The Brockovich Report

Just minutes ago this press release came across the newswire: The Department of Environmental Protection is planning May and June meetings in conjunction with the Citizens Advisory Council and the Mining and Reclamation Advisory Board. State and locally elected officials, environmental and watershed groups, businesses, foundations and economic development organizations are encouraged to attend.

What are these meetings going to be about?

". . . on the recent reauthorization of the Federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, which provides Pennsylvania with increased funding for
abandoned mine reclamation."

The law includes a 14-year extension to grant states the authority to collect taxes to support the federal Abandoned Mine Lands Trust Fund. The taxes are going to decline by 20 percent in two stages over the next six years, but the US Treasury is going to take up the slack. The law also offers the gov't the opportunity to set aside up to 30% of its allocation for abatement and treatment of abandoned mine drainage.

Town hall meetings are a good thing--especially if the environmental and watershed groups actually get together with the businesses and affect positive change. Let's hope that business and environmentalists don't line up on opposite sides of the hall, and shoot spitballs at each other.

The issue at hand here is abandoned mines. I recall a few years ago driving past a mining site. It was like an alien landscape, harshly graded, and the creeks running down the grade were stark orange wounds against a gray sky. I have since learned that that color orange water coming from a mine has a name: AMD. AMD is caused by the oxidation of materials surrounding the coal, forming a mild acid similar to vinegar. Metals, such as iron, aluminum and manganese, are leached from these materials killing most aquatic life. That is the orange of death.

So I wonder what these town meetings will mean to Pennsylvania, and what will come of them. Is it possible that this is big business actually beginning to clean up after itself? Or is something else going on? It is too soon to tell. I hope some of you who are involved in the Orange Water Network will take this opportunity to voice your opinions of what this means.