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Source: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15289299&BRD=2626&PAG=461&dept_id=536271&rfi=8
Township afraid of drying up SHENANDOAH HEIGHTS West Mahanoy Township officials are concerned that a request by Waste Management Processors Inc. (WMPI) to draw water from the Susquehanna River Basin could diminish township water supplies. WMPI, Gilberton, is requesting that the Susquehanna River Basin Commission allow the coal and energy company to draw 7 million gallons of water per day for use at a proposed coal-to-oil facility in Mahanoy and West Mahanoy Townships. The water is needed to convert culm or coal waste into liquid and gas, and to generate steam and electricity, according to the commission. It would be used as part of an innovative clean fuel inititative that has drawn national attention. The coal-to-oil facility, which would be built next to Gilberton Power Co., a co-generation plant owned by John Rich Jr., the president of WMPI, would convert anthracite coal waste into syngas, a clear zero-sulfur liquid fuel. WMPI recently received a $100 million federal grant to secure loan guarantees for the approximately $612 million project, which Rich said would create 1,600 jobs. For all of the project's potential benefits in creating clean fuels, however, West Mahanoy Township officials said they are "gravely concerned" that allowing WMPI to draw 7 million gallons of water per day from the river basin "could have an adverse impact on our residents who have private wells." The township's concern is that allowing WMPI to draw the water would leave little water left for the township. In a letter to the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, township supervisors Chairwoman Evelyn Andrews called the proposed withdrawal "extreme" and called for an extensive study of the request. Andrews noted that Ashland borough draws 700,000 gallons of water per day from the basin. According to Andrews, Mahanoy City borough (400,000) and the Pennsylvania American Water Company (1,000,000) do not combined draw half as much water daily as WMPI is requesting. "It's way too much," Andrews said of the requested water. Township officials said they were unable to attend a Sept. 14 commission meeting in Cooperstown, N.Y., but expected the commission to contact the township in coming days. In other business, the township will advertise to more than double its Emergency Management Services tax from $25 to $52 the maximum allowed under state law and expects to approve the change at next month's regular meeting. The tax is paid by those who are employed within the township and, according to Andrews, three quarters of people who work in the township do not live there. Additional revenue created by the change will be used to increase the stipend awarded to the township's three fire companies Shenandoah Heights, Altamont and William Penn Fire Companies from $3,000 to $4,000 and to pay three new part-time police officers. The new police officers, Shawn Butler, Jason Drumheller and Shawn Tray, were officially hired at Tuesday's regular township supervisors meeting and will receive $10 an hour with no benefits. The EMS tax replaced the township's occupational assessment tax in January. |
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