125 Pennsylvania Coal Field Residents Oppose Head of PA State Mining Agency As Director of U.S. Office of Surface Mining. - Mining & Minerals Business

A total of 125 Pennsylvania coal field residents are sending a joint letter to the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in strong opposition to the nomination of Joseph Pizarchik to serve as the new director of the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM). Pizarchik currently heads the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Mining and Reclamation.

In Pennsylvania, Pizarchik has aggressively championed the controversial practice of storing large volumes of coal combustion wastes at surface coal mines - which is known as 'minefilling.' Several studies, including 'Impacts on Water Quality from Placement of Coal Combustion Waste in Pennsylvania Coal Mines,' have documented the contamination of water supplies from this coal industry practice.

The sign-on letter from 125 Pennsylvania coal field residents cites Mr. Pizarchik's policies that have been hostile to citizen input, have buried streams in valley fills of coal refuse, have promoted destructive long wall mining and coal mines being used as dumps for toxic coal combustion wastes.

The letter states: 'These examples offer a disturbing picture of why Mr. Pizarchik is the wrong choice to be the Director of the US Office of Surface Mining. Quite clearly, Mr. Pizarchik's record demonstrates that he has not viewed the protection of our property, health and environment as a priority to be treated with the same emphasis under SMCRA as the need to mine coal as easily as possible . . . We believe Mr. Pizarchik will not effectively enforce [the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act] and therefore should not be confirmed as the Director of [OSM] by the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. We ask that the Committee fully consider Mr. Pizarchik's record and that a panel of affected PA coalfield citizens be given the opportunity to testify at his confirmation hearing.'

The full text of the letter from Pennsylvania citizens raising concerns about the nomination can be accessed online at: http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/pubs/FINAL_PA%20Citizen%20Letter%20Oppos ing%20Pizarchik_20090806.pdf

In a separate letter sent to Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Senator Jeff Bingaman, Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) Director Eric Schaeffer said: 'Mr. Pizarchik has been an outspoken advocate of [minefilling] throughout his seven-year tenure as the Director of the Bureau of Mining and Reclamation within the PADEP. He continues to insist, despite volumes of evidence to the contrary, that there is no evidence of degradation to water from coal ash in any Pennsylvania coal mine. After resisting regulation of minefilling for many years, Mr. Pizarchik has recently responded with a proposal that still falls well short of the standards needed to protect groundwater and surface water.'

EIP also highlighted Pizarchik's aversion to including the public in important hearings and decision-making on key issues and his promotion of the destructive practice of long wall mining. The full text of the EIP letter is available online at http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/pubs/FINAL_ES%20letter%20to%20Chairman%2 0Bingaman%20web%20version_20090806.pdf.

EIP also highlighted a short digest of problems arising from the practice of 'minefilling' large quantities of coal ash waste, which is available at http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/pubs/FINAL_The%20Minefilling%20Program%2 0of%20Joseph%20Pizarchik_20090805.pdf. It includes a synopsis of recommendations from the National Academy of Science for better regulation of minefilling most of which are being ignored by the PADEP minefilling program that Pizarchik has directed. The NAS document is available at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11592#toc.

ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY PROJECT

The Environmental Integrity Project (http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established in March of 2002 by former EPA enforcement attorneys to advocate for effective enforcement of environmental laws. EIP has three goals: 1) to provide objective analyses of how the failure to enforce or implement environmental laws increases pollution and affects public health; 2) to hold federal and state agencies, as well as individual corporations, accountable for failing to enforce or comply with environmental laws; and 3) to help local communities obtain the protection of environmental laws.

Keywords: Environmental Integrity Project, Washington, D.C., Conservation, Ecology, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Protection, Minerals, Natural Resources, Surface Mining

This article was prepared by Mining & Minerals Business editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2009, Mining & Minerals Business via VerticalNews.com.