Coal miners and environmentalists held separate protests prior to a scheduled federal EPA hearing in Frankfort Tuesday evening.
The miners protested the EPA's hold on 36 mine permits that the miners said would help keep them working in a fragile economy.
Environmentalists pressed the EPA to stand its ground because they believe the proposed mining operations would pollute streams and harm the environment.
This issue has produced heated rhetoric in Kentucky for the last two years reaching all the way to Washington, D.C.
Look for a report on the protests and the EPA hearing online and on ABC 36 News at 11.
