The Semet Tar Ponds project has already been intensely studied and cleanup efforts have long been under way.
In the summer of 1995, Honeywell performed an interim remediation effort by putting a temporary cover on the Semet Tar Ponds, primarily to reduce emissions and odors. This cover is replaced annually. Honeywell also launched a scientific investigation into the characteristics of the materials there, leading to the discovery of a way to convert the Semet tar material into a high-BTU-content fuel. Pilot studies have proven that this hazardous waste can be safely recycled."
One of Honeywell's early enterprises was the manufacture of various products from coal tar - and, they were obviously careless about what they did with the wastes. But, here we have a case somewhat analogous to the Schuylkill, PA, coal-mine-refuse-to-liquid-fuel enterprise.
It emphasizes the point that there is value in coal waste. We should start looking at it as a resource, and focus our efforts on ways to use it constructively, rather than waste our time, as well as this potentially valuable asset, defending ourselves against the, sometimes justified, charges of environmental activists.