President Bush’s proposed budget, presented to the public last Monday, offered no funding for Schuylkill County’s controversial coal-to-oil project, slated for Gilberton.
Read more about Bush’s decision not to recognize the project as well as the reaction of PA politicians and coal-to-oil advocate John Rich, Jr. in today’s Republican & Herald.
Learn more about our community’s opinions on the project at:
The citizen activist group Schuylkill County Taxpayers Opposed to Pollution (STOP), an affiliate of ActionPA, is stepping up its opposition to the proposed Gilberton coal-to-oil facility, and will host a series of fundraisers to support its efforts.
A report on STOP’s progress appears in today’s Republican & Herald.
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A March 22 entry on The Energy Blog titled “Coal: America’s Energy Future” critiques a recent report of the same name issued by The National Coal Council (NCC). One priority identified in NCC’s report directly affects the people of
According to the NCC:
“Application of coal-to-liquids technologies [such as the Gilberton coal-to-oil plant spearheaded by Schuylkill coal baron John Rich and his company Waste Management and Processors, Inc., (WMPI)] will move the United States toward greater energy security and relieve cost and supply pressures on transportation fuels by producing 2.6 million barrels per day of ultra clean coal-derived diesel fuel while utilizing an additional 475 million tons of coal per year.”
According to The Energy Blog:
“This does not seem to be enough liquids to meet our needs… It is obvious that using coal rather that petroleum products will reduce costs, even though coal costs will rise with increased use. The problem is that coal mining causes a lot of environmental damage, unsightliness and health concerns… Without a study with greater scope than this one, it is hard to determine the best energy strategy.”
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A coal liquefaction process known as Fischer-Tropsch technology—that was innovated under Hitler’s regime—is currently fueling our nation’s race to transfer its oil addiction onto another energy source.
As the Department of Energy compiles its follow-up report to the recent public comment period on Schuylkill
The first phase of the Medicine Bow,
German scientists Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch
developed a method of coal liquefaction
to be used in
proposed Gilberton coal-to-oil facility
Both Wyoming (with a 2008-2010 initial operating timeframe)and Gilberton (which originally had a 2007 initial operating timeframe) will use a method of coal gasification known as Fischer-Tropsch [fish’ur-trōpsh], a process named after F. Fischer and H. Tropsch, the German coal researchers who discovered it in 1923. The process became well know for its use during World War II by Nazi Germany.
After the war, captured German scientists continued to work on synthetic fuels in the
A group of Operation Paperclip scientists in an un-copyrighted NASA photo
The United States Bureau of Mines employed seven German synthetic fuel scientists in a Fischer-Tropsch chemical plant in Missouri Louisiana in 1946.
The Fischer-Tropsch process involves synthesis of hydrocarbons and other aliphatic compounds, which are groups of organic chemical compounds in which the carbon atoms are linked in open chains. Synthesis gas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, is reacted in the presence of an iron or cobalt catalyst; much heat is evolved, and such products as methane, synthetic gasoline and waxes, and alcohols are made, with water or carbon dioxide produced as a byproduct.
The principal purpose of the process is to produce a synthetic petroleum substitute for use as synthetic lubrication oil or as synthetic fuel.
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Today is the deadline for submission of comments on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Gilberton coal-to-oil project.
Comments should be postmarked February 8th, and sent to:
Janice Bell, NEPA Document Manager, National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, MS 58-247A, PO Box 10940, Pittsburgh, PA 15236.
Comments may also be phoned in to 1-866-576-8240, or e-mailed to jbell@netl.doe.gov.
A final DOE environmental impact statement will be compiled to respond to each comment.
Tomorrow is the deadline for submission of comments on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Gilberton coal-to-oil project.
A Republican & Herald article by Stephen J. Pytak includes coverage of the approaching comment period deadline.
Comments should be sent to:
Janice Bell, NEPA Document Manager, National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, MS 58-247A, PO Box 10940, Pittsburgh, PA 15236.
Comments may also be phoned in to 1-866-576-8240, or e-mailed to jbell@netl.doe.gov.
A final DOE environmental impact statement will be compiled to respond to each comment.
The recently created Schuylkill River Restoration Fund is earmarked to improve our region’s water quality. Exelon Nuclear, one of America’s largest electric utilities, designated $160,000 for the Schuylkill River Heritage Area this week.
Exelon’s Limerick Generating Station, located about 40 miles northwest of
For the past two years, Exelon has been involved in a pilot project that takes water from
Pay at the Pump
A deep mine opening known as the St. Clair Shaft is pumped of the underlying mine pool by Reading Anthracite Coal Company at Wadesville. The mine water is discharged—with authorization by a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit–to an unnamed tributary to the
Reading Anthracite Company is owned by John Rich–a driving force behind the proposed Gilberton Coal-to-Clean Fuels and Power Project.
