COAL REPORT July 15, 2008

A Congressional flying trip to look at strip mine sites ended abruptly on Saturday as the airplane sat on the runway with a dead battery. Kentucky Congressman Ben Chandler and Washington State Congressman Norm Dicks were scheduled to fly from Washington DC to Hazard to take part in a flying tour of mine sites, organized by Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. But when the Congressmen got on the Interior Department plane in Manassas, Virginia, the pilot told them he had left a switch in the wrong position and the plane had a dead battery. Chandler and Dicks were not happy. Chandler said there would be some unpleasant phone calls to the Interior Department on Monday. Dicks and Chandler both sit on the committee that oversees the Interior Department.

The state of West Virginia has settled a water pollution lawsuit for $1.5 million dollars and a pile of rock, according to the Charleston Gazette. Hobet Mining was the target of a Clean Water Act enforcement action for dumping selenium into the Mud River. The settlement allows the company to give the state 32,500 sandstone boulders in lieu of half a million dollars. The state said it would use the rocks on another reclamation project. Nominally, the fine was three and a half million dollars, but the company got half a million dollars credit for the rocks and one and a half million dollars credit for installing selenium treatment systems. The company now has two years to stop the pollution violations. Selenium occurs naturally in rocks and soils. Tiny amounts of it are necessary for good health, but larger amounts are poisonous. Five years ago a federal study found that selenium poisoning is common downstream from mining operations, Since then there has been a big flap in West Virginia over enforcement of the selenium limits, and several lawsuits are pending in both state and federal courts. Commenting on the new Hobet settlement, including the 32,000 rocks, the head of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Janet Keating, said, "This is almost beyond ridiculous. How about money? How about cold cash and maybe hiring more inspectors? How about filling that 100 vacancies they have in DEP?" But DEP Secretary Randy Huffman said, "I'm really surprised the big deal everybody's making about the rocks. The main thing is, it sends a strong message."

If coal-to-liquids hits, Pike County is ready. The Appalachian News-Express reports that county officials have identified sites for a liquid coal plant. County Judge Wayne Rutherford says Pike County is "America's Energy Capital" with large coal and natural gas reserves. If or when someone wants to build a liquid coal plant, the county will point them to Big Shoal, a 240-acre tract across the river from Coal Run Village. A coal-to-liquid plant would cost $4 billion, and officials say they would not ask taxpayers to pay for it-though State Representative Rocky Adkins is pushing economic incentives for energy companies. A plant would need to be clean, according to Judge Rutherford, who noted that while clean coal technology doesn't exist yet, but they are working on it. A plant would take five to seven years to build. No one has said they want to build such a plant, but if they do, the county is ready to help.

Ten Chinese coal miners are dead in a mine flood in the northern province of Shanxi. 82 miners were underground when water from abandoned works flooded the Wangzhuang mine. 69 escaped at the time; three more escaped later, but ten died. Chinese mines are the world's deadliest.