The state Office of Open Records has dismissed an appeal of a right-to-know request submitted by the Center for Coalfield Justice, Observer-Reporter and state Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, seeking reports regarding damage to the Duke Lake dam at Ryerson Station State Park. (Read more)
Two state agencies have denied right-to-know requests filed by the Center for Coalfield Justice, the Observer-Reporter and state Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, asking for the release of reports related to the damage to the dam at Ryerson Station State Park. (Read more)
A local effort has begun to obtain reports from two state agencies about the 2005 failure of the Duke Lake Dam at Ryerson Station State Park in Greene County using the state's Right-to-Know law. (Read more)
The Center For Coalfield Justice and the Observer-Reporter have filed a right-to-know request seeking release of reports prepared for the state regarding damage to the Duke Lake dam at Ryerson Station State Park.
The request was filed Tuesday with the state Office of Open Records. It was joined by state Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg. (Read more)
The state Department of Environmental Protection has determined longwall mining at Consol Energy Inc.'s Bailey Mine was responsible for ground movement that damaged the dam at Duke Lake at Ryerson Station State Park.
DEP had initiated the investigation following a decision by Allegheny County Court in a lawsuit filed by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources against Consol seeking $58 million in damages for the dam. (Read more)
Activists from the PA Sierra Student Coalition and PA Alliance for Coal Free Generation staged a flash dance mob earlier today along the route of a “Just Ducky” tour from the International Coal Conference.
Check out this video of the action. (Read more)
Pittsburghers carried on business as usual throughout the city Monday ahead of the Group of 20 economic summit, which brought artistic demonstrations to Downtown streets and city parks and led two groups to accuse police of harassment. (Read more)
All those hunky, dirty-faced coal miners staring from the region's billboards and touting coal's role in powering America have a new anti-coal ad campaign to look at. The Pennsylvania Alliance for a Coal-Free Generation yesterday unveiled a billboard, bus stop and Internet ad campaign that confronts the coal industry ad claims of clean coal and urges a transition to renewable energy sources and more efficient technologies. (Read more)
Pennsylvania environmental groups have asked the Obama administration to put on hold its nomination of state Department of Environmental Protection mining official Joseph Pizarchik to head the federal Office of Surface Mining. (Read more)
The state Department of Environmental Protection issued three permits Monday that will allow Allegheny Energy to expand its landfill at the Hatfield's Ferry Power Station. The expansion will permit the company to operate the plant's new scrubber system, which will significantly reduce air pollution emitted from the plant. (Read more)
The state Department of Environmental Protection has approved a plan to fix a Washington County creek that is now dry because of mine subsidence. Consol Energy Inc. said it will work to fix Craft Creek in Morris Township by leveling high points of the stream bed in an attempt to restore the water flow. Work is expected to begin when temperatures move above freezing for several consecutive days. (Read more)
Thirty-nine environmental groups are urging President-elect Barack Obama to reject a pending federal rule that will make it easier to dispose of coal combustion waste from power plants in abandoned mines despite risks of water contamination. (Read more)
One of the most popular fishing and recreational spots in Greene County soon may be on its way to recovery as a result of state and local cooperation.
A task force dedicated to reopening the 62-acre Duke Lake in Ryerson Station State Park met recently and forwarded its design ideas to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which is now
reviewing the data. (Read more)
Three environmental groups Wednesday submitted a report to the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, challenging an
attempt by Consol Energy Inc. to have Grinnage Run in Gray and Richhill
townships in Greene County redesignated from a high quality-warm water
fishery to a warm water fishery. (Read more)
On Saturday June 1, community groups in southwest Pennsylvania held a Dry Lake Festival at Ryerson Station State Park. The event was sponsored by The Center for Coalfield Justice, the Mountain Watershed Association, the Wheeling Creek Watershed Association, and the Allegheny Group of the Sierra Club. (Listen to full story)
The site of Duke Lake in Ryerson Station State Park in Greene County is
now dry. It was drained three years ago after cracks developed in a dam.
The Center for Coalfield Justice and the Wheeling Creek Watershed
Conservancy will sponsor the second annual DRYerson Festival from 11 a.m.
to 3 p.m. today to mark the third year since Duke Lake in Ryerson Station
State Park was drained because of a fracture in a dam. (Read more)
Office of Open Records denies appeal
By Bob Niedbala Staff writer, Observer Reporter
June 5, 2010
The state Office of Open Records has dismissed an appeal of a right-to-know request submitted by the Center for Coalfield Justice, Observer-Reporter and state Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, seeking reports regarding damage to the Duke Lake dam at Ryerson Station State Park.
In a notification letter, the Office of Open Records cited a failure on the part of the state Department of Environmental Protection to respond in a timely fashion to the original right-to-know request, according to the Center for Coalfield Justice.
The initial request had been made to DEP on March 30, said Raina Rippel, the center's executive director. In a letter dated April 12, DEP said it would need an additional 30 days to respond. On May 7, it officially denied the request.
The Center for Coalfield Justice, Observer-Reporter and DeWeese subsequently filed an appeal with the Office of Open Records within the 15-day appeal period established by law.
However, in dismissing the appeal, the Office of Open Records noted DEP had only five days to respond to the initial request or the request was deemed to be denied.
