The Pottsville (PA.) Republican & Evening Herald
Saturday, April 13, 2002

Regional lawmakers, coal magnates and environmental officials toured Schuylkill County Friday while learning numerous ways anthracite coal can replace the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

During stops in Pine Grove and Frackville, the state House of Representative's Task Force on 21st Century Energy Policy for Pennsylvania discovered that coal industry waste can be transformed into clean burning fuel.

At the Gilberton Power Co., Frackville, John W. Rich Jr., president of Waste Management & Processors Inc. (WMPI), Gilberton, explained the company's plans for a $350 million coal liquefaction plant, the nation's first such facility.

Rich said the new coal gasification/liquefaction plant on the border of Mahanoy and West Mahanoy townships could convert the waste into transportation fuels called "ultracleanfuels."

"This would send a clear signal to foreign oil interests that the United States is no longer willing to be manipulated by uncertainties over foreign oil supplies," Rich said.

State Rep. and House Appropriations Chairman David G. Argall, R-124, fully endorsed the plan, citing South Africa as one nation that has profited from the technology.

"They made the initial investment and the market now works," Argall said.

According to the Pennsylvania Anthracite Council, which sponsored the tour, the nation consumes nearly 20 million barrels of oil and petroleum products a day, of which nearly 60 percent is imported. One quarter of imported oil comes from the Middle East.

Rich said the coal-to-oil project would also boost the county's economy, creating jobs and new business opportunities.

"We want to keep the dollars and jobs here," Rich said.

State Rep. Ellen M. Bard, R-153, Abington Township, Montgomery County, the task force founder and chairwoman, studied Rich's presentation.

A primary mandate of the task force is to promote the development and production of new sources of petroleum and alternatives to petroleum products in the state.

"Our dependence on foreign oil is dangerous," Bard said. "We want to use our supplies more efficiently."

Interest in energy alternatives to foreign oil continue to rise as prices at the pump escalate. Gas prices have risen steadily since February and jumped more than 8 cents per gallon in the past two weeks.

Duane C. Feagley, executive director of the Pennsylvania Anthracite Council, said a study by the Penn State Facilities Planning Institute found that the cost of using coal for energy in the commonwealth is only one third that of oil and gas.

"Anthracite is an American fuel, a Pennsylvania fuel," Feagley said. "The commonwealth should be doing more to promote its use as a commercial and home heating source."

At a Raven Run re-mining site, Dan Blaschak, vice chairman of the anthracite council and vice president of the Blaschak Coal Corp., and Daniel J. Koury, watershed manager in the DEP's Pottsville office, detailed the reclamation of mined lands owned by the City of Philadelphia.

Through the re-mining of deep mines and surface mines abandoned prior to 1977, over the last three years, the mining industry has reclaimed more than 10,000 acres and helped improve nearly 100 streams at a savings to the taxpayer of more than $79 million, the anthracite council stated.

Another stop, at Pine Grove Area High School, was led by Fred W. Leffler, the school's maintenance coordinator, who opened up the institution's anthracite coal heating system, revealing the clean-burning red hot coals inside.

"This is clean," said Leffler, at one point motioning towards the absence of any smoke emanating from the system's tall exhaust stack. "The coal is local, the jobs are local."

News Articles