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Coal-to-oil
plant may go up by 2003
Santorum backs benefits for region
The Pottsville (PA) Republican & Evening Herald
Friday, November
3, 2000
MOREA - The Broad Mountain could be the site of a coal-to-oil plant as early as 2003.
John W. Rich Jr. said his company, Waste Management Processors Inc., has partnered with the Sasol Ltd., the South African energy company, which is the world leader in coal-to-gas technology, to develop the plant.
Rich believes this partnership gives his company an edge over other firms competing for the government money, which comes from the $93 million Department of Interior Appropriations Bill that President Clinton recently signed into law.
U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., was in Gilberton Thursday with Rich to conduct a press conference announcing the funding for clean coal technology. He said he is also very excited about the possibilities the plant could bring.
"It has been a pleasure working with John on this project for the last year. This is great news for the Northeastern United States. We simply don't have the (oil) reserves to meet the demand in this country," Santorum said.
Santorum said that he worked closely with U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-WV, to put the wording in the bill to make money available for coal-to-oil operations.
The senator went on to point out three ways in which the coal-to-oil plant is going to help the area.
The new plant will help solve the problem of fuel for the country.
Santorum said with the country consuming oil far in excess than its reserves, a solution is needed to stop dependence on foreign oil. Relying on imported oil leaves the United States open to influence by oil producing nations.
The use of refuse coal will benefit the environment.
According to Rich, the plant would produce 4 barrels of oil for every ton of coal.
Since there are around 34 billion tons of coal in the state, Rich said, that would equal around 130 billion gallons of oil in reserve. According to Rich, that is more than the Iraq's oil reserves.
The coal-to-oil plant will help bring jobs to the area.
According to Rich, the construction of the plant -which he hopes will begin in 2001- would bring 1,000 construction jobs to the area.
The plant would then provide 150 permanent jobs for the operation of the plant. Support jobs would come from suppliers and other businesses that would benefit from the plant's operation.
Rich said the next year will be used to determine the exact costs of the project and attempting to receive as much government funding for the work as possible. Groundbreaking would take place soon after all financing is arranged.