DEP should have responded by April 6, and when it failed to do so, the request was denied, Rippel said. The appeal then should have been filed within 15 days of the April 6 denial.
DEP had made no mention of the deemed denial in its April 12 letter, and this interim response was taken as a good faith effort on the part of the DEP to respond to the right-to-know request, Rippel said.
Subsequent letters, e-mails and phone conversations with the DEP also never made mention of this fact, she said.
"While the right-to-know law certainly includes this confusing provision," Rippel said, "it is now clear to us that the law provides unnecessary cover to agencies at the expense of private citizens and other interested parties. Moreover, we feel the DEP response was ambiguous at best."
The center, along with the Observer-Reporter and DeWeese, had requested materials associated with a DEP interim report on the Duke Lake damage claim.
In that interim report, DEP concluded damage to the dam was caused by mining activities associated with Consol Energy Inc.'s Bailey Mine. Consol has disputed that conclusion.
"I think this is indicative of DEP's strategy to play the system and to avoid and delay disclosure at any cost," said Park Burroughs, editor of the Observer-Reporter.
DeWeese said he was unhappy with the misleading way in which the DEP handled communications regarding the open records request, in which they appeared to be requesting more time to make a final determination.
"It is outrageous that the Center for Coalfield Justice should have to resubmit this right-to-know law request, which will likely add another 30 days to the five long years we have been waiting to get answers on what happened at Duke Lake," DeWeese said.
"I am none too pleased that a state agency has chosen to play a proverbial shell game with semantics, using the fine line between 'interim response' and 'final response' to mislead the Center for Coalfield Justice, the Observer-Reporter and myself," he said.
When the legislature passed the new Open Records Law in 2008, it was with the caveat that it might need to be fine-tuned down the road. "In my mind, a game-playing response may mean that time is at hand," DeWeese said.
A similar right-to-know request was submitted to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which, in contrast to the DEP, met all deadlines for response. An appeal of the DCNR denial is therefore still pending.
The center, Observer-Reporter and DeWeese plan to file a second right-to-know request shortly with DEP, Rippel said.
Two state agencies have denied right-to-know requests filed by the Center for Coalfield Justice, the Observer-Reporter and state Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, asking for the release of reports related to the damage to the dam at Ryerson Station State Park.
Right-to-know requests were filed with the Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Conservation and Natural Resources seeking release of consultant reports referenced in a DEP interim report on the Duke Lake damage claim. In that interim report, DEP had concluded that damage to the dam was caused by mining activities associated with Consol Energy Inc.'s Bailey Mine.
"We are now reviewing the denial and plan to appeal," said Raina Rippel, executive director of the Center for Coalfield Justice. The appeal will be filed with the state Office of Open Records.
The agencies' decision not to release the information again denies the public's right to learn more about the cause of the damage to Duke Lake dam, Rippel said.
"After five long years, the public deserves to know what DEP and DCNR have discovered about the destruction of Duke Lake," said DeWeese in a news release.
DCNR had filed a $58 million lawsuit against Consol after damage to the dam became apparent in July 2005. The court subsequently ordered DCNR to file a damage claim with DEP under the state's Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act.
In February, DEP determined longwall mining at the Bailey Mine was responsible for the damage. Consol disputes that claim and has appealed the decision to the state Environmental Hearing Board.
The right-to-know request seeks the release of reports that are referenced in a publicly released DEP damage claim interim report.
"It is the public that paid for the investigation, is paying for the lawsuit and pays the salaries of the DEP and DCNR," said Park Burroughs, editor of the Observer-Reporter. "The public has an absolute right to see what it is paying for - period."
DEP and DCNR claim they are exempt from disclosing the reports because they are part of the internal "predecisional deliberations" of the agencies and are related to a "noncriminal investigation."
The letter of denial cites the relevant statutes but fails to state specifics including, for example, what decision by the agencies is pending in regard to the dam that justifies the exemption. On Wednesday, DCNR spokeswoman Christina Novak said, though the agency has decided to rebuild the dam, it has not made a decision on the method in which that will be done.
Melissa Melewsky, media law attorney for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, said the state's right-to-know law requires the agencies to cite the statutes but doesn't require them to provide details. The agencies will have to justify their decisions during the appeal before the Office of Open Records, she said.
Though the agencies have indicated the information may eventually be released, Rippel said, that may come too late for any public input in the process. The public should be informed of the process and have a chance to express its concerns and opinions about it, she said.
"We do feel we have a right to know, and we do feel the time to know is now," Rippel said.
The reports are important, Rippel added, because they may contain information refuting regulations DEP follows in determining surface damage caused by underground mining.
DEP assumes surface structures will not be damaged outside a 35-degree angle of influence above an underground mine. Rippel said her group believes this assumption is incorrect.
The center had also filed a right-to-know request regarding the reports prior to the release of DEP's interim report. The request was denied by DCNR, and, on appeal, the Office of Open Records upheld the agency's decision based on the records being related to a noncriminal investigation.
A local effort has begun to obtain reports from two state agencies about the 2005 failure of the Duke Lake Dam at Ryerson Station State Park in Greene County using the state's Right-to-Know law.
State Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, joined the Washington-based Center for Coalfield Justice (CCJ) and the Washington Observer-Reporter newspaper in requesting more than a dozen documents from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Department of Environmental Protection on Tuesday.
An interim report the DEP issued in February stated that long-wall mining at Consol Energy's Bailey Mine caused ground movement that damaged the concrete dam, which was completed in 1960, seven years before the park opened.
The 62-acre lake was drained in July 2005 after the DEP and DCNR found a high number of cracks in the dam and increased seepage from the structure.
Part of the spillway was removed in August 2005 to prevent rain and runoff from refilling the impoundment.
In January 2007, the DCNR filed a notice of its intention to sue Consol in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. The DCNR is reportedly seeking $58 million in damages to repair the dam and other alleged environmental damage, and to restore the lake.
The court instructed the DCNR to file its claim with the DEP, which has sent letters to both parties asking how they wish to address the damages to the dam.
The DEP will try to mediate a resolution and issue an order, which either side could appeal to the state Environmental Hearing Board. The board's decision can be appealed in the court system.
Reports on engineering studies into the cause of the damage to the dam and copies of a letter Consol wrote in response to one engineering report are among the documents DeWeese, CCJ and the newspaper are seeking.
"I am told all of these documents are referenced in an interim report prepared by the Department of Environmental Protection," said DeWeese. "Ryerson is a public property - and the public has a right to know what these state agencies have done, in terms of studying and rectifying this important issue."
He said he hopes the agencies respond quickly to the requests.
The Center for Coalfield Justice also is urging the DEP to consider southwestern Pennsylvania's variable geology before issuing mining permits.
"It's just too variable to have a hard and fast rule," said Cassie McCrae, a community organizer for CCJ.
"While we were pleased to see the Department of Environmental Protection report, which finally acknowledges that long-wall mining in Consol's Bailey Mine was undeniably responsible for the damage to Duke Lake Dam, we now call on the DEP and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to release additional materials to the public," said CCJ executive director Raina Rippel.
By Bob Niedbala, Staff writer, niedbala@observer-reporter.com
March 31, 2010
The Center For Coalfield Justice and the Observer-Reporter have filed a right-to-know request seeking release of reports prepared for the state regarding damage to the Duke Lake dam at Ryerson Station State Park.
The request was filed Tuesday with the state Office of Open Records. It was joined by state Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg.
The request seeks the release of consultant reports referenced in a state Department of Environmental Protection interim report on the Ryerson damage claim, in which the DEP concluded damage to the dam was caused by mining activities associated with Consol Energy Inc.'s Bailey Mine.
"We believe (the reports) should be made available to the public," said Raina Rippel, director of the Center For Coalfield Justice.
Rippel said the group believes the reports may contain information refuting regulations the DEP follows in determining damage on the surface caused by underground mining.
In issuing mining permits, the DEP presumes surface structures will not be damaged outside a 35-degree angle of influence above an underground mine. The center believes these permitting assumption are incorrect and state mining law is based on this faulty assumption.
"We have a very strong feeling the results, particularly out of the Gannett Fleming report, calls this into question," Rippel said. Gannett Fleming was initially employed by the state to determine the cause of the problem at the dam.
Park Burroughs, editor of the Observer-Reporter, agreed the documents should be made available to the public.
"We feel these are public documents; they were researched and written with taxpayer money and the public has a right to review them," he said.
The request asks for reports referenced in a publicly released DEP report entitled "Ryerson Station State Park Ryerson Station Dam Damage Claim SA1736 Interim Report."
The reports include those prepared by consultants specifically on factors associated with damage to the Duke Lake dam.
It also asks for reports addressing possible subsidence in other instances, including a report on the undermining of Interstate 70 in Washington County and one on the apparent ground movement at the Holbrook Compressor Station adjacent to Ryerson park.
In February, DEP determined longwall mining at the Bailey Mine was responsible for ground movement that damaged the dam at Ryerson Station State Park. Consol has disputed the claim and appealed the decision to the state Environmental Hearing Board.
The 62-acre lake was drained July 29, 2005, after inspections by DEP and DCNR revealed expanding cracks in the 45-year-old concrete dam. A month later, DCNR removed part of the spillway to prevent water from backing up in the lake bed during heavy rains.
A DEP spokesman could not be reached Tuesday afternoon for comment.
The state Department of Environmental Protection has determined longwall mining at Consol Energy Inc.'s Bailey Mine was responsible for ground movement that damaged the dam at Duke Lake at Ryerson Station State Park.
DEP had initiated the investigation following a decision by Allegheny County Court in a lawsuit filed by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources against Consol seeking $58 million in damages for the dam.
A court order, issued in October 2008, directed DCNR to file a claim with DEP under the state's Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act for damage sustained at the dam.
DEP said its decision came following an extensive analysis. "These findings were based on concrete information from Consol, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, DEP files and months of site observations," said Michael Terretti, DEP's director of mining operations.
"The department stands behind its findings and will now move into the second phase of its investigation, which is to address the appropriate remedy," Terretti said.
Consol spokesman Joe Cerenzia said the company was disappointed in DEP's decision.
"Our position is that we don't believe (the damage was) mine related and we intend to appeal the decision to the state Environmental Hearing Board," he said.
