MVCAC December 2016

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3 discussions

Shell Cracker Plant in Beaver County, Penna.
by Duane Nichols via MVCAC 13 Dec '16

13 Dec '16

Pennsylvania sets Dec. 15 meetings on modified cracker permits Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection has scheduled a public meeting and hearing on Dec. 15 on modifications to air and water permits for Shell Appalachia’s proposed ethane cracker plant in Beaver County. That will be followed by a public hearing from 7 to 9 p.m. regarding the agency’s intent to issue a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) water permit amendment and its intent to authorize a modification to the already approved air plan for the plant. Both hearings will be held at Central Valley High School, 160 Baker Road Extension, Monaca. Those who wish to testify are asked to contact environmental justice coordinator Nora Alwine at 412-442-4137. Individuals will have up to three minutes to testify. The agency will accept comment on the changes until Dec. 26. Written statements on the water amendment should be sent to Clean Water Program, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, 400 Waterfront Dr., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222. Written statements on the air amendment should be sent to Air Quality Program at the same address. Information on the proposed permit changes is available at: www.dep.pa.gov/About/Regional/SouthwestRegion/Community%20Information/Pages…

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This Abandoned Pennsylvania Town Has Been On Fire For 53 Years | The Huffington Post
by Duane via MVCAC 05 Dec '16

05 Dec '16

This Abandoned Pennsylvania Town (Centralia) Has Been On Fire For 53 Year And it could burn for another 250 years. From an Article by James Cave, The Huffington Post, August 28, 2015 Signs warn visitors to the dangers of death by asphyxiation or being swallowed by the ground, but the old mining town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, was once home to more than 1,000 people. Now it’s nothing more than a smoldering ghost town that’s been burning for half a century. It started with a fire intentionally set to burn out a landfill before Labor Day in 1962 — the problem was that the landfill was also an old strip-mine pit connected to a maze of abandoned underground mining tunnels full of coal. Though the town was able to extinguish the fire above ground, a much bigger inferno burned underneath, and it eventually spread its way under Centralia’s town center. “Through a monumental series of blunders and inadequate attention over the years, it got to the size underground where it basically destroyed the town of Centralia and everybody had to move,” Davod Dekok, a Pennsylvania historian, told the Associated Press in the video below on the occasion of the fire’s 50th anniversary in 2012. The fire was so widespread, destructive and unending — it’s said that there’s enough coal underground to fuel the fire for another 250 years — that in 1980, a $42 million relocation plan incentivized most of the townspeople to relocate (most of the homes were demolished), leaving only about a dozen holdouts behind. The Smithsonian describes it bleakly: Today Centralia exists only as an eerie grid of streets, its driveways disappearing into vacant lots. Remains of a picket fence here, a chair spindle there — plus [John] Lokitis and 11 others who refused to leave, the occupants of a dozen scattered structures. Over the decades, the ground has opened up with sulfurous gases sometimes billowing out — the road along Highway 61 swells and cracks open, rife with graffiti and hot to the touch. In the winter, snow melts in patches where the ground is warm. Explore the eerie town through the photos in this article. Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/this-abandoned-pennsylvania-town-has-be… See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

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Newburg mine fire continues to burn, Rice: 'It is a scary situation. I don’t think anyone would want a mine fire that close to their home' | News | theet.com
by Duane via MVCAC 05 Dec '16

05 Dec '16

http://www.theet.com/content/tncms/live/ Newburg mine fire continues to burn, Rice: 'It is a scary situation. I don’t think anyone would want a mine fire that close to their home' From an Article by Theresa Marthey, Preston County News & Journal,Dec 4, 2016 NEWBURG — Newburg residents are becoming more and more concerned with the Newburg Brocom Run No. 1 Mine fire that continues to burn. Newburg resident Ruth Taylor who lives near the fire said the fire is getting closer to their homes on Scotch Hill. “There are days where the smoke just lays over our homes making it impossible to go outside and enjoy the day,” Taylor said. “And the smell is horrific.” The fire has been burning inside the abandoned mine for at least three years. The mine is in the Pittsburgh coal seam, but the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) does not have any specific data on the mine. Rob Rice, Chief of the DEP Abandoned Mine Lands and Reclamation Division, said the DEP has been working on finding a solution to the extinguishing the fire. Newburg Fire Chief Bill Larew said their department receives calls about the fire at least once a week if not more. “This is a project that we know has to be done,” Larew said. “It is a scary situation. I don’t think anyone would want a mine fire that close to their home.” “We just had a call yesterday about the smoke,” Larew said on Thurs., Dec. 1. “It seems like when it rains like it did the water seeps into the coal seam causing steam and making it worse.” Larew said his department checks out the fire occasionally, but he doesn’t like to risk his men going into the area. “The area is undermined and under post,” Larew said. “We don’t like walking on top because you don’t know where you are. One wrong spot and you can fall in.” Larew said temperatures in the area are probably pushing 600 degrees underground. “You will be finished,” Larew said. “Fire gear isn’t going to help anyone in that.” Rice said his department’s funding for abandoned mines has decreased steadily over the years, and this year’s projections looks like they will only be receiving $24 million for next year’s projects. “Unfortunately with the size of the fire it is cost prohibitive to handle the fire with a typical funding source,” Rice said. “There is approximately five acres on fire, and it will cost approximately $10 million to put the fire out.” “We use to get between $50 and $70 million a year for projects,” Rice said. “But because of the economy and coal severances decreasing, so has our funding.” In the meantime while researching ways to fund the project, Rice said the DEP is still scrambling to find a way to remove the coal in the seam. “First thing we did was talk to coal companies and see if they would be interested in a ‘no-cost’ retrieval of the coal,” Rice said. “That means the company would come in and extract the coal that is in the seam and reclaim the land.” Rice said since the DEP does not have any records of the mine, the companies did not want to take the risk. “The problem is we cannot find any mine maps,” Rice said. “We don’t know the perimeters of the mine. We could not tell the companies if there was any other coal in the seam except the pillars.” Rice said they are not exploring a temporary solution to make an immediate impact on the residents of the area by filling the portals and fissures. “It would alleviate some of the problems,” Rice said. “It should help to reduce the smoke in the area, but won’t completely solve it until the fire is permanently put out.” The process to put out the fire would be a mountaintop removal type project. “You cannot just put water on the fire as it is now because the water could cause a steam geyser making the situation worse,” Rice said. “To properly put the fire out, you need to take the soil off, remove the coal by the bucket full.” “Once you remove the coal, it is taken to an adjacent area where it is spread thin,” Rice continued. “At that point, you can put water on it to put it out.” After all the material is removed and out, then the material would be transported back to the mine site and reclaimed. “One thing we do know is this seam is approximately 100 feet underground,” Rice said. “So this is not a small undertaking.” DEP officials told the Preston County News & Journal on Friday, Dec. 2 they will meet on Tuesday, Dec. 6 with their federal counterparts to inspect the site, and hand out carbon monoxide detectors to people who live nearby, as a precaution. “This project is a priority,” Rice said. “It was always on our list of projects to reclaim, but when the fire began it was moved up.” See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

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MVCAC December 2016