I thought the newsletter would be a good opportunity to relay some of my impressions after working on the longwall mining issue for a little more than half a year. I think that RPF’s efforts, in conjunction with those of local activists and other groups, are moving things in a positive direction. PA DEP has finally recognized that the water laws apply to mining activities. Before last fall, the DEP’s mining program was content to rely only on the mining regulations, and they provided little protection to surface waters, especially small streams and springs. This new guidance marks a positive change.

How much of a positive change, however, remains to be seen. RPF submitted detailed comments on DEP’s "draft technical guidance document" on protecting surface waters from underground coal mining (see related story). Our comments could almost be summarized in one sentence: underground coal mining must be held to the same surface water protection standards as are other activities. DEP has not finalized that document, so it is unknown if they will incorporate our suggestions. In the meantime, DEP has inserted new "special conditions" into at least three mining permit revisions. Those conditions say that before any mining company conducts "full extraction" mining, the company must get another permit "revision" that spells out how surface waters will be protected.

Like most entities that have been granted a long-time subsidy at others’ expense, the coal companies are not happy with these new conditions. In two cases, the company is mounting a legal challenge to the permits. Put simply, they don’t want the water laws to apply to them. They are happy with the old system that essentially lets them mine the way they want without much regard to the surface waters. We are looking into ways in which we can have our viewpoint heard in the legal challenges.

There remains the whole "social" aspect of longwall mining. As the longwall machine approaches and passes by, individuals and families are placed under extreme stress, their businesses are disrupted, and the communities fragmented. While many if not all of the environmental effects can be addressed through better application and enforcement of environmental laws, we need better tools to address the human aspects. We are working with citizens and groups that aim to change the mining law so that surface owners are dealt with more fairly.

A big part of RPF’s effort is working with residents of Greene and Washington counties and helping them tell the story to others. We worked to educate local residents on the "draft technical guidance" and how it would (or wouldn’t) protect their waters. We are working with local watershed groups to document the springs and streams on people’s properties in advance of mining, so that there can be no doubt of the number of surface waters that must be protected. We assisted the US Fish and Wildlife Service in conducting biological sampling on some of those streams. And we hope to complete a short documentary film early this fall, that will tell the story much better than words can.