The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has returned Amerikohl Mining's application for the proposed Curry Mine, citing incompleteness in the application. Amerikohl did not provide proof of its right to access the site using Camp Carmel Road for a proposed strip mine near Ohiopyle State Park, officials said.
Tom Rathbun, DEP spokesman, said, "It's up to them if they want to gain access to the road and reapply. If they reapply, another public hearing will be scheduled."
Local environmental groups are pleased that the DEP has rejected Amerikohl's application.
"Our organization had serious concerns about the potential impacts to the Youghiogheny River and the surrounding area from this mining, as well as the ability of the public to participate in the permitting process," said Liz Tavares, president of Friends of Ohiopyle, in a news release. "We are quite glad that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection shares those concerns."
"The proposed Curry Mine, if permitted, would be surrounded on four sides by high-quality streams, one of which the Chestnut Ridge Chapter of Trout Unlimited is currently attempting to remediate from past mining damage," said Scott Hoffman of CRTU. "It does not make sense to allow further degradation to Morgan Run when our organization anticipates spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to clean it up."
Johnson Run, Morgan Run and the Youghiogheny River have all been designated High-Quality Cold Water Fisheries by the state. The Chestnut Ridge Trout Unlimited chapter has received DEP Growing Greener funding to install a treatment system to remediate acidic discharges caused by past coal mining in the Morgan Run watershed.
"We are very pleased with the DEP's decision to return the application," said Krissy Kasserman, Youghiogheny river keeper with the Mountain Watershed Association. "There were serious problems with access to the site as well as how the application addressed the presence of high-quality streams. Because the surrounding streams are high-quality, they are considered 'special protection' waters which deserve a higher level of scrutiny and protection than Amerikohl provided in the application."
At an April 16 DEP public hearing in the Dunbar Township supervisors' building, John Stilley, owner of Amerikohl Mining Inc., said his company planned to remove about 250,000 tons of low-sulfur coal from the Curry Mine, a project area of 600 acres. Coal would be removed from about 280 acres of the Upper Freeport and Upper Kittanning coal seams. The property is forest, which would be restored.
Trucks transporting coal from the mine would travel Camp Carmel Road, Greenbrier Road, Chalk Hill-Ohiopyle Road and township roads 547 and 1055.
The hearing upset many attendees because of its format. The DEP did not permit public testimony, but had a separate room with a DEP employee and a tape recorder in which those concerned about the project could offer testimony. The meeting room itself was too small for the more than 50 people who attended. The hearing did not conform to NPDES regulations.
Before the DEP sent the application back to Amerikohl, it was working on scheduling a hearing that would follow regulations and accommodate a crowd.
Another hearing will take place only if Amerikohl resubmits its application to the DEP, said Rathbun.
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