Coal company seeks to have ZHB decision reversed
A coal mining company that was denied a special exception to mine more than 200 acres near the Youghiogheny River Trail in Dunbar Township is seeking to have that decision reversed. In a land-use appeal filed in the prothonotary’s office last month, Amerikohl Mining Inc. of Stahlstown asked the court to reverse the denial of the Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board and direct that Amerikohl be granted a special exception or that the case be remanded to the zoning board to receive additional evidence.
Amerikohl was seeking a special exception for property zoned A-1 (agricultural rural) located along Camp Carmel Road to mine about 213.5 acres on a 464.6-acre site owned by Louis J. and Charles D. Curry of Uniontown and John M. Heath of Belle Mead, N.J.
The zoning board held hearings on the request on March 18, April 29 and June 10, and denied the special exception on Aug. 26.
In the denial, the board wrote that the facts “do not and can not provide 100 percent certainty that the health, safety and welfare of the public would or could be protected.”
The decision states that “in such a sensitive area of our county, no less than 100 percent assurances would be acceptable.”
The denial is signed by zoning chairman Jim Killinger and secretary Jim Burns.
In the appeal, filed by attorney Mark Mehalov, it states that “the board erred in finding that appellant was required to provide 100 percent assurances that the health, safety and welfare of the public would or could be protected; thus, imposing a higher burden of proof upon appellant than what is required by law.”
During the hearings, W. David Maxwell of Amerikohl testified that the closest residence is 1.3 miles away and the trail along the Youghiogheny River is 1,000 feet away at the closest point.
He anticipated about 30 truckloads of coal a day would be hauled out of the site and the operation would last two years.
Barbara Wallace of Dunbar Road spoke against the request during a hearing, saying the proposed mine site is a beautiful place adjacent to a state park, and she doesn’t think it is the best place for a strip mine.
Numerous other people, including Connellsville Mayor Judy Reed and Evelyn Hovanec, a member of the Fayette County Planning Commission, objected to the request.
Dr. Richard J. Hoch of Dunbar, a self-described zoning professor, presented a map at one hearing showing water supply, environmental and cultural considerations.
Hoch said 150,000 people from Fayette and Westmoreland counties get water from the Youghiogheny River and the mine could adversely affect the supply.
Also during testimony in the hearings, Roger Uhazie of Dunbar, a former mine inspector, pointed out that blasting fatalities have occurred in other states as a result of flying rock.
Uhazie said his concerns are that people swim in a stream within 1,000 feet of the proposed mine site and the bike trail is within 1,000 feet of the mine site.
During the hearings, Maxwell pointed out that his company previously mined two miles closer to Ohiopyle and nobody knew the workers were there.
Maxwell, vice president for Amerikohl for 21 years, said the distance from the blasting site to the swimming area at Camp Carmel is a long distance and the chances are “nil” that any injuries would occur as a result of blasting.
Maxwell also testified that the water supply would not be affected.
According to the appeal, Amerikohl currently holds 39 mining permits in Fayette County, of which 34 are reclaimed, four are active and one is inactive, with all receiving special exception approval.
The company is slated to appear before the zoning board at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 21 to seek a special exception for a surface mining operation on property in Menallen Township.