Bicyclers and hikers on the Allegheny Highland trail soon could have a new attraction as they follow the Youghiogheny River: a large strip-mining operation next to Ohiopyle State Park in Fayette County.

Amerikohl Mining Inc. wants to mine for coal a quarter mile from the popular trail that is a part of the Great Allegheny Passage route from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md., and is one of just eight federally designated National Scenic Trails. The company's proposal has caused widespread concern among trail, fishing and conservation groups.

"Having this kind of potential degradation of the water and viewshed is a significant concern and very disturbing," said Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance, the coalition of seven rail-trail groups that built and maintains the 335-mile trail.

"People riding downriver from Ohiopyle find that section of the trail very serene and beautiful," said Dexston Reed, an executive board member and past president of the trail alliance. "If the mining gets that close to the trail and the river, it's going to be a problem."

The state Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public meeting on the Amerikohl permit application at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Dunbar Township Supervisor's Building, 128 Township Drive.

DEP spokeswoman Helen Humphreys said the permit application proposes mining operations on 280 acres of a 588-acre tract abutting a northern boundary of Ohiopyle State Park in Dunbar.

Between 200,000 and 250,000 tons of low-sulfur coal would be removed from a total of 138.6 acres, an area the size of 105 football fields. Mine-drainage settling and treatment ponds and facilities would occupy the rest of the 280-acre area.

"People coming into the park entrance wouldn't be able to see the mining operation, and people on the river probably won't be able to see it," Ms. Humphreys said. "But it will be visible and will be heard from the bike path in the winter and spring before the leaves are out, and maybe all year."

Amerikohl President John Stilley disputed that.

"I don't believe you will be able to see our operation from the bike trail," he said. "It would be on top of a steep slope and behind it so the line of sight would not allow those on the trail to see into it."

The mining company plans to remove coal from two seams, the Upper Kittanning and Upper Freeport, each ranging from 24 to 40 inches thick. The seams are separated by 50 to 70 feet of overburden -- rock and soil -- that would be scraped off to allow mining of the lower seam.

Actual mining would be limited to a single 45-acre area at a time, with reclamation of one area done as mining moves on to the next segment.

Although the standard state application is for a five-year permit, the company said mining would be completed in 21 months. Moving the coal to a power plant would require about 20 trucks a day, each carrying about 23 tons.

"We mine and reclaim our mine sites better than anybody, and we are more environmentally conscious than the average citizen of this state. We mine in an environmentally sound manner and we don't take shortcuts," said Mr. Stilley, whose company has mined and reclaimed more than 200 sites in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia since opening in 1978. The company is one of the five largest surface-mining coal producers in Pennsylvania, annually digging about a million tons.

The property, which the coal company has leased, has never been mined, but an adjacent site that was mined in the early 1970s is discharging acid-mine drainage.

Amerikohl's mine would lie between Johnson Run and Morgan Run, two Youghiogheny River tributaries classified by the state as "high quality" cold-water fisheries. The Youghiogheny in that area also is classified as "high quality."

Ms. Humphreys said discharges from the proposed mining operation would be channeled into four unnamed Youghiogheny River tributaries that are classified as "warm-water fisheries" but not "high quality."

"We're obviously concerned about what happens to the tributaries and the river if the diversion ditches and treatment ponds fail in a big storm event," said Krissy Kasserman, who heads the Youghiogheny Riverkeeper organization, part of the Mountain Watershed Association. "The Youghiogheny has just been designated the state's 'River of the Year.' Given the setting, we are absolutely opposed to the mining."

There may also be more than two dozen endangered plant and animal species in the proposed mining area, she said.

In DEP's public meeting "open house" format, individuals will be able to speak with DEP mining bureau staff who will answer questions about relevant issues, including erosion and sedimentation controls, mine reclamation, and the measures DEP requires of mining operators to minimize stream impacts. A more formal public hearing is not scheduled.