Conveyor Could Cause Pollution

Washington PA  Observer Reporter
4 February 2011

With a recent publicly requested hearing on the second phase of Consol's Enlow Fork Mine overland conveyor scheduled on a weekday afternoon, it was obvious that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection was not providing a great window for local residents to seek answers for their concerns about the proposed project. In fact, only 10 local residents were able to attend the hearing, while nine DEP representatives and 13 Consol employees filled the room.

While this conveyor project reduces the risks to miners underground, it also allows the company to displace those risks to local residents above ground without penalty, and a bonus 30 to 50 percent cost savings for the company.

Because the conveyor is not completely enclosed, both DEP and Consol acknowledged that "absolute" containment to prevent any material spillage or water vapor evaporation/ runoff is not possible. There are already material spillages occurring on the first phase of the overland conveyor.

Industry insiders admit that in conveying coal on a beltline underground, there is a great amount of dust released; dust that studies show contain carcinogenic particulates which are contributing factors in black lung and other respiratory diseases. If that coal dust is dispersed above ground, those particulates will be released into the air we breathe.

The industry's solution to controlling the dust is to continuously spray the coal with water. With that, the problem now becomes not only an air quality problem but a water quality problem. Of concern are the 4,983 feet of streams of the Upper Wheeling Creek watershed.

Of even greater concern is the fact that monitoring of the air and water quality surrounding this three-mile overland conveyor will be conducted by Consol, and we are all too aware of the benefits of self-monitoring programs by fossil fuel industries in this country, aren't we?

The recent announcement by the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation and Enforcement seeking new standards for water quality and method restrictions may be our only hope in ensuring the quality of our water resources; all the while hoping that our lobbyist-friendly politicians do not begin working to dismantle this agency, too.

It is unfortunate that urban America's "clean" coal will always be rural America's dirty and deadly burden. So, until America realizes that there is no such thing as "clean" coal and acknowledges that fossil fuels are not the answer, please help us by turning off those lights. As less coal burned means less coal mined, and apparently our only solution to keeping our air and water safe.

Jacie Carter

Claysville