Rep.. Harrison,
I recently saw a news report where you had introduced a bill in your legislature that would require that your state would no longer buy coal mined from mountain top mining. The report went on to say that you are going to try to get this legislation passed at the federal level.
I am a newly elected democratic county commissioner in rural West Virginia and I am wondering if you have even visited such a site first hand or do you get your information from biased environmental groups? Have you visited a post mining site? Do even understand how mining in areas such as I live in are impacted economically by the coal mining industry?
Coal severance tax gives us approximately 25% of our operating budget for our local government. When you factor in the appraisal values it then rises to about 30%. Our school system also relies largely on coal severance tax to maintain a quality education for our children.
The population of our entire county is approximately 10,000 people. There are three incorporated towns in our county with populations of 1500, 600, and 400 citizens. The rest of the population live in the out laying areas. The two resources we have are coal and timber. Jobs in the timber industry are mostly low paying with few benefits. Coal miners can make in excess of $50,000 dollars a year with benefits. This allows folks from one of the poorest counties in the country to have a comfortable standard of living. allows them to send their kids to college and helps break the cycle of turning to entitlement programs to survive.
We have two coal companies in operation in our county. They employee around 800 people. They put 10's of millions of dollars into our local economy through payroll, local contractors, vendors, etc. Coal companies are partners with our small towns. When emergencies such as heavy snows, ice storms, etc befall us the coal companies are the first to respond. One local coal company donated money to install lights on a local Jr. High football field, then payed their electricians and other employees to install the poles and lights. We are curretnly working with a coal companie to secure a bridge loan or use of equipment and personal for a local water project.
We work closely with our coal companies to see if areas can be used for further economic development post mining. Areas for housing projects, industrial parks, recreational areas, sites for things such as prisons, hospitals, etc. can be left instead of the traditional reclamation. When the areas are reclaimed in just a few years timber is once again growing. In some cases persons will buy the land to build homes on or to use for farming. If you had ever been here you would know that flat ground is at a premium. Not only can they leave areas for construction but much of the infrastructure such as roads, water and electric can be left for use for further development.
Our coal companies have won numerous awards for reclamation and responsible mining practices.They are good stewards of the land here. Our county is ranked in the top 20% cleanest/best in terms of pollution in the United States. How many of your counties can claim that distinction what with the phosphorus and other pollutants that run off into your rivers from the farming industry?
The native brook trout, our state fish, is a sensitive aquatic life form that will not survive in highly acidic or streams of low oxygen content. I can take you to several streams that run through mined out strip jobs and catch your legal limit easily. You see I'm an outdoors man myself. I fish, hunt, hike, bike and camp all the time.
I would like to invite you to my county so that you could see first hand what real impact a decision such as you are trying to make would really have. .
Come and meet my neighbor that has no possibility of going elsewhere to find work in this poor economy. Meet his two young sons who call this place home and would be devastated if they had to leave all of their friends if by chance his father could move to another place for work. Take a look at their nice home which they will lose to foreclosure if the mine he works at can not permit another area to work in.
I have no problem with wanting to protect our environment but there has to be a reasonable balance. We have to also understand the full impact of our decisions. I would like to give you that opportunity to see first had what a decision such as yours would have on the place I call my home.
Again I invite you to visit us and promise you it will be a pleasant experience.
God bless you and yours,
Sam Barger
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