Masontown council discusses mine-related blasting
MASONTOWN – The borough council discussed at length the mine-related blasting that has rocked area residents the last few months, as a host of Masontown citizens expressed their anger and frustration over the damaging explosions. Over the summer Amerikohl Mining Inc. has mined in German Township, which borders the borough. Throughout the summer, more and more Masontown residents have come forward with complaints and reports of damage from the mining practices.
Masontown resident Dr. Donald Franks told the council Tuesday that he has contacted the Fayette County commissioners about the blasting, and a slue of additional residents said they have called and written everyone from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to area environmental attorneys to try and find a solution to the mining.
“We are all here for the same reason,” Franks said. “We just want to know what is happening.”
Franks said that the overall word from the DEP and other government agencies regarding the blasting is that the mining company is permitted to blast for coal.
However, Franks compared the permit to a driver’s permit, noting that just because someone obtains their driver’s permit, they still can’t run people over.
Councilman Tom Loukota said the Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining in Washington, D.C., was unaware that there had been complaints regarding the mining, something Loukota said is a violation of DEP code, which orders federal notification of all complaints that are investigated within 10 days.
Some of the residents that attended the meeting Tuesday first contacted the state in March, and still no federal officials have been notified.
Loukota said the DEP is in violation.
“The federal government doesn’t even know about this problem,” Loukota said. “We need to create a paper trail and write letters so we have something to fall back on. There is something not right in the way this was handled.”
Loukota said the borough is not interested in the coal, just the safety and security of borough residents and their property and compared the blast to earthquakes, shaking the homes of dozens of area residents.
Earlier this month, Councilman Joe Volansky made a motion for solicitor Gary Monaghan to obtain a court order requiring Amerikohl to cease and desist all mining operations, but, despite the passage of the motion by a 3-2 vote, the borough was concerned with possible financial ramifications of such an order.
Tuesday, Volansky again cited violations by the mining company, specifically the lack of a warning signal before each blasts, unclosed roadways during blasting and an illegal stone business the company has established on the mining property.
Volansky again encouraged the council to move forward with an injunction to stop the mining.
Still, the council decided to wait until all legal ramifications of an injunction were fully understood.
The council directed all area residents who have suffered blast damage to contact the borough and to write letters to DEP and the Department of the Interior.