Cerenzia said mining in the area took place more than 1,000 feet from the dam, far enough away to prevent any damage. The company's mining plan also had been approved by DEP, he said.
The 62-acre lake was drained July 29, 2005, after inspections by DEP and DCNR revealed expanding cracks in the 45-year-old concrete dam. A month later, DCNR removed part of the spillway to prevent water from backing up in the lake bed during heavy rains.
DEP's interim report on the dam concludes that except for longwall mining, no other activity took place in the spring and summer of 2005 that could account for the movement of ground and damage to the dam. The report also excluded dam instability and hillside instability as potential causes.
Underground coal mines can cause ground movement and damage at greater distances than customary mine subsidence theory typically predicts, DEP said.
This was the case with the Ryerson Station dam incident where DEP found a number of other examples of subsidence such as pipeline buckling and road and stream heaving.
DEP also discovered several instances of ground movements in areas beyond the customary prediction area in its files and in examples Consol identified throughout Appalachian coal fields.
Raina Rippel, director of the Center for Coalfield Justice, said with the decision the group felt justified in its belief damage to the dam was caused by subsidence.
"All along we felt we knew this was related to longwall mining," Rippel said. "Obviously, we're not surprised (with the decision) and we feel the results are well overdue."
Rippel also said the group feels damage to the dam points out a flawed mine permitting process, in that DEP based its determination of where subsidence damage would occur on the surface on a theory which unfortunately did not hold true in this case.
DEP spokesman Neil Weaver said DEP will now begin working with DCNR and Consol on a way to remedy the situation, "whatever that may be."
Regarding DEP's issuance of the mining permit, Weaver said, the permit had been issued after it was determined to meet all the required standards.
What happened to the dam was unfortunate, he said. "No one could have expected it to happen." Weaver said it was still too early to speculate on whether this case would lead to any changes regarding mining standards.
DCNR's staff, working with the engineering firm Gannett Fleming Inc., has continue to develop plans to replace the dam, DCNR spokeswoman Chris Novak said.
"We hope to start design of a new dam in the spring," she said. "We expect that construction on a new dam would begin sometime in 2012."
Dance Mob Intercepts Coal
Executives in Pittsburgh!
Activists from the PA Sierra Student Coalition and PA Alliance for Coal Free Generation staged a flash dance mob earlier today along the route of a “Just Ducky” tour from the International Coal Conference.
Check out this video of the action.
“We were out there to show that regardless of what the coal industry is claiming, coal is dirty, outdated and is poisoning communities. We can do better,” said Sasha Shyduroff, an Organizer with the Sierra Student Coalition.
The Dance Mob was part of actions happening throughout the week of September 21st during the International Pittsburgh Coal Conference and G20 Summit
"Flash Mobs" Test Pittsburgh's Tolerance By Robin Acton and Betsy Hiel Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (video available online)
September 22, 2009
Pittsburghers carried on business as usual throughout the city Monday ahead of the Group of 20 economic summit, which brought artistic demonstrations to Downtown streets and city parks and led two groups to accuse police of harassment.
Workers erected barriers around federal buildings, security officers patrolled sidewalks fronting banks and demonstrators organized several educational events, but police reported no problems with protesters and no arrests. Amid the preparations, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of two groups -- Seeds of Peace and Three Rivers Climate Convergence -- which claim Pittsburgh police illegally targeted and harassed them.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said: "What I will tell you is we believe that we have a well-trained police force that is going to use their training and expertise to keep everybody safe while balancing the First Amendment rights of those that are in our city."
Demonstrators and visitors faced off a few times as "flash mobs" gathered suddenly in public places to perform.
A Just Ducky Tour boat carrying experts in town for the International Coal Conference was blocked in the afternoon near Roberto Clemente Park by three young people on bikes, who unfurled a poster that read, "It's time to move beyond coal."
Liadi Mudashiru, a research associate from an energy institute at New Castle University in England, shouted back: "We support coal. Coal is very safe. ... Coal is going to be very important for the world's energy security in the future."
Dressed in a T-shirt that read "Coal is Dirty," Raina Rippel, 35, a director of Coalfield Justice, countered that mining and waste disposal help to create a "ring of fire" around Pittsburgh.
Earlier in the day, a flash mob of protesters wearing bathrobes and covered in German, English and U.S. flags appeared at Seventh and Penn avenues to serve as a "wake-up call" for G-20 leaders about climate change.
Kim Huynh, 22, a climate activist from the Avaaz organization, said the group wants "a fair, ambitious and binding treaty at the Copenhagen negotiations" in November.
Today, U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster will hear arguments on the ACLU lawsuit that seeks monetary damages and an injunction prohibiting police from searching or detaining group members without a warrant. It asks for a restraining order to prevent police from asking for identification without making an arrest.
Seeds for Peace activists said they've experienced a "pattern of harassment" from law enforcement since Friday. Peter Dolan of Olympia, Wash., said two officers searched their parked vehicles in Polish Hill that afternoon without a warrant and detained the owners when they objected.
The lawsuit claims police illegally searched and seized a bus and forced members to pay $220 to retrieve it from the tow pound.
