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Township supervisors Tom Stull and Gregory Grimm barely had a chance to dream about how they could use a windfall from a new source — an energy company's novel offer to share a portion of its profits from a deep coal mine — before the largess was threatened.
A proposed “Community Fund” that could generate about $2 million for the two municipalities to spend over several years was announced at a goodwill dinner Jan. 12 at Donegal Community Center by officials of LCT Energy LP, based in Cambria County.
The dinner was intended to salve old wounds from a five-year battle between the company and environmentalists and residents who are worried about pollution from the proposed Rustic Ridge Mine.
In December, the state Department of Environmental protection approved LCT's plan to extract 18 million tons of metallurgical coal beneath 2,886 acres straddling Westmoreland and Fayette counties.
The Mountain Watershed Association's decision to appeal the permit Jan. 13 now jeopardizes the municipal funding offer, LCT officials told the Tribune-Review.
“More or less … that's the way it looks now. We can't afford to do both (contribute to the fund and fight the legal battle). … We've been working on this for five years now,” President Mark Tercek said.
Stull, of Donegal, and Grimm, of Saltlick, said neither township had time to make plans for the funds.
“We weren't counting on that money. We had really just heard about it that night at the dinner,” Stull said. “… That money would be put to good use in the community.”
He called the mine “a real political hot potato. On one hand, we could certainly use the potential jobs, but at the same time we are concerned about the environment.”
Grimm said the money would be a boon to Saltlick, a largely rural township in Fayette.
“We only recently learned about the fund. … That money would definitely help us out,” he said.
The watershed association, a Fayette-based conservation organization, claims LCT's proposed mine could cause pollution discharges into Champion Creek, a tributary of Indian Creek, which flows in the Youghiogheny River.
In 2014, company officials said the $50 million deep mine project would infuse about $120 million into the local economy, bringing “over 100 high-paying jobs to an area where jobs are sorely needed and people are looking for work.”
The mine would be 176 to 625 feet below the surface and generate about 258 truckloads of coal per day over its estimated life of 18 years, according to the company.
But the watershed group's executive director, Beverly Braverman, termed LCT's threat to withdraw the special fund so it can pay legal fees related to the appeal as “ludicrous.”
The proposed mining operation covers such a large area “that they had to know someone would file an appeal,” she said. “It's my opinion that they had to know it would be appealed. … I wonder if they ever had any intention to establish that fund,” Braverman said.
“LCT's refusal to fund the community trust in the event of an appeal shows both their lack of commitment to our community and their lack of confidence in their proposal. The amount offered for the … trust is insultingly insufficient when compared to the potential environmental devastation, particularly in an area economically dependent on its natural resources,” Braverman said.
Word that the energy company may rescind the offer because of the appeal was made public in a one-page statement from the company in the Mountain Laurel Chamber of Commerce's February newsletter.
“LCT hoped that approval of the permit by the DEP, approval of the permit by (Mountain Watershed Association's own Rand Am mine expert and the establishment of the Community Fund), LCT would be able to avoid a permit appeal by the MWA. Permit appeals are a form of litigation, and litigation and lawyers are expensive,” the statement said.
“LCT is disappointed that the MWA has pushed this issue into litigation, a choice that will decrease or eliminate the amount of money LCT can contribute to the Community Fund, money that could have provided a direct benefit to the community,” the statement said.
Braverman contends that because of her group's expert opinions on the potential environmental threat to local waterways, “we had no choice but to file an appeal. … It's required in our organization's mission statement that we do so.”
The DEP permit requires that a 500-foot “No Mining Before Drill Verification” safety barrier be placed adjacent to the known extent of mining for the Melcroft No. 3 Mine. It orders LCT to use methods and technologies “to prevent adverse hydrologic or water quality impacts that could result from conducting operations within 100 feet of Champion Creek.”
The company maintains its project is environmentally sound and its discharge plans “meet or exceed Pennsylvania DEP regulations.”
The appeal contends the mine barriers won't prevent illicit discharges into the Indian Creek Watershed and that DEP did not adequately review the proposal.
The watershed group also argues that state taxpayers have spent several million dollars in recent years cleaning past mine pollution discharges from the watershed. It's concerned that LCT's proposed safety barrier is inadequate to prevent toxic metals and mine drainage pollution.
The Indian Creek Valley Water Authority, which provides water to about 2,700 customers, said Indian Creek is one of its four sources for drinking water.
The Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board has not set a hearing date on the proposal, according to online dockets. The board has scheduled a conference among attorneys for March 8 and ordered that motions related to the case be filed by Aug. 15.
Paul Peirce is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-850-2860 or ppeirce@tribweb.com.
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