State agencies are getting a first chance to comment on a chromite mining company’s operating permit this week.

People who live here still can, too.

Robert Houston, with the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, said the agency is reviewing Portland-based Oregon Resource Corporation’s application to open-pit mine in Coos County.

“DOGAMI doesn’t have a formal public comment process, but we will accept comments,” Houston said. “That’s a continual basis for the life of the mine.”

He already has been receiving comments people living near five proposed mining sites to be excavated on 2,000 acres of forest and mixed-use zoned land between Charleston and Bandon. At least one of these calls about a concern over water quality led the agency to require Oregon Resources to come up with a water monitoring program.

“They are my eyes and ears down there,” Houston said from the agency’s Albany office. “I’m going to make sure their concerns are addressed during the permitting process and after.”

In June, Oregon Resources submitted its operating application to DOGAMI, the lead agency that coordinates with other regulatory agencies for review of permit applications.

Houston was to complete a detailed document on the company’s mining and reclamation procedures this week. The document will be reviewed internally for about two weeks before it is sent to other agencies, including Coos County, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the Oregon Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Division, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Oregon Department of Water Resources.

Other agencies could review the application if DOGAMI decides more input is needed, according to Cathy Cross, an agency secretary. Then the agencies have 30 days to respond.

“They get a shot to review it and add conditions to the permit,” Houston said. “Then it comes back to DOGAMI to go over it again and we are able to add conditions.”

After the review process, the agency will determine what it might cost to bring the ground quality back to condition prior disturbances caused in the first 12 months of mining. DOGAMI must receive a bond from Oregon Resources before operations can begin, Houston said. The company could receive its operating permit as early as December.

Oregon Resources is purchasing land in Bunker Hill where a processing plant will be located. Escrow is expected to close by October and detailed engineering of the facility should be completed soon, with preparation of the site for construction to begin shortly after, according to an Oregon Resources press release.

Oregon Resources President Cheryl Wilson has said the operation will create about 70 jobs.

“We are excited to begin construction and look forward to seeing the site change over the next few months into a facility that will bring new jobs and industry to Coos Bay,” Wilson said.

Approximately 50 residents who live near the mining sites attended a Coos County Planning Commission meeting last year to oppose the operation, citing, among other things, the negative effects of noise, dust and traffic and impacts to groundwater. The county approved conditional-use permits on the forest and mixed-use land, but David and Sharon Comden of Bandon filed an appeal with the Land Use Board of Appeals. In February, the state land-use panel affirmed the county’s decision.

Oregon Resources plans to remove about 600,000 to 700,000 tons of mineral sands per year for 20 years, resulting in approximately 67,000 truck trips per year to the off-site processing plant at Coos Bay, approximately 19 miles away. The operation is proposed to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 340 days a year.

The mining operation would be the sole chromite producer in the U.S. since World War II when chromite ore was extracted from the local mines, according to Oregon Resources. South Africa, Kazakhstan, India, Iran and Pakistan are the only other countries where chromite is mined.

Chromite is used in the foundry industry for stainless steel casting for automotive and other industries.