On Sunday night, 30 officers armed with semiautomatic weapons raided private property in Lawrenceville and attempted to search the buses with no warrant, the group claims. When the owners declined, police detained four group members on loitering charges for two hours before letting them go with no citation, the lawsuit states.
The activists said they found another place to park the buses -- on private property, behind a fence, on Sassafras Street in Oakland. However, Dolan said more than 40 officers, some carrying assault rifles, approached the home Sunday night.
"One officer said that I needed to take a shower and that I was trying to bring swine flu to the state and I was, therefore, a Homeland Security threat. They keep trying to intimidate us," Dolan said.
Last night, a roving police patrol stopped a Seeds for Peace bus shortly before 7:30 p.m. in the 500 block of Larimer Avenue. Activists wouldn't allow officers to search the bus, so they called in the city's vehicle inspection unit.
They cited the driver, Randy Mark of Montana, for failing to have a license that would allow him to operate a bus and for parking on a sidewalk, which the activists said happened after they were pulled over.
"It kind of seems wherever we go and no matter what we do, this happens," said Mark.
On Sunday, police initially blocked the G-6 Billion group from marching on a sidewalk that runs underneath the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Group members said Pittsburgh police Sgt. Sean Duffy later apologized for not reading the permit. Duffy could not be reached for comment.
Organizers reported no incidents yesterday in Point State Park, where groups set up a tent city in homage to war refugees worldwide. Representatives from Black Voices for Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine, Code Pink, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Veterans for Peace and Iraq Veterans Against the War strung banners spelling out "peace" in all the languages of the G-20 nations.
"We realized that 80 percent of the victims of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries are women and children," said Francine Porter of Shaler, director of Pittsburgh's Code Pink chapter. "We thought that our groups were the best to raise public awareness about a global refugee crisis."
Porter and other activists blamed the United States and its G-20 allies for continuing "imperialist" policies that place nations on a constant war footing. They advocate slashing the defense budget and bringing troops home from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"The U.S. faces too many challenges at home. We need to take the funds we're spending on war and use them for housing, food, education, health care for people in this country," said Porter, a critical care nurse.
At noon, amateur poets gathered at the park entrance. Some read original works about humanity, homelessness and drug addiction, while others relied on the works of Pablo Neruda, W.H. Auden, Thomas Blackburn and Walt Whitman.
"My brother went to Iraq," said Jay Brunell of Bethlehem. "He died over there. When he came back, the man I hugged was dead."
Ads tout future without coal: Campaign urges transition to renewable energy By Don Hopey Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Friday, September 18, 2009
All those hunky, dirty-faced coal miners staring from the region's billboards and touting coal's role in powering America have a new anti-coal ad campaign to look at.
The Pennsylvania Alliance for a Coal-Free Generation yesterday unveiled a billboard, bus stop and Internet ad campaign that confronts the coal industry ad claims of clean coal and urges a transition to renewable energy sources and more efficient technologies.
"We need to start challenging the coal billboards where the industry falsely advertises 'clean coal' and begin to draw attention to the truth," said Raina Rippel, executive director of the Washington, Pa.-based Center for Coalfield Justice, during a news conference at Forbes Avenue and Craig Street, where "A Coal-Free Future" ad adorns a Port Authority Transit bus kiosk.
The $15,000 ad campaign, developed by the alliance over the last year, also has billboards along Bigelow Boulevard and Banksville Road.
This year the industry-backed American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity is spending more than $40 million on advertising touting the power production and patriotism of coal use.
Far from the industry's ad image, coal mining destroys communities through subsidence and pollutes the environment, said Randy Francisco, Sierra Club Pennsylvania campaign organizer.
"The Pittsburgh region is so tied to a coal-fired economy that it may lose out to other areas as the nation transitions to more sustainable energy sources," Mr. Francisco said. "I think we're poised for a transition to wind and solar and green buildings and can take the lead, though it will take a while."
In addition to the Sierra Club and Center for Coalfield Justice, other groups in the alliance include the Citizens Coal Council, Clean Water Action, the Environmental Integrity Project and the Mountain Watershed Association.
More information on the coal-free campaign is available on the alliance's Web site at www.CoalFreeGeneration.com.
Don Hopey can be reached at dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.
First published on September 18, 2009 at 12:00 am
Pennsylvania environmental groups have asked the Obama administration to put on hold its nomination of state Department of Environmental Protection mining official Joseph Pizarchik to head the federal Office of Surface Mining.
Mr. Pizarchik's nomination to the Interior Department position is opposed by the coalfield groups because of his involvement in decisions that favor the coal industry in Pennsylvania.
His hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is scheduled for today, but the groups want it pushed back to after the August Congressional recess.
"We feel the process is being rushed through and hope we can get this delayed," said Raina Rippel, director of the Center for Coalfield Justice, a multi-state citizens group in Washington, Pa. "The actions Joseph Pizarchik has taken in Pennsylvania have been detrimental to coalfield citizens."
Joining the call to delay the hearing so the groups can provide more input are the Mountain Watershed Association, Citizens Coal Council and the Environmental Integrity Project. The groups have delivered letters to the committee chairman, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., containing 128 signatures of coalfield residents.
Aimee Erickson, of the Citizens Coal Council, said that in 1994 Mr.
