A Bureau of Mines official said that state regulators plan to approve an underground coal mine that would tunnel beneath the Casselman River a popular western Maryland trout stream near Grantsville.

Mr Alan V Hooker chief of the coal permits section said that he expects the agency to offer a permit later this month to Maryland Energy Resources LLC a company controlled by the Joseph Peles Coal Co of Indiana.

Mr Hooker said the company would have to first agree to certain environmental conditions and post a bond. He added that "Once bond is posted, we would issue the permit.”

Mr Joseph Peles said it would take three to five months to open the mine, which is projected to employ 20 to 25 workers initially. He said it's not clear whether mining will begin this year.

The mine would extract an estimated 360,000 tonnes of coal annually for 20 years from deposits beneath about 3,000 acres south of Grantsville. It would be Maryland's largest working deep mine.

(Sourced from mde.state.md)