FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2008

CONTACT: Krissy Kasserman 724-455-4200

Citizens Organizations Call on DEP to Schedule PUBLIC Hearing on
Curry Mine Proposal

Melcroft, PA- The Mountain Watershed Association, Friends of Ohiopyle and the Chestnut Ridge Chapter of Trout Unlimited are calling on the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to schedule a second meeting on Amerikohl’s proposed Curry Mine and to hold this second hearing in a truly public fashion.

“The tax-paying citizens of Pennsylvania deserve an opportunity to discuss their concerns in a public forum, and the April 16th meeting did not allow such an opportunity,” said Liz Tavares, President of Friends of Ohiopyle.  “The facility was so small that many were forced to stand outside, and those who managed to squeeze inside were subjected to what was essentially a commercial for Amerikohl Mining.”

Amerikohl has proposed to mine 588.5 acres of land adjacent to Ohiopyle State Park and the Youghiogheny River Bike Trail.  The site is located in two sub-basins of the Youghiogheny River; both are designated high-quality cold water fisheries.  Included in the permit is a request for an NPDES permit to allow the operator to discharge into five unnamed tributaries of the Youghiogheny River.  The Youghiogheny River is also designated a high-quality cold water fishery.  An informal public conference was held on April 16th at the Dunbar Township Supervisor’s Building in Dunbar, PA.  At the meeting, citizens wishing to give testimony were forced to do so in an adjacent room and to a tape recorder. 

“This site presents some very serious environmental concerns and has the potential to further pollute a stream that our organization anticipates spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to clean up.” said Scott Hoffman of Chestnut Ridge Trout Unlimited.  The Chestnut Ridge Trout Unlimited has received DEP Growing Greener funding to install a treatment system to remediate acidic discharges from past coal mines.  Hoffman continued, “Our members have worked incredibly hard to move this project forward, and the DEP should allow them to voice their concerns about new mining in a public forum.”

“Pennsylvania's EPA-approved program for issuing NPDES discharge permits under the Clean Water Act specifically allows citizens to request public hearings on NPDES discharge permits.  We dispute that the conference meets the requirements of the NPDES program's public participation requirements,” stated Krissy Kasserman, Youghiogheny Riverkeeper with the Mountain Watershed Association.

The three groups have submitted requests to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to hold a public hearing on the Curry Mine proposal.

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