During the leasing period, agents for Sunrise Coal, LLC drive around approaching landowners one-by-one. Agents try to sign leases and hope to avoid discussion of the many important issues that would have serious impact on neighbors and towns if mining actually got under way. By dealing in secret, Sunrise Coal LLC is able to separate landowners from their community.
Landowners need to know how mining can damage farming and other surface activities, its affect on drinking water, its risk to public health and the long-term future of communities. This is exactly the time when landowners need to make wise and informed decisions because the decision to lease is likely to have impacts beyond the acreage they lease, if mining were to begin.
Sunrise agents practice “information omissionâ€. They avoid topics that shed light on how mining and coal washing can affect public health and can contaminate water supplies. What does Sunrise Coal, LLC not want us to know and discuss? Historically how has the mining industry actually treated people, their land, water and health?
Coal leasing appeals only to personal interest, and for some people coal leasing is only a financial matter. But for others, particularly farmers and rural residents who have a strong ethic of stewardship, coal leasing involves more than money. Coal mining is the one-time liquidation of an asset, and frequently that liquidation also causes damage to land and water resources that support a prosperous farming community. In some communities, those who only wanted to sell their coal find that they sold their way of life.
If you do choose to play the coal leasing game, seek out an experienced attorney who can help you craft a lease with landowner protections.
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