The Official Who Corbett Wants to Overrule Environmental Regs Has Environ. Violation History

Another person posted this news article, but I thought part of it deserved its own headline.

Corbett has appointed a coal company executive as Sec. of Community and Economic Development. In an unprecedented move, Corbett would give this one person the authority to overrule environmental permit processes.

Here's the Post-Gazette's text:

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11072/1131681-454.stm#ixzz1GUCkW5UN

"Acting Sec. of Comm. and Econ. Dev. Alan Walker has a track record of environmental problems at mines operated by three of his companies in Clearfield and Centre counties. A decade ago, he notified the state that his companies were selling off assets and could no longer afford treat polluted water flowing from 15 inactive mines into streams that feed the Susquehanna River.

The Dept. of Environmental Protection responded by seeking -- and winning -- a court injunction requiring treatment to continue at the mines. A year later, Mr. Walker signed a consent decree requiring him to fund a multimillion-dollar trust to ensure proper cleanup of acid drainage from those mines, which already had been the subject of numerous DEP compliance orders and violation orders

Other companies in similar circumstances had made similar arrangements to ensure mine drainage is treated, according to a 2002 DEP press release. The DEP's then-secretary David E. Hess wrote about the injunction in a 2002 e-mail message to his staff:

"We have to take strong action against some folks who just don't get it when it comes to fulfilling their environmental obligations. And that's exactly what happened this week to a mine operator who told us he wasn't going to spend a dime treating over 173 million gallons of polluted mine water," Mr. Hess wrote. "It's unfortunate with all the discussion nationally about corporate irresponsibility that we have a homegrown environmental example right here in PA."

More from Walker's toxic background. I'd say the PG reporters did a great expose/investigative piece of journalism. There was so much good stuff in that article and I could only put up 4 paragraphs. Glad you started a separate thread on this.

"It wasn't the first time concerns had been raised about environmental problems on Mr. Walker's properties.

In 2001, he tried to sell 4,700 acres of land in Clearfield county to the Pennsylvania National Guard.

The $4.4 million sale fell through when contamination from acid mine drainage came to light, but Mr. Walker was allowed to keep $326,000 in earnest money."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11072/1131681-454.stm#ixzz1GUIoTX2G