Let Them Eat Coal Ash: OSM Nominee Pizarchik Must Be Stopped Now

With so many qualified candidates for the directorship of the important Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, why is the Obama administration nominating a controversial advocate for coal ash dumping, who also admits he still needs to learn more about the even more controversial and huge issue of mountaintop removal?

After eight years of rogue mining operators and Bush-era administrators, and reckless mining regulatory oversights, and with the shipwrecked OSM agency in desperate need of a makeover, the OSM nomination of Joseph G. Pizarchik, the seemingly good-natured and well-meaning Pennsylvania Director of the Bureau of Mining and Reclamation, is a colossal error.

While invoking his hardworking southwestern PA family farm credentials in a touching manner at the US Senate nomination hearing today, Pizarchik made two extraordinary admissions:

• In the face of overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, and the continual fall out over last December's TVA coal ash tragedy, and against the current move by Lisa Jackson and the EPA for greater regulatory oversight, Pizarchik defiantly touted his state's dumping of coal ash at strip mine sites and openly denied scientific evidence of coal ash pollution.
• In the face of 38 years of reports and studies on the devastating impact of mountaintop removal in his neighboring state of West Virginia, under mining policies that even his future Department of Interior boss Ken Salazar said have "failed to protect our communities, water, and wildlife in Appalachia," Pizarchik dodged the question of mountaintop removal questions three times, and pitifully uttered that he needed to "learn more about the facts and details... what has transpired in the past," and that he didn't know the "nuances and details" of the Obama administration's move to "minimize the adverse environmental impacts" of mountaintop removal.

This was either a pitiful admission of ignorance on a complex issue of national importance, or a disingenuous pander to the rogue mountaintop removal elements of the coal industry.

As one fellow southwestern PA coal miner's granddaughter wrote to the local Washington, PA newspaper recently: "Citizens in the coalfields need to be heard regarding his qualifications. If Pizarchik leads the OSM, it will be a continuation of "the fox watching the hen house," where money rules and health in not an issue."

You can watch Pizarchik's hearing here.

As always, Charleston Gazette coalfield journalist Ken Ward has filed several in-depth stories on his Coal Tattoo blog: here and here.

On the issue of coal ash dumping, Pizarchik has been in the forefront of coal ash pollution deniers, even after a 2007 study found that "Disposing of coal ash in mines is contaminating water supplies throughout Pennsylvania, according to a report released today by Clean Air Task Force (CATF) and Earthjustice. In 10 of 15 mines examined across the state, groundwater and streams near areas where coal ash, or coal combustion waste, was placed had levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium and selenium and other pollutants above safe standards."

The report is here.

An analysis of the report concluded: "Disposing of coal combustion waste in these mines is threatening water supplies all over the state," said Jeff Stant, director of the Pennsylvania Minefill Research Project at the Clean Air Task Force. "If the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection won't act now to stop these dangers, the US EPA should step in to protect the residents of Pennsylvania who live near coal ash mine fills."

And now the head of this PA disaster will be in charge of monitoring strip mining operations?

In a disturbing letter to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which is overseeing the nomination of Pizarchik, Pennsylvania coalfield residents excoriated the nominee for his past work in the PA mining agency. They found:

• Mr. Pizarchik has promoted valley fills. In 2001, as primary regulatory counsel, Pizarchik supervised the drafting of PA DEP regulations implementing Act 114 that weakened the state's stream buffer zone rule allowing the filling of stream valleys in PA.
• Mr. Pizarchik advocates the law should allow surface coal mines to be used as major dumping operations. An exhaustive three-year study of fifteen mines receiving coal ash in Pennsylvania, Impacts on Water Quality from Placement of Coal Combustion Waste in Pennsylvania Coal Mines (2007), by researchers and groundwater scientists for the Clean Air Task Force found that the PA DEP's toring data indicated the ash was contaminating nearby water supplies in ten of the mines. Mr. Pizarchik has aggressively defended the PA DEP program allowing power plant waste to be buried in unlined pits and old mines without regulatory safeguards, despite the threat to groundwater and the 2006 findings by the National Research Council. (NRC). The NRC concluded that this practice should be regulated with isolation requirements, comprehensive monitoring and cleanup standards.

• Pizarchik's PA DEP coal ash mine fill program found deficient by PA Law Judges and the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA). Both administrative law judges for the state of PA (Hazleton decision, 2006) and more recently of the Interior Board of Land Appeals (June 2009) have found the monitoring and safeguards necessary to protect water supplies from coal ash are missing from permits issued under Pizarchik's mine ash placement program. And in the latter case, the IBLA found the public water supply of Tremont, PA is threatened by these deficiencies- a fundamental violation of surface mining laws. SMCRA requires the issuance of permits for surface mining to demonstrate, through effective monitoring and safeguards, that such damage will be avoided.

