NASHVILLE (AP) – This year's effort to ban mountaintop removal coal mining in Tennessee has failed in a Senate committee.

The Senate Environment and Conservation Committee voted 6-2 against the bill sponsored by Sen. Eric Stewart of Winchester after a nearly three-hour hearing on Wednesday.

The measure sought to ban water quality control permits from being issued for mining that would alter a ridgeline located more than 2,000 feet above sea level.

The mining method involves blasting away mountaintops to expose coal seams and often filling nearby valleys and streams with waste.

Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey of Blountville has opposed past version of the bill because it could hurt coal mining in Tennessee.

Online: Read SB0578 at www.capitol.tn.gov

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