It is reported that the Bear Run Mine in southwestern Indiana will soon become the largest coal mine in the eastern United States.

The Sullivan mine will produce an expected 8 million to 12 million tonnes of coal annually as part of Governor Mr Mitch Daniels strategy to make coal a viable industry in Indiana.

The high rate of production also means that Bear Run will be among the least regulated coal mines in the nation, saving its owner perhaps millions of dollars while raising the potential for putting Hoosiers and aquatic life at risk.

Critics, including the US Environmental Protection Agency, maintain the state should have required Bear Run to obtain an individual permit. To do that, Bear Run would have first had to thoroughly study the mine wastewater and analyse nearby waterways. Based on that information, the state would have crafted a permit that set limits on water pollution and required its owner to test regularly for specific toxins.

The 27 largest mines in the US are required to have such a permit, but Bear Run is not. Instead, Indiana regulators only require the mine to follow the rules of a one-size-fits-all general permit, the same one that regulates the state smallest mine.

Mr Thomas Easterly commissioner of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management said he thinks the protections are sufficient. He said that "If it meets the requirements" of a general permit and then the environment's protected."

IDEM decides whether to require an individual permit.

Bear Run owner, St Louis based Peabody Energy, thinks IDEM made the right decision. Peabody is the nation largest coal company and is responsible for roughly half of the 36 million tons of coal mined annually in Indiana.

(Sourced from www.theindychannel.com)