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