Tom Rathbun
Tom Rathbun
appreciate based bias faces industry mining modern
I think they appreciate that; our modern mining industry sometimes faces a lot of anti-mining bias based on things that were done in the past.
site work
Work at that site has just come to a standstill.
addressing continue federal looking money wait
We're not going to wait around for federal money to continue addressing these problems. We're looking at other options.
amended bigger concern despite management several
Management was a bigger concern to us than the finances. The reclamation just wasn't being done despite several amended agreements.
mining money touch work
We need something that's going to work for the Appalachian states; any place there was mining before the 1970s, there's a real need for reclamation. And that money still only cleans up higher-priority sites; it doesn't even touch on all the non-coal quarries in need of reclamation.
companies obsolete order paid spend
We don't want to order these companies to spend $100,000 on something that's going to be obsolete before it's paid for.
falls roof
When a roof falls from 40 feet, it's going to be catastrophic.
government groups hands job local open sitting smaller solutions state waiting
We're not sitting on our hands waiting for someone to hand us money. With smaller watershed groups and state and local government being open to new ideas, our job is to see that other solutions are being put into practice.
finding people
Everyone said there's nothing you can do about it. Now people are finding out you can.
clean creating good material money soon taxpayers
You have a material that can be used as fuel. As soon as you get the material out of the stream, it (the stream) improves. If we can clean streams while creating electricity, and it's not costing the taxpayers any money to clean up these streams, that's a good thing.
communication company effort involves ongoing promote safe
It's not something the company was faulted for. They make a very concerted effort to have a safe workplace. They promote it ... It's an ongoing thing and it involves communication at all levels.
abandoned built depended entire europe helped iron mine nation opened steel west win
For a long time, the entire nation depended on coal, limestone, iron ore and steel from Pennsylvania. It helped win the Revolutionary War, it built railroads that opened the West and rebuilt Europe after two world wars. Our take on this is that this is not Pennsylvania's abandoned mine problem, it's America's problem.
asking believe cleaning federal focused historic state
The state is focused on cleaning up this huge, historic mess. We don't believe we're asking for anything extravagant (from the federal government) to do it.
frost meeting
The supervisors and FROST requested a meeting with us when we neared the end of the process.