Pizarchik, then a DEP attorney, was on an ad-hoc committee that wrote amendments to the state mining law that allowed for filling of stream valleys with coal waste, an amendment sought by the mining industry. She said that during his decade at the DEP, where he is currently director of the Bureau of Mining and Reclamation, he also allowed the controversial practice of dumping coal ash in abandoned mines.
"The scheduling of this quickie hearing allows for no citizen input into the confirmation process," said Krissy Kasserman, Youghiogheny Riverkeeper with the Mountain Watershed Association. "Decisions made by Mr. Pizarchik while he was with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection have had serious negative impacts on the lives of coalfield citizens, and those citizens deserve a chance to participate in the process."
Mr. Pizarchik declined to comment and referred questions to the Interior Department. Kendra Barkoff, press secretary to Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar, said it is department policy to restrict access to nominees until after their hearing. She defended the nomination.
"After a lifetime dedicated to balanced, innovative natural resource management, Joe Pizarchik is highly qualified to lead an agency that is regularly called to manage contentious issues," Ms. Barkoff said. "He is fair-minded, listens to all perspectives, and has a deep commitment to protecting our nation's lands, waterways and communities, and enforcing our environmental laws."
Don Hopey can be reached at dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.
First published on August 6, 2009 at 12:00 am
The state Department of Environmental Protection issued three permits Monday that will allow Allegheny Energy to expand its landfill at the Hatfield's Ferry Power Station.
The expansion will permit the company to operate the plant's new scrubber system, which will significantly reduce air pollution emitted from the plant.
The permits include a modification to expand the landfill adjacent to the Hatfield station; a permit to collect and treat leachate, contaminated water that collects from landfills; and a water encroachment permit to fill in a wetland and build a replacement.
The scrubbers, expected to begin operations this year, will generate a threefold increase of waste, DEP said. Expanding the landfill is necessary to manage the additional waste and extend its useful life.
Scrubbers reduce the amount of particulate matter and sulfur dioxide emitted from power plants. The equipment at Hatfield's Ferry is expected to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 255,000 tons a year and particulate matter by 1,900 tons a year.
The reduction in air pollutants will mean an increase in the amount of solid waste generated at the plant. Solid wastes will increase from 445,000 tons to 1,780,000 tons a year, DEP said.
Allegheny Energy's existing landfill covers 187 acres. The company will expand the landfill by 180 acres and increase the disposal area by 106 acres.
The proposed expansion area will include a liner system and provide an additional 14.1 million cubic yards of disposal capacity, which will allow the site to be used for at least seven and a half years beyond the current permit expiration date of Nov. 1, 2009, DEP said.
The existing landfill site does not have a liner but will be capped with a liner to prevent water from permeating the site, DEP said.
During an environmental assessment completed April 30, 2007, Allegheny Energy demonstrated the landfill expansion would generate social and economic benefits that outweigh any potential environmental harms.
As an example, DEP noted that were Allegheny Energy not to expand the existing on-site landfill, it would have to develop a new disposal site at a more distant location from the plant.
This would result in an estimated increase of 350 truck trips a day carrying this waste over public roads, DEP said.
Two public meetings were held during the technical review of the landfill permit modification. The first, in November 2005, was for local public officials. The second, in June 2007, was an environmental justice meeting conducted by DEP and Allegheny Energy.
Copyright Observer Publishing Co.
The state Department of Environmental Protection has approved a plan to
fix a Washington County creek that is now dry because of mine subsidence.
Consol Energy Inc. said it will work to fix Craft Creek in Morris
Township by leveling high points of the stream bed in an attempt to
restore the water flow. Work is expected to begin when temperatures move
above freezing for several consecutive days.
A DEP inspector last month found that stretches of Craft Creek and four
tributaries were dry because of subsidence caused by longwall mining at
Consol's Enlow Fork Mine.
The mining company submitted a stream restoration plan before the Dec. 12
deadline, and the DEP approved it Friday. DEP spokeswoman Helen Humphreys
said heavy rainfall in recent weeks has reinvigorated the creek, but the
department still expects Consol to permanently fix the 1,000-foot portion
of impacted stream within a "reasonable" time frame.
"They'll have to essentially shave enough of the high point to allow for
it to naturally flow again," Humphreys said.
Morris Township Supervisor Scott Finch said he has regularly checked
Craft Creek and thinks the mining has affected a larger portion than
previously thought. He claimed to measure more than 7,000 feet of "bone
dry" stream bed along with the other tributaries that feed the creek.
"The only time I've seen it running is when it's raining," Finch said. "They can repair the creek, and it will carry the storm water, but the
lifeblood of the creek is gone."
According to the rehabilitation plans, Consol also may do additional work
to strengthen the banks of the creek. Humphreys said a small manmade dam
breached years ago, causing problems to the banking unrelated to the mine
subsidence.
However, more permits might be needed to complete that work, so Consol
requested and received an additional 30 days to submit a plan on that
particular job.
"It's something the DEP wanted us to include in the restoration work
because we're in that neck of the wood," said Tom Hoffman, Consol's
senior vice president of investor relations.
