Solomon Creek AMD Boreholes in South Wilkes-Barre

Dec. 7 — Hope has dimmed for a mine cleanup bill that environmental activists have pushed hard for.

Two factors are dooming the Revitalizing the Economy of Coal Communities by Leveraging Local Activities and Investing More (RECLAIM) Act (H.R. 4456): First, the bill still hasn’t been introduced in the Senate, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) isn’t supporting it.

Second, only seven legislative days remain in the current session of Congress.

The bill would provide $1 billion over five years to mining states for land cleanup. The money would come from the existing Abandoned Mine Land fund, which is paid for by coal producers, and wouldn’t require any new taxes or fees.

McConnell Noncommittal

On Dec. 5 and 6, a coalition of environmentalists delivered a petition with 10,000 signatures in support of the RECLAIM Act to McConnell and his staff, both at his Kentucky and Washington, D.C. offices.

“They never shut down the idea,” said Eric Dixon, coordinator of policy and community engagement at the Appalachian Law Center. “But we’ve also never seen the majority leader make it a priority, despite the fact that many East Kentuckians have made it a priority.”

But McConnell spokesman Robert Steurer told Bloomberg BNA that the senator had “no scheduling announcements beyond this week.” Steurer also noted that only 1,300 of the 10,000 signatures were from Kentucky.

Republicans in House Support Bill

Thom Kay, legislative associate at Appalachian Voices, said McConnell’s lack of support was puzzling, given how many Republicans have supported the bill in the House.

“They’re also conservative, pro-coal Republicans from coal country and throughout Appalachia,” Kay told Bloomberg BNA. “And it’s from [Rep.] Hal Rogers [R-Ky.], and the Republican House Natural Resources Committee has put a lot of time and effort into strengthening the bill as much as possible. So that’s clearly a lot of Republican buy-in.”

Some have speculated that Senate Republicans are steering clear of the RECLAIM Act, because they’re focusing on the Miners Protection Act (S. 1714), a bill that addresses health and pension benefits to miners, and don’t want to expend any more political capital on miners. 

CR Path Closed

Environmental lobbyists also have tried to get the bill attached to the continuing resolution that the House hopes to pass before it adjourns Dec. 9. But that hasn’t happened either, despite Rogers’ efforts, Kay said, and it now appears highly unlikely to be part of the CR.

“The CR path is basically closed,” he said. “We’re trying to figure out what paths there are now, if any.”

The Miner’s Protection Act, S. 1714, also didn’t make it into the CR.

Reintroduction Likely

If the RECLAIM measure dies in the current session of Congress, it will most likely be introduced in the next one.

But that could take months, “especially if people start tinkering with language,” Kay said.

Dixon said the needs for mine cleanup and economic revitalization in coal states are too acute for continued delays.

“I don’t think we can wait another year on this,” Dixon said. “We have to take action right now. Congress needs to make this a priority this week.”

The post Without McConnell, Hope Dimming for Mine Cleanup Bill appeared first on epcamr.org.

Location of the whirlpool breakthrough into the Ewen Mine workings, beneath the Susquehanna River

The programs are sponsored by the Anthracite Heritage Museum, Anthracite Heritage Foundation, King’s College, Luzerne County Historical Society, Luzerne County Community College, Wilkes University, Huber Breaker Preservation Society, EPCAMR, Greater Pittston Historical Society, Anthracite Living History Group, Old Forge Coal Mine, and Knox Mine Disaster Memorial Committee.

All events are open to the public free of charge, except the first one.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR MINING HISTORY WEEK 2015

Jan. 10th, 8 am
Boy Scouts of America, “Mining in Society” Merit Badge Day, King’s College – open only to Boy Scout members of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Council; program ends at 6 pm

Jan. 15th, 7 pm 
Msgr. John J. Curran Annual Lecture, Prof. Walter T. Howard of Bloomsburg University, speaking on “Socialist and Communist Labor Organizers in the Wyoming and Lackawanna Coal Fields during the 1930s,” King’s College, Burke Auditorium, McGowan School of Business – refreshments served at 6:30 pm

Jan. 17th, 2 pm
Knox Mine Disaster Annual Remembrance Program, Anthracite Heritage Museum, McDade Park, Scranton: displays; music; special tribute to photographers, Steven and William Lukasik Sr., and news reporter, Jack Scanella; new segments of The Knox Disaster Documentary by David Brocca of Los Angeles, CA; commentary by Chester Kulesa, William Lukasik, Jr., and Robert Wolensky – refreshments provided

Jan. 18th, 10 am
Knox Mine Disaster Memorial Service, St. John the Evangelist Church, Pittston

Jan. 18th, 11:30 am 
Knox Mine Disaster Public Commemoration, PHMC Historical Marker in front of Baloga Funeral Home, Port Griffith – coffee provided, courtesy of Baloga Funeral Home

Jan. 20th, 6:30 pm
Huber Breaker Preservation Society, Atty. F. Charles Petrillo of Wilkes-Barre will present and discuss two classic Anthracite-related documentary films at Earth Conservancy, Ashley – refreshments provided

Jan. 22th, 6:30 pm 
Luzerne County Historical Society, William Hastie and Robert Wolensky will speak about their book, “Anthracite Labor Wars,” Wyoming Presbyterian Church, Wyoming – refreshments provided

Jan. 24th, 2-4 pm
Meet and Hear Local Authors, Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Wilkes-Barre Township: local authors will speak about their books, beginning at 2:30 pm, and meet and greet patrons before and afterwards; authors include William Conologue, John Dziak, William Hastie, William Kashatus, Kathleen Munley, Sheldon Spear, Kenneth Wolensky, and Robert Wolensky

The post Regional Mining History Week Events to take place January 10-24th appeared first on epcamr.org.

