 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
U.S. SENATE SUPPORT FOR
CULM-TO-CLEAN-FUEL
MOVES SCHULYKILL COUNTY PROJECT CLOSER TO
REALITY
Santorum/Gorton Successfully Push for New Round of Clean Coal
Technology Projects; Measure Passed by Senate Includes Project Funding
Mechanism
Gilberton, Pennsylvania
Thursday July 20, 1999
The nation's first project to convert coal wastes into a clean, zero-sulfur diesel fuel was endorsed
twice this week in the United States Senate, including passage of a potential federal funding
mechanism. The Senate action signals the Schuylkill County project is a step closer to actual
construction, according to project developer John W. Rich, Jr., president of Waste Management and
Processors, Inc. (WMPI).
Rich said that remarks offered on the Senate floor Monday by Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), a
member of the Senate Energy Task Force and Senator Slade Gorton (R-Wa.), Chairman of the Senate
Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, made clear their respective support for the project.
On the heels of their remarks, the Senate Tuesday passed the FY 2001 Interior Appropriations
Bill, including funding for a new round of Clean Coal Technology projects by the Department of
Energy (DOE). Under the renewed Clean Coal Technology program, the WMPI project could qualify
for federal funding as a demonstration project.
"Senator Santorum's tireless efforts to support this project, coupled with a clear indication from
Senator Gorton that it should be considered by the Department of Energy under the revitalized Clean
Coal Technology demonstration program, is a very significant development," Rich said.
"Their recognition and support for an environmentally friendly culm and silt conversion process
into a clean diesel fuel is both timely and welcomed," he said. "There is no doubt that this kind of
support, coupled with a serious commitment for project funding, moves us a big step closer to actual
construction."
Last year, Rep. Tim Holden (D-Pa.) helped secure a $7.8 million cost-share for the project from
DOE's National Energy Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh. Together with WMPI monies, that
funding will be used for the estimated $12 million in up-front studies, engineering and permitting
necessary before actual construction can begin. The Pennsylvania legislature and Governor Tom
Ridge previously approved $46.8 million in state tax credits for the project, predicated on federal
funding.
In the process of reclaiming land now covered by acres of Anthracite culm piles and silt ponds,
the WMPI project would create some 1,000 construction jobs, 150 permanent jobs and 600 support
jobs in the heart of an area that suffers from some of the state's highest unemployment.
Senator Santorum noted in his remarks that the WMPI project is the kind of positive response
the nation needs to help counter recent spikes in imported oil prices.
"The lack of a coherent and consistent energy policy has contributed to the high fuel prices that
have hit the working families of Pennsylvania and across the country very hard. It is the lack of a
national energy policy that has led our nation's reliance on foreign oil. Today, we import 56 percent
of our fuel. This is the highest level in the history of our country. For a historical perspective, we
only imported 36 percent of our oil during the energy crisis of the 1970's," Santorum told the Senate.
Santorum explained how support for the WMPI project would signal a basic shift in the nation's
energy policy by producing 1.4 million barrels a year of zero-sulfur, high-energy diesel fuel, "at the
same time reclaiming land now rendered unusable and environmentally damaging."
In his response to Senator Santorum's statement, Senator Gorton noted the Senate report
accompanying the Interior Appropriations bill directs the Department of Energy to report on
options for a new solicitation in the Clean Coal program. "…I would expect the Department to give
full consideration to such worthwhile projects as the one described by my friend from Pennsylvania,"
Sen. Gorton concluded.
Under a revived Clean Coal Technology Program, as included in the Interior Appropriations bill,
the WMPI project would compete with others for demonstration project funding. However Rich says
DOE's prior recognition of the merits of the project, coupled with the nation's urgent need to develop
"homegrown" alternative fuels makes the project a prime candidate for partial federal funding.