Clean Coal Is A Dirty Lie!

I thought many of the comments at the meeting last night were based upon fact rather than a “not in my backyard” position … although there was a fair share of that. The Rosa Coal Group really did their homework prior to drafting their comments. I was really impressed.

My comment to the Alabama Surface Mining Commission (ASMC) was based upon the fact the Yoakley Environmental Assessment for some strange reason informed the Cold Branch Creek (largest trib to pass through the proposed mining area) and other tributaries in the area were absent of aquatic life … a statement proven to be false by evidence brought forth by a concerned citizen that spoke after me.

Dr. Yokeley and his people are very reputable in their field which tells me something unknown was wrong with the assessment. The Locust Fork River that will receive the contaminated waters from the mining property is the home of several endangered or threatened species such as the Flatten Musk Turtle, Plicate Rocksnail, Cahaba Shinner, and several mussels. Some of these critters have been actually seen in the LFR and streams in that area by some citizens that spoke at the ASMC comment meeting. The property needs to be accessed again before granting the permit.

The 5 year permit will probably be “revised” as work proceeds to address changing conditions, an action that is not required to be brought to the public’s attention, prompted me to remind the commission to weight the requested revisions cumulatively to see what the overall effect will be on the tributaries and Locust Fork River water quality… i.e. adding one more domino to a precarious stack might then make it collapse where the single domino would not.

Sam Howell

There is nothing to prevent us from launching a full-scale investigation of the commissioners themselves, as well as elected officials in Blount County who clearly did not do their jobs by notifying citizens of this permit application in time to oppose the ADEM permit.