Robert showing the EPCAMR Staff, Interns, and Film Crew of the many piles around town.

On Tuesday, July 15th, EPCAMR headed out to Centralia to assess the amount of trash and illegal dumping sites in the area for a possible Fall Cleanup around the now-barren town. With volunteers, interns, and one of our partners–  The Pennsylvania Environmental Council, NE Office (PEC) in tow,  the group met up with the Director of  “Centralia: America’s Lost Town” , Joe Sapienza II, recent graduate, and some of his film crew members from Drexel University, for a tour and to get a site assessment of the area– the first step in cleaning up Centralia!

Old Route 61

Our first stop to survey for trash was where the original fire in Centralia started near the Odd Fellows Cemetery. At this location, we found a few old mattresses and a large illegal dump and burn site with piles of litter, as well as, the start of many illegally-dumped auto tires.  Towards the other end of town, off Meyers Street, the crew walked down an abandoned road or  rail line which was once headed towards Mt. Carmel, to find more illegal dumping going on. The abandoned area was strewn with several wood piles, garbage bags full of household items, many more tires, furniture, and even the front bumper of a JEEP. The crew then parked in an empty lot where the famous Coddington’s Gas Station once stood (one of the main areas for tourists to park their cars in Centralia) and walked down along an abandoned road surrounded by culm  banks. Here, we found even more piles of trash scattered throughout the landscape.

The July 15th  site assessment showed that there is a strong need for a future cleanup in Centralia. EPCAMR has gotten approval of the State to move along with the cleanup  project. We are confident that we can accomplish this effort as we have completed hundreds of cleanups for nearly the last two decades and are already making contacts to put the wheels in motion.  During the site assessment, the group ran into at least 12 other tourists in the area. EPCAMR Executive Director, Robert Hughes, had a conversation with a few of the individuals about Centralia and the Fall Cleanup EPCAMR was planning on doing. Several of the tourists were happy to hear about the initiative and were willing to help as future volunteers with EPCAMR. Many folks were also interested in a possible future historical interpretive project EPCAMR was also considering for Centralia. We would love to see small wooden plaques with historical information around Centralia for tourists to read about the town and what happened in 1962 that left it abandoned. A handful of people EPCAMR spoke with were also excited about the idea of adding  picnic tables or benches in Centralia for the tourists that visit this historic site. We hope people interested in Centralia and working with EPCAMR will join us as future volunteers for a Fall Cleanup in Centralia set for October 25th from 9am-4pm with a 10am start and a 9am volunteer registration!

EPCAMR Staff and Joe Sapienza II will be coordinating a Fall 2014 Community Cleanup at the location of PA’s most historic mine fire in the Town of Centralia, PA on Saturday, October 25th. Recent film graduate students Joe Sapienza (Director) and friends from Drexel University, have been working with us to coordinate a cleanup in the Town that is pretty barren right now and isolated from the world, except for a handful (3 families) of residents that remain. We’ll be registering volunteers at 9am near the former Coddington Gas Station, just down the street from the St. Ignatius Cemetery.

We are looking for dozens of volunteers for the cleanup that will help EPCAMR to set the wheels in motion for a possible future historical interpretive project that we’re considering for the Town, if we can get the State behind us. Hear stories from the EPCAMR Executive Director on his internship days with the PA DEP some 20 years ago, as he monitored around the Town for mine gases in one of the Churches and along the coal banks that were on fire in the Buck Mountain Vein. Get a chance to meet the Director of the short film on Centralia that has been just recently released. Hear more on a full length documentary on Centralia that Joe is beginning to work on too.

An IndieGoGo fundraising effort is going to go live to assist us with funds for supplies, refreshments for the volunteers, water, tools, and to assist with paying for dumpsters and some wildflower seeds for the areas that we will be cleaning up. IF YOU DONATE, there are SWAG gifts in return, so please check out the link. EPCAMR is committing $700 towards the effort up front, plus Staff and other resources. http://vimeo.com/104065441

We have permission from one of the property owners (Pagnotti Enterprises) to place a dumpster on their property near the Odd Fellows Cemetery at the one cleanup location and we are actively working on securing permission from Blaschok Coal Company to place a dumpster in another area that can be seen in our Vimeo Cleanup Centralia Project video.

Follow the link on Facebook to join the effort as an EPCAMR Volunteer! https://www.facebook.com/events/628137517302486/?ref=22&source=1

The post Clean Up Centralia: EPCAMR Assesses Trash Problem in America’s Lost Town for October 25th 2014 Cleanup appeared first on epcamr.org.