would appreciate anyone and everyone who could make the trip to support our brothers and sisters in Tennessee.  The Knoxville hearing will be held at the Knoxville Convention Center at 7:00 p.m.
 

The Coalition for Mountaintop Mining (www.mtmcoalition.com) will hold its next meeting October 8 beginning at 9 a.m. in the upstairs conference room of the Forbes Center at Northgate Business Park in Charleston. The meeting is scheduled to last from 9 a.m. to approximately noon.  Please plan to attend.

The Friends of Coal and the West Virginia Coal Association will have representatives and booths at two upcoming events – the annual Rocket Boys Festival in Coalwood, West Virginia on October 3, and Coal Appreciation Day at the West Virginia University of Technology in Montgomery on October 7. 
 
In addition, the West Virginia Coal Association and the Coalition for Mountaintop Mining are completing arrangements for additional Coal Forums to be held during October and/or early November in Wheeling and Martinsburg.  These events will provide the opportunity to educate the public in areas of the state not normally thought of as part of the coalfields about the role of coal in their communities.

Representatives of the West Virginia Coal Association and Friends of Coal were on hand earlier this month for the annual Bluefield Coal Show.  The event, which ran September 16-18 featured a range of exhibits and speakers. It was once again a huge success and is rapidly becoming one of the marquee events of the year for the coal industry.

The Kanawha Valley Mining Institute will hold its next meeting October 1, 2009 at the South Charleston Ramada Inn beginning at 6:30 pm.  Guest speaker for the event will be Kevin Strickland, MSHA Administrator.