Abstract This paper examines the permitting process for a coal strip mine in Southeastern Ohio using a distributive and procedural environmental justice framework. A permit application to mine Joy Hollow, a site in rural Athens County, was submitted to the Ohio Division of Mineral Resources Management in 2011. The permit applicant promised the mine would bring jobs and environmental restoration to the Appalachian region already damaged by previous rounds of coal mining. Landowners in favor of the mine leased their property to the mining company, while others living near the proposed mine site opposed it. The opposing groups engaged in the familiar “economy versus environment” debate; however, both groups used ecological narratives to justify their positions. We used semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis to determine that proponents and opponents of the mine both faced distributive injustice in the form of environmental damage to their hollow from earlier mining activit...