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High walls, which are common after surface mining, refer to 100-foot cliffs that stretch for miles and can interfere with animal migration and, being unstable, can collapse, harm to people and wildlife and obstruct waterways. Before Ohio passed reclamation legislation in 1977, when a state mine closed, virtually nothing was done to make the land suitable for wildlife. €œIn the old days, before the new laws that came into effect in the 1970s, the land was left with high walls and all kinds of problems,” he said. He said there is an advantage to working with reclaimed land, even though it is flourishing now. The land is said to be haunted by two of its former residents: Thomas Carr, who was hanged in 1870, and Louiza Catharine Fox, a 13-year-old girl he allegedly murdered.Ĭera said he would be much more confused if mining took place on unspoiled land. GEM stands for “giant earthmoving machine” or “giant excavating machine”, and Egypt refers to the city in the valley of Egypt, which is no longer there. €œMost of this area was mined years ago by what was called Egypt’s GEM,” he said, referring to a famous earthmoving machine (in those areas). He thinks this is because locals are used to coal mining in these areas and no one is too worried about the Egypt Valley wildlife area as it has already been subjected to the mining. Oxford Mining’s parent company Westmoreland Resource Partners in Colorado also denied Al Jazeera’s interview request.Īlthough he hadn’t heard any negative or positive comments from voters, Cera, who was born in Belmont County, said he didn’t think it had anything to do with the fact that the residents did not care about the environment. Republican State Representative Andy Thompson, who represents District 95, which includes most of the Egypt Valley Wildlife Area, was not available for an interview, his office said. “There is not much concern at all,” he said. He is a Democratic state representative for Ohio House District 96, which includes parts of Belmont County, the county encompassing much of the Valley of Egypt, although the wildlife area does not touch all of made his district. Jack Cera hasn’t heard any complaints from the locals either. “My husband’s employer gives us great health insurance and great benefits. And on the other hand, she said, the coal industry has been good for her family. On the one hand, she said: “I care about the environment and I worry about what will be around my children. This is the land of coal, and Paynter, a mother of three and a self-proclaimed liberal with a background in social work, is the wife of a coal miner. But she understands why the locals don’t chain themselves to the trees and insist that the rugged terrain be left alone. She has lived in the area for about three and a half years and is not thrilled with the idea of ​​seeing surface mining equipment invading the wildlife sanctuary. I don’t think they really realize what’s going on, or maybe they do, but they don’t tell me about it, ”she said.

That’s not exactly the talk of the town, said Kristen Paynter, manager of Jane by Food, a Belmont restaurant specializing in Angus burgers and located several miles from an access road to Egypt. The company plans to mine for coal under 741 acres and to mine 200 acres in the open pit. However, much of the hard work of state and nature is now at risk, since July, when the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) granted Oxford Mining Co. But in the 1990s, Ohio began buying the land, turning it into a magnet for animals, bird watchers, hikers, hunters, fishermen, and tourists. River otters were introduced in 1993, and black bears have made their home here, among deer and wild turkeys.įor decades this land has been opencast for coal. There is 2,270-acre Piedmont Lake, popular with boaters and campers, and as you would expect in a wildlife preserve, there is wildlife. The area, state-owned land in eastern Ohio, spans 18,011 acres of rolling hills, wetlands, and grasslands. PIEDMONT, Ohio – The Egypt Valley Wildlife Area is a tribute to what can happen once the land is cleared of its charcoal and restored to nature.