• Mr. Pizarchik has been resistant to citizen input. PA DEP mining policies under Mr. Pizarchik systematically removed the "public" from the federally required public participation. In direct contradiction to the citizen provisions of SMCRA -- and the intent of Congress to encourage citizen participation -- Mr. Pizarchik hasactively discouraged public testimony. For selected mining permits: While the PA DEP and mine operators are given the opportunity to express their views in a public forum; citizens are not permitted to speak publicly. Instead, citizens are required to submit their questions or comments one-on-one, with no witnesses allowed to hear their testimony or the state's response. For all mining permits: PA DEP Bureau of Mining and Reclamation policies require public hearings to be held during workday hours only -- restricting access for working people. Evening hearings are not held. Citizens have diligently opposed these procedures since their adoption in 2006. And as recently as the winter of 2008, Mr. Pizarchik continues to advocate for these exclusionary policies.

• Mr. Pizarchik has shown little regard for SMCRA's purpose to minimize harm. During an "Act 54" meeting about long wall mining - a process immensely destructive to homes, businesses, farms and surface water supplies - Mr. Pizarchik stated that people willingly sold their coal 100 years ago, and people in the coalfields should have known what they were getting into when they moved into the coalfields. This is a rationale frequently used by the coal industry to justify their most harmful practices. However, the focus of regulatory enforcement should be compliance with SMCRA laws and minimizing harm, not defending arrangements made 100 years ago.

The letter can be seen here.

On the coalfield residents' final point, given the importance Pizarchik gave to his farm family past, it is a shame that he has been criticized for his disregard of the impact of longwall mining on his fellow southwestern PA farmers, many of whom have seen their fields and wells and farms destroyed by this destructive mining practice.

Bottom line: Pizarchik's nomination for the directorship of OSMRE should be withdrawn immediately.

 

 

Comments

[Penelope Boyd]

Mr. Biggers - So much misinformation, so little time and limited words allowed to respond to your screed. Do your research before you write -- Joe does. Use specific facts and actual science -- Joe does. He worked with what he had in terms of the legislative mandates in Pennsylvania at the time when the federal government was not. Disposal of coal ash in abandoned mines has been a problem in Pennsylvania for as many years as he has been alive. Name one instance where the public has been excluded from any commenting or public hearing in violation of the law. Joe would want the voice of the ordinary citizen to be heard loudly and clearly. As to the misleading statements about longwall mining and subsidence, go to the DEP website and look for the informational video warning of the effects of mining on homes and encouraging coalfield homeowners to get insurance. To suggest that Joe does not care what is happening to ordinary people by selectively quoting him is a Rovian tactic and I am disappointed that someone who appears the Huffington Post would go there. S

I am Joe's sister-in-law and proud of it. Joe is not only good natured and well-meaning, but he has done more to redirect the effect of coal on our environment in than you have done in your entire lifetime. So sign up for change or sign up for the same old trash politics -- it's your future too.

[smpotter]

Sorry Mr. Biggers, but you have it all wrong. I have known Joe Pizarchick for 20 years and he is a practical, environmentally conscious professional who would be an asset to the Office of Surface Mining. He gave frank answers and was being honest when he replied that he needed to study further the issue of mountain top removal. I suppose that because he just didn't say he was against it is the reason that you want his nomination withdrawn. Heaven forbid that someone would want to research an issue before they comment. Why don't you check with Penn State University officials before you condemn ash disposal in coal mines. They have been studying the issue for 20 years. You may be surprised, but then if you disagree with their facts you would probably advocate for closing down the chemistry department. I have been an environmentalist for 35 years and I'll be the first to admit that advocates such as yourself have probably done more harm than good. Check all the facts before you reach a quick decision. I hope that you are wrong and that Joe Pizarchik gets confirmed because the country will be better for having him lead the OSM.

[Candace Boyd]

As this commenter above says, check the facts before jumping on the bandwagon. I have seen the form letters that opppose Joe Pizarchik as Director of OSM, and they are filled with half-truths and misrepresentations, if not outright errors. He is well-repected by his peers, and would hardly 'pander to the rogue mountaintop removal elements of the coal industry.' From what I understand about the state of OSM, they would do well to have the reasonable, thoughtful leadership that Joe will provide.

[Hummingbirds1]

I'm astounded at people's reactions to this nomination. It sounds like he almost won you over, Jeff, with his "well-meaning" and "good-natured" demeanor. You forgot intelligent and thoughtful, because he is also those. Try talking to people who know him before you write another word about Joe Pizarchik. Try doing some research on the coal ash issue. What sources did he use? Were they reputable? Did he allow coal ash to be used without testing it? Does he believe all coal ash is safe? You haven't asked any of those questions. And mountaintop mining? It doesn't happen in PA, so why should he say he's knowledgable about it? You've quoted people who have their own agenda without doing any thorough investigation on the other side. Sadly, readers will still find you credible. If Joe Pizarchik is not confirmed, the country has lost the opportunity for a real leader at OSMRE. If he's willing to take on what many acknowledge is an extremely difficult job, he should be given the chance.