Campaigners hope Loch Fitty will be granted a reprieve following the collapse of Scottish Coal.
Kingseat Community Council was prepared to go to the European Commission to stop Scottish Coal draining the loch to exploit the reserves of high-quality coal lying beneath.
However, the Alloa-based company entered liquidation last week, leaving 590 mine workers redundant. A question mark now hangs over the future of the loch.
Forbes Stuart, from Kingseat Community Council, said: “We’re all sad about the loss of jobs but we’re all relieved at this stage the loch is not going to be drained because the project has ground to a halt.
“However, we don’t know if it has had a reprieve for a while or if somebody else is going to come along to do the same thing. We’re very much in limbo.
“We’re hoping that somebody will come to the area and bring fishing back. Obviously, the water quality is not good and we have written to Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa), asking what the situation is in terms of the requirement for somebody to improve the water quality at this stage.”
This year the community council was set to seek legal advice and take its fight to save the loch to the European Commission. The community decided to launch a challenge after Sepa granted Scottish Coal a licence to drain the loch.
Mr Forbes added: “We’ve written to Sepa, asking if the licence is transferable.”
Planning consent for Scottish Coal’s proposal to drain the loch had been approved; however, it was subject to section 75 agreements, which had yet to be signed off.
Blair Nimmo, joint provisional liquidator of the Scottish Coal Company Ltd and head of restructuring at KPMG in Scotland, said it was too early to comment on specific sites.
Loch Fitty used to sustain a fishery but this closed in December 2007 because fish in the loch were suffering from health problems.
Scottish Coal had drawn up plans for the restoration of the loch, with input from the Centre for River Ecosystem Science at Stirling University.
The restoration would have followed a six-year period of excavation to recover up to 3.4 million tonnes of low-sulphur coal from beneath Loch Fitty.
Sepa said Scottish Coal’s proposal could bring the depleted loch back to good ecological status. However, Kingseat Community Council questioned Sepa’s logic and said it would be 2030 before the loch could support a population of fish.
The Loch Fitty proposal was an extension to the St Ninian’s site, near Kelty. A total of 18 out of the 28 jobs at St Ninian’s were lost with immediate effect and the site is to cease operating this year.
Fife Council leader Alex Rowley said: “Council lawyers and planners are in discussions and we are looking carefully at all the options available.”