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AFP Photo / Luke Sharrett
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Residents have been opposed since it was first announced, while environmentalists say they've never seen a plan like it.
Ramaco, LLC, a Kentucky based coal company, is seeking approval
from Pennsylvania regulators to open a longwall mine and extract
up to eight million tons of coal from beneath the farms and
countryside of Nottingham Township, Pa. To dispose of the waste
that will be generated during excavation, the company plans to
pump toxic wastewater into the depths of a nearby abandoned mine.
Existing issues with the site have residents weary of further
development. The former Mathies Mine was owned by Mon View
Mining, which went bankrupt in 2005, three years after the
company laid off its 200 workers. Absolved of its
responsibilities by the bankruptcy, a common occurrence for
mining operations at the time, the company was not required to
continue managing the Mathies site.
Over one million gallons of acid mine drainage (AMD) now flow
from the mine daily,
according to the
website of the company hired by the state to treat the waste.
AMD forms when mines are not properly maintained and actively
pumped free of water. The potentially dangerous mixture of water,
heavy metals and toxins can be created long after a mine is no
longer active. Exposed minerals react with air and pooling water,
creating a toxic sulphuric mixture and other by-products.
Contaminated water will kill plants, animals, insects and aquatic
life if the levels of acidity reach high enough levels.
Nottingham residents fear adding more waste to the old mine would
overwhelm the facility tasked with handling the drainage.
“Ramaco is proposing to dump their wastewater into an
abandoned mine, footing the taxpayer with the bill for the
treatment process,” Veronica Coptis, a member of the Center
for Coalfield Justice group told the local
Union-Finley Messenger.
Concern also exists over whether the toxic water would be capable
of reaching the treatment plant. To be processed, the waste water
would need to travel four miles underground to the state facility
without absorbing into the earth or escaping into waterways.
Directly over the tunnels are farm land, creeks and a county
park.
How the company hopes to achieve this outcome is uncertain.
Environmentalists say they’ve never seen a similar plan, while a
spokesperson with the DEP told the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in March that significant questions
still remain over the details of Ramaco’s proposal.
Speaking about the state’s problems with mine drainage more
broadly, the representative also told the paper,
“We have
thousands of miles of streams and creeks that are fouled by mine
drainage."
State Rep. Rick Saccone publicly opposes the project and wrote a
letter to Ramaco in February echoing the concerns of activists
and his constituents, saying he fears the plan
“opens up the
doors for ground contamination and unsafe consequences on
constituents.”
Boom and Bust
Nottingham sits in the middle of a region with a long history of
industry. Mining and steel production were once the economic
engines of the Mon Valley, which originates in West Virginia and
winds north to Pittsburgh. The hulking steel mills that lined the
Monongahela River and the countless mines that tunneled
underneath the nearby green, rolling hills helped Pittsburgh
become the center of American manufacturing for much of the 20th
century.
Although once directly providing tens of thousands of jobs and
supporting a hundred thousand more, the industries experienced a
massive economic collapse in the 1980s that eliminated most of
the jobs they sustained. The region was thrust into double digit
unemployment and then economic stagnation for the better part of
two decades.
Like the rest of the region, Nottingham experienced booms and
busts as well. The small town of 2,500 sits 30 miles south of
Pittsburgh next to the Monongahela River on top of a large coal
bed. Opened in the 1940s, the Mathies mine, where Ramaco plans to
dispose of any waste generated by its project, produced coal for
half a century, but suffered a series of setbacks that resulted
in its closing. A partial tunnel collapse in October 1990
triggered a fire, requiring the mine be sealed off. Nearly 600
workers lost their jobs and a hundred nearby families evacuated
to escape the sulphuric smoke and carbon monoxide that rose from
the tunnels.
Steel Corporation sold the mine three years later in
December 1993 and it was finally reopened. Only a fraction of the
jobs returned, however, and they lasted less than a decade before
the operation’s final closure due to financial difficulties.
A world away
Gulf Coast residents in Louisiana have been waging their own
battle against Ramaco’s sister company and partners.
Due to its prime location at the mouth of the Mississippi River,
Myrtle Grove, La. was chosen as the location for an export
facility to ship domestically mined coal to booming Asian
markets. Located in Plaquemines Parish just south of New Orleans,
the community already contains two coal export terminals.
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Healthy Brown pelicans sit along Cat Island in Barataria Bay near Myrtle Grove, Louisiana
(Reuters / Sean Gardner)
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Thick
clouds of black coal dust originating from the nearby
facilities leave layers of grime on homes, cars and the rest of
the town. Residents worry RAM Terminals’ proposed facility would
only add to this and other problems. Asthma and respiratory
conditions are common, and locals place most of the blame on the
coal companies.
The Sierra Club and local environmental groups take issue with
the proposed terminal as well, fearing its impact on plans to
restore fragile coastal wetlands, an issue that gained national
attention following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Organizations such as the
Gulf Restoration Network believe the Mid-Barataria Sediment
Diversion, a $400 million state project to divert the Mississippi
River, would be jeopardized if the facility is built.
The diversion’s proposed location is directly adjacent to and
downstream of the site RAM Terminals was granted a permit to
build on. Pollution from the facility could be directed into the
wetlands meant to be reconstructed, while needed sediment flowing
down the Mississippi River would be impeded. When the Louisiana
Department of Natural Resources approved RAM’s coastal use permit
in September, a coalition of locals and advocacy groups responded
by filing a lawsuit calling the approval illegal.
If the project clears the multiple hurdles it faces, there is a
high-likelihood the terminal will process coal from Nottingham.
In a
2013 issue of industry newsletter Coal Trader, Ramaco
President Michael Bauersachs addressed the possibility of
shipping the Nottingham coal to Asia:
"We could look to the
export market," he said.
"That's a very good
possibility." The mine is close to the Monongahela River, so
"we could send it to New Orleans" for transport
overseas.
The US coal market is shrinking rapidly. New environmental
regulations and a desire for cleaner energy are forcing suppliers
to look for overseas buyers. China and India have been the two
largest importers in recent years, lacking the domestic supplies
to feed their rapidly expanding economies.
If the coal from Nottingham is ultimately destined for Asia, the
trip to New Orleans and across the Pacific Ocean would be a
minimum 13,000 mile, carbon emitting global voyage opposed by
nearly everyone along its path.
