Raymond Proffitt Foundation
Pollution UpDate

14 April 98

"Pollution UpDate" is a publication dedicated to the reporting of timely environmental news. Environmental activists with story ideas or comments can e-mail gateway@rayproffitt.org. I'd like to thank the readers of Pollution UpDate for their comments and suggestions, and DEP for giving us plenty to write about. Joe Turner, Editor

Citizens Undermined By PA House Committee & DEP

After five postponements, citizens suffering from the coal industry's mining practices were finally given a date when the House Committee on Energy and the Environment would finally hear their testimony concerning the inadequacy of the underground mining law, Act 54. The Committee would also have heard of the ineptitude of DEP who is charged with administering the laws that are suppose to protect both the citizens of the Commonwealth and the environment. That was supposed to be today, April 14, 1998.

There is no hearing today. What happened?

Since December of 1997 the hearing has been postponed each time citizens of Washington and Greene Counties, in the southwestern part of Pennsylvania, have asked to be allowed to present testimony. It's no secret they would have testified about the highly destructive longwall mining techniques that are destroying their homes and communities.

Rather than allowing citizens directly affected by longwall mining to present evidence, the General Assembly's answer is delay. Coal field lawmakers such as Representatives Bill DeWeese and Pete Daley have been reluctant to help their constituents gain access to the Senate committee. It seems that coal money in an election year goes farther than the votes of actual constituent citizens these legislators are suppose to represent. In fact, one only needs to review the campaign donor lists of these Representatives to get an indication of the generosity of the coal industry.

Why the cancellations? Could it be that finally citizens persuaded the committee that they would not be excluded? The coordinator of this fiasco, Fred Taylor, Director for the House Environmental Committee is said to have done everything in his power to shut out and silence the voices of these victimized citizens.

The latest (we dare not say "final") insult to the taxpayers --whose homes are literally being destroyed by the mining industry-- was the March 31 cancellation of the April 14 scheduled hearing.

Could it be that, besides the Legislature, the PA DEP and the Ridge Administration are afraid of the words, and images that would be presented? After all this would happen right before the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) could rubber stamp the Administration's regulations!

Or were the "powers that be" fearful of the scheduled rally that would have brought busloads of citizens to the Capitol Rotunda on April 14? This would have presented a slight media problem to these politicians, what with taxpayers showing photos of homes and businesses cracked to pieces by long wall mining subsidence. Who needs that in an election year? Better postpone yet again.

The excuse which was given was that additional time was needed to "study" the situation and damages. So far, Act 54 has been interpreted by the DEP (looking out for their "customers," the coal industry) as a green light for the mining which has dewateried and impaired over 66,000 acres within the two counties, and caused unbridled damage to homes, businesses, and property. Act 54 has been in place since August 1994. The Act requires coal mining companies to report all damage and water loss to the DEP. Of course, the DEP didn't get around to sending coal mining operators a letter "requesting" this information until June of 1997. The information needed to study the situation would already be in place if Mr. James Seif, Secretary of PA DEP and Mr. Robert Dolence, the Deputy Secretary for Mining, had been doing their jobs looking after the health and safety of the citizens of the Commonwealth, instead of interpreting their jobs as facilitating coal mining at any cost.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with longwall mining, this highly destructive technique allows a mining company to extract a maximum amount of coal in a minimum amount of time with a minimum number of workers. In fact, today's twilight coal industry employs only one half of one percent of the Pennsylvania work force. That's well less than 8000 workers.

If this is "King" Coal, there is clearly no Crown Prince. Coal is on its way out. After longwall, there will be no coal mining in Greene and Washington Counties, and the only legacy of King Longwall I, will be much like his predecessors--destroyed homes, communities and natural resources.

For longwall mining is very destructive. Longwall mining removes large blocks of coal, often 1100 feet wide and 10,000 feet long, usually 400-900 feet underground. But as the coal is mined, subsidence occurs and buildings, roads and utilities are damaged as they drop anywhere from one to four feet--although not always evenly.

Perhaps the thought of a grandmother testifying about how the home she and her husband built over a 35 year period would not make a favorable impression for the Senate and the Ridge Administration. She would undoubtedly talk about how her home is now 12" lower at one end than the other. Maybe she would talk about how her husband cried as he watched the home he built crack apart. Or maybe a farmer would talk about losing all of his springs, his well and his ponds.

In an election year, when there are facts like these out there, it's always better to "study" the facts until safely after the election.

Send the sample letter below. Send a copy to your State Senator & Representative, Gov. Ridge, and PA DEP. ****

Dear

I am disappointed that, after repeated delays, the Energy and Environmental Resources Committee has once again postponed a hearing on longwall mining. Citizens have the right to be heard, and deserve a certain amount of consideration as they must leave homes and jobs in order to exercise their rights. No one pays them to come to Harrisburg and speak to you. They need a date in advance to arrange their lives, and then they need certainty that the date will be honored.

Please set a date for the hearing, allow citizens to present their testimony on the effects of longwall mining on their homes, communities and lives. Please do not allow further delays.

Perhaps if the Committee needs to study longwall mining, it might want to consider a trip to southwestern Pennsylvania to see the results for themselves.

Sincerely,
 

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