Politicians rescue loan for benefactor's waste coal-to-oil project

Three politicians who represent Schuylkill County in Washington have used their clout to conditionally reinstate a $100 million loan for a local facility that will convert waste coal into diesel fuel and home heating oil, the Associated Press reports.

Two of those politicians have taken tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from project president John W. Rich Jr. and members of his family, whose regional business empire is heavily invested in waste coal. However, those same politicians have failed to take action to protect the public from the considerable amount of pollution the facility will dump into the environment -- even though federal health authorities have acknowledged that area residents are suffering from high rates of diseases linked to environmental contamination.

U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and U.S. Rep. Tim Holden (D-Pa.) announced the reinstatement of the loan to Waste Management and Processors Inc. on Friday, just weeks after President Bush's latest budget rescinded the money. The $800 million project has already received $47 million in state tax credits and a $7.7 million cost-share investment from the U.S. Department of Energy. The plant will also be exempt from state and local taxes through 2013, as it is planned for a Keystone Opportunity Zone.

Reports AP:

Under an agreement, the plant backers now have until the end of the year to secure funding for the facility before the loan is rescinded, according to the lawmakers.

Sean Kevelighan, a spokesman with the Office of Management and Budget, said the decision was reached after Specter arranged a meeting with the parties involved.

"At a time when our nation is grappling with energy security, we should be using every incentive and tool at our disposal to promote clean coal-to-liquid technology in the U.S.," Specter said in a statement.

Unfortunately, Specter repeats the same misleading propaganda disseminated by the Bush administration and Rich that the technology behind the project is somehow "clean." In fact, the plant would release enormous amounts of greenhouse gas pollution linked to global warming. It would also emit significant quantities of toxic chemicals into local communities that are already grappling with multiple sources of pollution, including dirty waste-fuel-burning power plants owned by the Riches. Reports Schuylkill Taxpayers Opposed to Pollution, a grassroots citizens group fighting the coal-to-diesel facility:

Air pollutants throughout the process would be emitted from the refinery's six stacks (five 200 foot stacks and one 300 foot stack) and from the storage tanks, which are expected to leak over one ton of diesel and naphtha each year. The state [Department of Environmental Protection] has permitted the refinery to annually release up to 99.9 tons each of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter (including up to 15 tons of sulfuric acid mist) as well as 49.9 tons of volatile organic compounds, 100 tons of ammonia and unlimited amounts of carbon dioxide and other unregulated pollutants. In total, the refinery would release hundreds of tons per year of health-damaging air pollutants, including 38 pounds of mercury.

Despite the obvious risk the plant presents to public health, Specter, Casey and Holden have failed to take any action to address the problem. That raises the question: Why would these politicians be so attentive to the Riches' interests, yet apparently so indifferent to the public interest?

One clue lies in campaign finance records, which show that the Riches contribute generously to both Holden and Specter. From the 2002 through 2006 election cycles, Rich family members donated at least $21,000 to Holden's campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' Open Secrets database. During the same period, the family donated at least $12,750 to Specter, and at least $67,000 to the Republican Federal Committee of Pennsylvania. The database does not show any contributions from the Rich family to Casey, but it will be interesting to see if that changes now that the freshman senator has gone to bat for them.

It appears that the Riches' money means more to these politicians than the well being of their constituents. The voters should remember that come election time.

Bush budget scraps loan for coal-to-oil plant

President Bush's budget has left out a $100 million low-interest loan for the heavily polluting coal-to-oil plant planned for Schuylkill County, the Pottsville Republican reports.

Besides emitting a significant amount of toxic chemicals in communities already facing serious environmental threats, the facility is also expected to release an enormous amount of greenhouse gas pollution -- far more than originally estimated. The summary of an international scientific report released last week linked such pollution to dramatic and dangerous climatic changes already underway around the globe.

But area politicians have already sprung into action to save the project, which is led by local waste-coal-burning mogul and political contributor John W. Rich Jr., according to the paper:

"I've been on the phone all day trying to get an explanation for this," said U.S. Rep. T. Timothy Holden, D-17. "To redirect the money without explanation is unbelievable ... We were all blindsided."

Holden said he and U.S. Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Robert P. Casey Jr., D-Pa., have been trying to make appointments with the administration to discuss the sudden change of heart.

In a press statement released Monday on the 2008 budget, Specter said: "I am opposed to the president's proposal to rescind $100 million to fund the nation's first coal-to-diesel plant in Schuylkill County, which is vital for exploring and developing our nation's alternative energy sources. As a senior appropriator, I am sure the president's budget will be thoroughly revised in accordance with the constitutional provision which gives Congress the authority to determine spending levels."

Gov. Ed Rendell (D) also called for restoring fundings to the project in a Feb. 7 press release, repeating the oft-told lie that such heavily polluting technology is somehow "clean":

"The president, in his State of the Union address, promised to promote clean coal technologies and lead the charge for cutting America's reliance on oil, but his new budget instead cuts funding for a very promising solution to our energy needs," Governor Rendell said. "I am calling on the president to reverse course, keep his word and restore the funding for America’s first waste-coal-to-diesel plant."

Hometown plant increases use of hazardous chemical

Air Products recently announced that its Hometown facility will expand production of tungsten hexafluoride -- a hazardous chemical used in the manufacture of computer memory chips -- by 60 percent.

That likely means local residents will be exposed to increased air emissions of hydrogen fluoride, a highly toxic chemical formed when tungsten hexafluoride comes into contact with water.

In 2004, Air Products' Hometown plant reported emitting to the air 5,382 pounds of hydrogen fluoride, according to EPA's Toxic Release Inventory database. In 1988, the first year for which TRI data is available, it released 11,026 pounds of the chemical to the air. Emissions then dropped dramatically, averaging about 150 pounds a year from 1989 to 1996; climbed to 500 pounds a year from 1997 through 1999; and then increased sharply to 1,577 pounds in 2000, 4,126 in 2001 and 5,352 in both 2002 and 2003. It released a total of 16,408 pounds of hydrogen fluoride over the 15-year period.

Hydrogen fluoride inhalation poses a number of serious health risks, according to the EPA's air toxics Web site:

# Chronic inhalation exposure of humans to hydrogen fluoride has resulted in irritation and congestion of the nose, throat, and bronchi at low levels.

# Increased bone density has been reported among workers chronically exposed to fluorides (including hydrogen fluoride) via inhalation.

# Damage to the liver, kidneys, and lungs has been observed in animals chronically exposed to hydrogen fluoride by inhalation.