PITTSBURGH — On Tuesday, Pittsburgh-area lawmakers announced three bills that are designed to hold coal companies accountable and eliminate the dangers caused by old mining operations.
“It is a part of our region’s history that we’ve powered the country and that’s a source of pride, but it’s also come at a great cost to us and our health,” Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-17) said.
More than 250 years ago, Pennsylvania’s coal industry was born.
“Mt Washington used to be called Coal Hill because this is where coal was first mined in Pittsburgh,” Rep. Summer Lee (D-12) said Tuesday during a press conference announcing the new legislation.
Lee acknowledged that coal helped build the city, but she also added that it has left behind a lot of harm.
“The mines may not still be producing anymore but the pollution didn’t stop and the harm didn’t stop,” she said.
Lee and Deluzio jointly announced the package of three bills that target what they call a growing crisis: “zombie mines,” long-standing idle coal mines that pollute waterways and threaten public safety.
The lawmakers say that together, the bills would ensure mining companies put aside enough money for mine cleanup and eliminate the practice of “self-bonding.” Lee says that practice allows coal companies to promise — rather than actually secure — the funds needed to clean up mine sites.
“With these bills, I think we can finally deliver a death blow to these zombie mines that have been polluting our region and regions like ours across the country,” Deluzio said.
According to Appalachian Voices, a nonprofit environmental organization, there are more than 600,000 acres of zombie mines across the Appalachian region in need of reclamation.
The fix would cost nearly $10 billion. And right now, that money is not there.
“You think about the mining communities across PA, WV, KY, broader Appalachian region,” Deluzio said. “Those folks don’t want to deal with the clean up costs that frankly their labor provided profits for corporations to power this country... the outside organizing work in those communities. I know the support is there for measures like this to cleanup the costs of mining.”
A third bill, backed by Virginia Congressman Don Beyer (D-8), holds companies to a timeline.
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