Oregon Resources, the strip mining operation promising to bring jobs and prosperity to Coos County, failed to obtain the necessary permits in advance of the start of construction of their new plant near Bunker Hill. State Buildings and Codes confirms today that plans were submitted recently but the company will have to pay an additional $14,000 to obtain permits and provide engineer certification the structure, as built to date, is safe.
Meanwhile, what about all those jobs? Local unions are noticing that out of state subcontractors are doing most of the work and bringing their labor force with them rather than hiring locally.
Then there is the tragic story of another strip mining operation in Florida and Georgia, one that didn’t go well for the environment or the local economy, filing bankruptcy after only three years. Not surprisingly, Dan Smith, Joseph Drew and Todd Lessard were deeply involved with that company. One can easily imagine Dan Smith telling the local leadership down there,.. “hey we are here to stay, I have even built a house here”