A higher flow in the
Money from the Schuylkill River Restoration Fund should be available as grants later this year. The Schuylkill River Heritage Area will administer the fund.
CrackerBlog welcomes your comments. Submit your opinions or suggestions by clicking on the word “comment” or by filling in the “leave a reply” form at the bottom of a post.
Hundreds of individuals interested in the proposed Gilberton Coal-to-Clean Fuels and Power Project attended a public hearing in Pottsville on Tuesday, January 10 to offer comments related to a draft environmental impact statement on construction and operation of the facility. The hearing was the second of two conducted by the Department of Energy.
Coverage of Tuesday’s hearing is included in a Republican & Herald article by Brian K. Smith.
CrackerBlog coverage of the project can be viewed by clicking on the “Economic Development” category at left and scrolling through January’s posts.
CrackerBlog welcomes comments on any post. Comments are submitted by clicking on the word “comment” at the bottom right of each post.
More than 200 citizens gathered on Monday, January 10 for the first of two public hearings on the proposed $612-million coal-to-oil-facility slated for a site near Gilberton, PA, in Mahanoy Township. The second hearing was held January 11 at the D.H.H. Lengel Middle School, Pottsville.
Janice Bell of the Department of Energy (DOE), Document Manager for the project, moderated Monday’s hearing at the Shenandoah Valley Jr./Sr. High School. Citizens who signed up to comment were allotted five minutes each to present statements directly related to the DOE’s draft environmental impact statement on the project–officially know as the Gilberton Coal-to-Clean Fuels and Power Project.
All of the evening’s public commenters were opposed to the project, except one. Gary Martin, President of a Schuylkill building and construction group, said he and others in the building trades passionately support the project because of its potential to create hundreds of union jobs in Schuylkill County. Martin’s comments brought a standing ovation from many union workers in the audience.
Jane Etter, a Shenandoah resident new to the area, agreed that the county is in need of jobs. “But a meeting like this makes me wonder why we need a meeting like this,” she added.
Frackville resident John Gera expressed his opposition to the project by asking for a moment of silence to honor “the sick, dying and dead” resulting from “our government’s pollution,” followed by a Kerouacian rant of environmental hazards posed by the facility’s construction and operation.
Morea resident and Chair of the Mahanoy Township Supervisors Sharon Chiao cited frequent use of the words “maybe” “if” and “likely” in the DOE’s draft environmental impact statement. “Give us some definites,” said Chiao.
Public comments on the DOE’s draft statement may be submitted in writing until February 8, 2006 to: Janice Bell, NEPA Document Manager, National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, MS 58-247A, PO Box 10940, Pittsburgh, PA 15236.
A final DOE environmental impact statement will be compiled to respond to each comment.
Additional coverage on Monday evening’s public hearing appears online in a Republican & Herald article by Stephen J. Pytak.
Posted by: site admin @ 7:57 am
Our community’s conversation about Schuylkill County’s proposed $612-million coal-to-oil plant that will convert culm banks into jet fuel continues in today’s Republican & Herald as citizens await participation in two public hearings set for this week:
Stephen J. Pytak profiles Frackville resident John M. Gera, who filed a spring 2004 appeal to the state-approved air quality permit for the project.
An article by Shawn A. Hessinger focuses on interaction between John W. Rich Jr.–President of Waste Management and Processors Inc. and Reading Anthracite Company, who is working to develop the facility in Gilberton–and Mike Ewall–Founder and Director of ActionPA, a Philadelphia-based environmental group working with the local Schuylkill Taxpayers Opposed to Pollution.
Get the Facts
Rich and the Schuylkill Taxpayers group each have websites dedicated to the coal-to-oil “gasification” project. For a balanced perspective on the proposed facility browse each site:
Ultra Clean Fuels Ultra Dirty Fuels
View the Statement
The “Environmental Impact Statement for the Gilberton Coal-to-Clean Fuels and Power Project”–the subject of this week’s public hearings–is available for public review at the Pottsville, Mahanoy City and Frackville libraries. Or, by calling 412-386-4512.
Citizens may also review the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) statement ONLINE in a 35-page PDF.
Page 31 of the statement begins a summary of the potential impacts, which organizes the DOE’s assessment into categories such as: Land Use & Aesthetics; Air Quality; Geology; Water Resources; Floodplains & Wetlands; Ecological Resources; Socioeconomic Resources; Waste Management; Human Health & Safety; and Noise.
Power in the Process
Whether or not you choose to read the DOE’s environmental impact statement or attend this week’s public hearings, it’s clear that there is renewed energy in Schuylkill County. Some say the exciting potential behind our country’s first coal-to-oil operation is charging things up; others say it’s the power of an active group of community residents who are taking an interest in and a stand for the place they love.
Ultimately, both sides have given our region a jolt of awareness. Stay tuned to see where it leads. Or, become involved to empower yourself and to have a voice in Schuylkill County’s future.