Coaldale Dumping Protest Scores Meeting With Rendell

About 35 people from the Army for a Clean Environment and Save Us From Future Environmental Risks -- local grassroots groups fighting plans to fill abandoned coal mines with river dredge and fly ash -- protested Wednesday evening outside the Coaldale Fire Co., where Gov. Ed Rendell spoke at a rededication ceremony celebrating the institution's centennial. The protesters carried signs and chanted, though they quieted down while the actual ceremony was underway, the Hazleton Standard Speaker reports.

Despite a scolding from a local newspaper columnist who took umbrage at them for elbowing their way into the firefighters' spotlight, the protesters considered their action a success. To Rendell's credit, he stepped away from the ceremony to talk with the protesters -- and ended up inviting ACE Director Dante Picciano to Harrisburg to discuss dumping issues.

"We are now working on the meeting," Picciano reports.

Kudos to these dedicated citizens for their tenacious fight for environmental justice -- and to Rendell for his responsiveness.