A new coal mine near South Heart took its second step toward a distant finish Tuesday when the Stark County Commission approved a zoning change on the agricultural land where it would be opened.

All five commissioners voted to rezone a 17-section tract - more than 4,800 acres - southwest of the small town that would change its allowed use from growing crops to mining coal.

Rural South Heart resident Nancy Eberts said she's disappointed that the commission "signed off" and gave up being a player in the process. She said the commission could have waited for Great Northern Power Development to submit more detailed environmental information to state agencies and then made its decision.

Eberts, a member of Neighbors United, said the $1.4 billion project is not only about the environment, but also about the land and preservation of rural heritage.

Great Northern plans to use the lignite to fuel North Dakota's second gasification plant, smaller and more advanced than the Dakota Gasification Co. plant near Beulah, thereby utilizing some of the vast coal reserves it acquired from Burlington Northern nearly a decade ago.

The zoning is a small but critical step in a lengthy process to acquire all the land, water and air quality permits before construction can start in 2009.

Eberts said the neighbors group will continue to express concerns on behalf of "each other, the air and the water" as the permit process continues.

The zoning approval does come with strings attached.

Great Northern must obtain all the necessary state and agency permits, agree in writing to replace any well water disrupted by mining, build access roads to the satisfaction of the county and finally, consult the county sheriff and emergency staff to ensure public safety.

Great Northern's vice president Rich Voss said the company will file a voluminous mine application permit with the Public Service Commission later this month.

Voss said he's confident the mega project that will employ 250 people to turn lignite into a synthetic natural gas will get done.

The company started its zoning quest in early January, but the process got hung up a couple of times between then and now.

First, signatures of 600 citizens seeking an environmental impact review caused the zoning board to pause until Great Northern held public meetings to explain the project. The zoners recommended approval last month, but then it was the county commission's turn to hold off.

The commission was under criticism from the Dakota Resource Council for not telling the public its members were attending an informational lunch meeting on the project in December. In order to get on the right side of North Dakota's open meeting laws, the commission asked Great Northern to restage that meeting before voting Tuesday.

The attorney general still has not ruled whether Stark County broke the law, but by reholding the December meeting for the public, the commission is ahead of what likely would be recommended to redress the situation.

Voss said the company also gathered about 3,000 signatures from people in favor of the plant and found similar support in a telephone poll of Stark County residents.

Other groups represented at the meeting were the Dacotah Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Defenders of the Black Hills and the Children's Health Taskforce.

(Reach reporter Lauren Donovan at 888-303-5511 or lauren@;westriv.com.)