Meanwhile, the Center for Coalfield Justice recently petitioned the
acting DEP Secretary John Hanger to force Consol to idle the Enlow Fork
Mine because of the subsidence. Raina Rippel, executive director of the
organization, suggested Consol use room-and-pillar mining techniques to
reduce the chances of harming Craft Creek and other streams in the area.
"Longwall mining as currently practiced in Pennsylvania has had
disastrous consequences for the commonwealth's water resources and to the
many undermined communities," Rippel said. "The DEP must halt operations
at Enlow Fork immediately until it can be proven that no additional
damage will occur."
DEP officials maintained that Consol is following proper procedures to
fix the creek.
Thirty-nine environmental groups are urging President-elect Barack Obama to reject a pending federal rule that will make it easier to dispose of coal combustion waste from power plants in abandoned mines despite risks of water contamination.
The groups, including eight from Pennsylvania, say coal ash has already polluted water in 23 states and the new rule would open the way for more pollution by failing to require consideration of risks to human health and the environment before new disposal sites are approved.
They say stronger regulation of the coal ash and "common sense safeguards" to prevent drinking water contamination, as recommended by a 2006 National Academy of Sciences review, is warranted.
"Disposal of coal ash in mines is a growing practice that threatens the health and environment of coalfield communities," said Lisa Graves Marcucci, president of Jefferson Action Group in Jefferson Hills, who noted that 120 abandoned mines are already used for ash disposal in Pennsylvania.
Coal-fired power plants produce approximately 129 million tons of waste ash a year, the second-largest industrial waste stream in the nation. About 25 million tons are dumped in coal mines, including 6 million tons annually in Pennsylvania.
The waste contains numerous hazardous materials including arsenic, selenium, lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, boron, thallium and molybdenum. Water pollution has resulted in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, North Dakota and New Mexico.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection allows for the "beneficial use" of high alkalinity coal combustion waste in mine reclamation projects, if properly placed above the groundwater table and capped with topsoil and re-vegetated to reduce contact with rainwater.
The pending rule by the U.S. Office of Surface Mining and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the latest in a series of controversial, end-of-term rule-making actions by the Bush administration aimed at easing environmental regulations to benefit various industries.
An example is the Dec. 12 rule issued by OSM eliminating a 100-foot buffer zone around streams and make it easier for coal mining companies, especially those engaged in "mountaintop removal" mining, to dump rocky waste in valley streams. A lawsuit challenging that rule was filed yesterday by five environmental groups in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
In a letter to Mr. Obama released by the groups from 10 states yesterday, he is asked to send the coal ash rule back to OSM and the EPA and restart the rule-making process to allow for comment by environmental groups as well as industry.
"These 11th hour rules gut consumer protection and environmental laws for the sake of special interests," the groups said in the letter. "The coalfield residents will be unfairly excluded from receiving the same basic environmental safeguards enjoyed by the rest of the country."
The OSM proposed a draft rule in March 2007 permitting the disposal of coal combustion waste in mines. It attracted almost 2,000 public comments voicing concern. In August 2007 the EPA's own assessment of ash disposal found high risks to human health and the environment from the disposal of coal ash in waste ponds and landfills.
"EPA has made no attempt to assess the threat posed by disposal of coal ash in mines but instead passed the responsibility for regulation to OSM," said Aimee Erickson, coordinator for Citizens Coal Council, a Washington County-based citizens group. "If OSM permits the dumping of coal ash in mines, it will allow the creation of illegal open dumps."
Other Pennsylvania groups signing the letter are the Pittsburgh-based Group Against Smog and Pollution; Mountain Watershed Association in Fayette County; and four Washington County groups, the Center for Coalfield Justice, Residents Against Power Plant, Ten Mile Creek Watershed Conservancy and Ten Mile Protection Network.
One of the most popular fishing and recreational spots in Greene County soon may be on its way to recovery as a result of state and local cooperation.
A task force dedicated to reopening the 62-acre Duke Lake in Ryerson Station State Park met recently and forwarded its design ideas to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which is now
reviewing the data.
The group of local officials and state representatives has met several times since the lake was drained in July 2005 after cracks began developing and expanding in its concrete dam.
Dam redesign plans are moving forward despite ongoing litigation with Consol Energy, which was sued for more than $58 million earlier this year by the DCNR over the company's Bailey Mine, believed to be the cause of
the dam failure.
Company officials maintain the mine was too far from Duke Lake to cause subsidence damage, but a $1.2 million study ruled out natural causes last year.
DCNR Press Secretary Christina Novak said that ideas generated by the task force have been submitted to a design company, the Maguire Group, for review.
The company is expected to take six to eight weeks to review the
material, after which it will develop a design program outlining the specific tasks necessary to complete the design, time schedule and the estimated cost, Ms. Novak said.
The company also will begin gathering additional topographic survey information that it believes necessary to support the design, she said.
Along with a rebuilt dam, task force member Harry Gillespie, of the
Friends of Ryerson citizens group, said the designers would be asked to look at some new features, such as a walking trail around the lake, more cabins and habitat improvement.
Dredging several feet of sediment from the now-dry lake bottom would create a deeper impoundment and the opportunity to stock a wider variety of fish, he said.
"It will certainly be better because it will be dredged," Mr. Gillespie said of the lake.
