Approximately 130 people attended DEP’s public hearing on LCT Energy’s proposed Rustic Ridge deep mine on Wednesday, January 28. Guess who didn’t attend….. LCT Energy, the company proposing this 2,000+ acre deep mine in the gateway to the Laurel Highlands, did not send a single representative to the meeting to speak and/or answer questions from concerned residents. We believe this is indicative of their committment– or lack thereof– to our community, and we find it to be very concerning.
Those offering testimony included former DEP officials concerned with the impact the mine would have on the area’s hydrology, an organic farmer concerned about noise and flooding, the mayor of Mount Pleasant borough worried about increased coal truck traffic in his community and others concerned about impacts to Laurel Highlands tourism.
From a Tribune-Review article covering the hearing:
Beverly Braverman, executive director of the Mountain Watershed Association, called attention to a number of mistakes and potential problems in the application, including the year submitted and several problems with the features to prevent contaminated mine water from escaping and polluting Champion Creek, Little Champion Creek and Indian Creek.
She also called attention to the past permit applications that were denied by DEP.
“There is a huge, shared footprint between this proposed mine and the one that was proposed back in 1994 that DER/DEP denied,” Braverman said.
Later, she called attention to the millions in taxpayer dollars that had been expended to clean up the Indian Creek and Champion Creek watersheds from earlier mines.
“They should not be mining there,” Braverman said.
For more information on this proposal, to review maps of the area expected to be impacted, or for help in ensuring your property is properly documented in the permit application, please contact Beverly via email or at 724/455-4200, ext. 1#.