Pyrite dump rouses anger

A week after a crowded Indiana County fire hall erupted in anger over the state's plan to dispose of a million tons of pyrite-laced sandstone, elected officials from supervisor to governor staked out political positions on the Skytop rock piles.

An Indiana County commissioner dead set against the plan announced Tuesday that Gov. Ed Rendell's southwestern Pennsylvania director, former state Sen. Allen Kukovich, will meet in Pine Township on Monday with commissioners from two counties and supervisors from four townships.

"Indiana County is no option and we want the governor to stop it -- the governor can nip it in the bud," Commissioner Bernard Smith said. "Nothing would give me more joy than the governor putting a red light on this and saying there's no need for the meeting on March 7."

The March 7 meeting is the first of two formal sessions the state Department of Environmental Protection has scheduled to hear public sentiment about the state Department of Transportation's plan to truck two-thirds of the Interstate 99 pyrite in Patton Township to an old mine in Indiana County's Pine Township.

The plan, announced by PennDOT three weeks ago after more than two years of consideration, found general approval among Patton Township supervisors. But it was denounced last week in an informal meeting 75 miles to the west, when 300 residents from Indiana and Cambria counties shouted their opposition at state officials.

State Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township, said Tuesday he believes the proposal is the best idea that's been set forth so far. He said the issue should not be a parochial matter pitting central Pennsylvania counties against one another.

"It wasn't Centre County that caused the problem -- it was a state agency that caused this problem," Corman said. "The problem the state has is that they're the commonwealth. So they need to find the safest and best place, whether it's in Centre, Indiana or Bucks County isn't the point. We can't take a NIMBY (not in my backyard) approach to this."

Smith's unqualified opposition was not shared Tuesday by his fellow commissioner, board Chairman Rod Ruddock, and Corman's counterpart, state Sen. Donald White, R-Indiana.

Ruddock said he recognizes that "the people of Indiana County do not want the pyrite" and that "right now I don't think any of the county commissioners are favorable to bring any kind of substance back to the county."

But he added that he's told the state to "revisit" the proposal. "I am open to further dialogue with the state on whatever position they want to consider," he said.

"I think the concern we all have is what's the long-range impact on the county," Ruddock said. "Frankly, I don't think that concern was addressed at the last meeting."

White, who is in his second term in the state Senate, said Tuesday he believes the state agents "have a handle" on how they plan to encapsulate the pyritic rocks to prevent acidic drainage, but said he has grave reservations about the extensive truck hauling.

PennDOT has a $26 million contract pending with Armagh-based Robindale Energy Services that -- as Robindale's DEP permit application now states -- calls for trucking up to 4,000 tons of Skytop pyrite a day to the old mine and another 4,000 tons of fly ash.

That would amount to more than 330 round trips a day on about five miles of low-quality residential roads around the disposal site. The trucks would run from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

"Some people are trying to make this the new Love Canal. I don't think that's the case," White said. "The biggest problem I have is the truck traffic."

White, who said Rendell "has a pretty competent Cabinet," said he expects to discuss the Skytop plan with PennDOT Secretary Allen Biehler this week.

White said "I-99 is an important artery for my district, too," and added that "I'd want the roads to be rehabilitated" afterward if the plan is carried out.

Rendell aide Chuck Ardo said the governor was aware of the inter-county controversy but said the issue hasn't yet reached Rendell's desk.

"I think that the governor, as always, will listen to the concerns of the legislators," Ardo said, "but in the final analysis he'll do what his advisers deem to be best."

Mike Joseph can be reached at 235-3910.