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Coal mining activist addresses Rosa mine citizen action group
‘Clean coal is a dirty lie, because you can’t clean up what’s left behind.’ John Wathen anti-coal mining activist
Wathen, a resident of Cullman County and designated Hurricane Creek Keeper, is credited with helping halt a coal mining project in Tuscaloosa County. The meeting was the second held at Rosa Town Hall by citizens concerned about the proposed mining operation. Wathen presented comprehensive advice and recommendations to the Rosa group on how to best protect themselves from what he called potential harm to their property and surroundings from coal mining. He said he would train local leaders on how to effectively oppose the mine. “You may not be able to stop them from mining, but you can lessen the damage they do, and you can hold them accountable for the damage they cause,” he said. “If the mine operators know this many people are watching them, they’ll try a lot harder to prevent damage from occurring.” Wathen added that holding them accountable for damage and for meeting all legal requirements of the permitting process will also drive up the cost of the final product, making the enterprise less attractive to the corporation. “Waterways belong to you, the citizens. Each of us has the right to go to the river and catch a fish and eat it without having to worry about toxins. Our rivers belong to us. They don’t belong to the coal company, and they certainly don’t belong to a Canadian coal company. If you in this community don’t fight, no one else will do it for you. Your rights will be stolen if you allow it. It’s up to you to see that fines for violations are issued. State agencies charged with it are not going to do it without constant pressure from you.” Detailed recommendations Wathen made detailed recommendations for citizens to protect themselves from harmful effects of mining. •Report every single violation observed via the citizen complaint process provided by law. Water-related complaints go to Alabama Department of Environmental Management; complaints related to property and mining operations go to the Alabama Surface Mining Commission. •Document everything with photos and detailed notes including dates and times observations are made. Examples: pre-mining condition of structures showing absence of cracks, pre-mining rates of flow on wells, recharge rates, water quality, and related matters. If changes occur after mining begins as a result of blasting concussion, subsidence, or geological changes, document the same conditions afterwards, to show the before/after comparison. •Try to report measurable effects where possible, e.g. loudness of a blast in decibels if possible, or descriptive information that is at least somewhat quantifiable, such as describing a blast that shook the walls such that picture frames hanging on the wall were knocked out of vertical alignment. •Insist that all surveys required by law are actually done by the mining company or its designated representatives; e.g. hydrology surveys, and preblasting surveys. •Locate the runoff outflow areas from the mine and monitor them during rain events to show if heavy sedimentation is present in runoff. If the water quality problem is not addressed by the proper agency, file a 60-day notice of intent to sue in federal court, as provided by law. That will normally produce a response. •Insist on being notified when complaints are to be investigated. Insist on your right provided by law to accompany the inspector during site visits to investigate your complaint. Observe the mining operation while on such visits to see if other violations are evident. It’s your opportunity to examine an area legally that you are normally barred from by no-trespassing laws. •Use aerial photography to see and document things you can’t access on the ground. There aren’t any no-trespassing rules in the airspace above the mine. •Hold mine operators accountable, but don’t take out frustration on mine workers. They can be allies – “they’re your neighbors just trying to support their families, and they can be the best whistle-blowers you ever hoped for,” Wathen said. •Make comments on detailed concerns about sediment ponds and possible consequences of their overflowing part of the record by writing them down and forwarding them to the Alabama Surface Mining Commission •Send copies of all complaints and requests to members of the coal company’s board of directors, to involve them personally in problems and controversy. Other comments Wathen said the auger mining method MCoal has said it will use has never been used successfully in Alabama. He said there are too many faults and fractures in Alabama rock strata and too much water present in underground formations generally. Both contribute to conditions that cause shifts in the strata while the auger is operating that can “pinch” the auger, preventing it from removing coal and causing it to get stuck in place. “They’re going to find that auger technology is not feasible here, and pull up stakes and go home,” he said. That leaves citizens to struggle with the after effects of incomplete reclamation, he said. “Unlike the past, when strip mines were operated by local people, these Wall Street profit jockeys have no connection to the community. You can’t go talk to them personally about whatever concerns you have; they really don’t care.” In response to citizen comments about a seemingly unusual number of people with cancer living in the Rosa mine area, Wathen said there are documented cases of cancer clusters that occur particularly around plants where coal is prepared for industrial use at the mine site. Such areas are characterized by the presence of airborne steam from washing processes involving the use of surfactants and diesel fuel. Wathen showed several aerial photos of stream sedimentation in Cullman County. One showed an extensive underwater shoal of sediment in a larger stream right at the mouth of a sediment bearing tributary creek.“Millions of cubic yards of sediment from mining was introduced into the river because no one was watching. This is what you want to prevent in your rivers and streams,” he said. “Clean coal is a dirty lie because you can’t clean up what’s left behind,” Wathen said. Referring to mountaintop removal, a stripping technique used in Kentucky and West Virginia, Wathen said “Nothing could tear down our Appalachian Mountains until white men found coal. Now we tear them down with impunity,” he said. |
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