Members of the Center for Coalfield Justice, who sponsored the second DRYerson festival in July to mark the third year that the lake has been closed, said they were optimistic that improvements would begin soon.
"I am certainly hopeful that this recreational asset will return to
Greene County," said executive director Raina Rippel.
Ms. Rippel cautioned that monitoring and testing for subsidence damage should continue to ensure the dam's future stability.
"These impacts can take place over months," she said. "It's a terrible shame when community resources like this are taken away."
State Rep. H. William DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, said he and fellow task force member state Sen. J. Barry Stout, D-Bentleyville, have been monitoring progress.
"Sen. Stout and I have been in regular contact with DCNR to assure that
the project moves forward and does not get buried beneath other plans,"
Mr. DeWeese said in a recent statement. "[DCNR] Secretary Mike
DiBerardinis is to be commended for responding to our requests and for pursuing a course of action with vigor."
In the same statement, Mr. Stout said the task force is seeking ways to fund the improvements with the help of Gov. Ed Rendell.
The 1,164-acre park, opened in 1967 for picnicking, hiking and camping, also has a swimming pool. The concrete dam across the north fork of the Dunkard Fork of Wheeling Creek was built in 1960.
Three environmental groups Wednesday submitted a report to the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, challenging an
attempt by Consol Energy Inc. to have Grinnage Run in Gray and Richhill
townships in Greene County redesignated from a high quality-warm water
fishery to a warm water fishery.
Youghiogheny riverkeeper Krissy Kasserman of the Mountain Watershed
Association said, "The report shows that Grinnage Run once met its high
quality designation and that, with appropriate measures in place, it will
once again. The report cautions that Grinnage Run will never again meet
its high quality designation if Consol's petition is granted and the
company is permitted to conduct the underground mining activities that it
seeks through its petition to allow."
Terri Davin, community organizer for the Center for Coalfield Justice,
said, "For too long, the coal industry has damaged our streams, leaving
pollution behind that is destroying our watersheds. Grinnage Run has
largely and miraculously eluded this damage, and we intend to keep it
that way. If Consol succeeds in its plan to downgrade the stream,
residents and businesses in Greene County will suffer."
Brian Glass, staff attorney for PennFuture and counsel to the
environmental groups, said, "Under the law, a stream may not be
downgraded if at one time it attained its designated level of protection,
as Grinnage Run did. A stream also may not be downgraded if it could once
again attain its designated level of protection, as Grinnage Run can."
On Aug. 16, 2006, Consol submitted a petition for rulemaking to the
Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board, an independent board that
reviews and approves all of DEP's regulations, asking to downgrade
Grinnage Run basin from its source to the confluence with Grays Fork. DEP
has been charged with studying the issue and reporting back to the EQB
with its recommendation.
The three environmental groups claim the report filed Wednesday
demonstrates that it would be contrary to both Pennsylvania and federal
law to redesignate Grinnage Run and is meant to inform DEP's study and
the EQB's decision making.
Festival today marks draining of lake that stood in Ryerson Station State
Park
Damage to a dam, which some say was caused by mining, resulted in a park
lake that no longer holds water
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
[ Image ]
Rebecca Droke/Post-Gazette
The site of Duke Lake in Ryerson Station State Park in Greene County is
now dry. It was drained three years ago after cracks developed in a dam.
The Center for Coalfield Justice and the Wheeling Creek Watershed
Conservancy will sponsor the second annual DRYerson Festival from 11 a.m.
to 3 p.m. today to mark the third year since Duke Lake in Ryerson Station
State Park was drained because of a fracture in a dam.
The festival sponsors note that the draining of Duke Lake killed many
fish and aquatic life and destroyed a major recreational asset of the
community.
The state has sued Consol Energy Inc., claiming it lied about the risks
of mining under the park and caused the failure of the dam.
The lawsuit, filed Jan. 31 by the state Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources, marks the first time that a state agency pointed the
finger at the coal company for extensive damages to the park.
Local environmental groups and others have been urging the state to go
after the Upper St. Clair-based mining company for what they believe is
subsidence damage caused by the Bailey Mine. They also put some of the
blame on the state for its failure to properly monitor and restrict
longwall coal mining in certain areas.
The state hopes to rebuild the dam.
The theme of today's event is "Let's get the D out of Dryerson." The
festival at the site of the lake aims to recall memories and rally
supporters to take a stand against the future destruction of lakes and
streams by coal companies.
The activities will be at Ryerson Station State Park, Pavilion 3 off
Bristoria Road in Richhill, Greene County.
Free food, games for adults and children, an educational program, prizes
and raffles will be offered.
The Greene County Bassmasters will conduct a casting contest for
teenagers and provide a seminar on casting and boat safety tips. The
state Department of Conversation and Natural Resources will give a guided
tree identification tour of its newly planted trees and a fly-tying
demonstration.
Also, to celebrate Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary, the Center for
Coalfield Justice is working with WYEP and Allegheny Front to provide an
oral history of the Wheeling Creek Watershed, including Ryerson State
Park, by Cliff Amos, of Greene County.
For information, directions or to volunteer, contact the Center for
Coalfield Justice at 724-229-3550 or info@coalfieldjustice.org.
