White House names coal ally as OSM director

The Obama administration yesterday nominated a Pennsylvania bureaucrat and coal industry ally
 as the new director of the U.S. Office of Surface Mining (OSM).

The White House called Joseph Pizarchik "a pragmatic innovator with 17 years of involvement in many progressive advancements in Pennsylvania's mining program." He has been the director of the PA Bureau of Mining and Reclamation, Department of Environmental Protection since 2002.

However, he also approved mining permits knowing that they would lead to acid mine drainage and cause subsidence and damage to area residents' houses. He supported the disposal of toxic coal combustion waste in old coal mines even though the National Academy of Sciences has warned that such a practice would damage groundwater.

Last month, the Mountain Watershed Association based in Pennsylvania publicly opposed the potential nomination of Pizarchik. In a letter to  their U.S. senators, the group wrote:

We do not believe this is a good choice as several environmentally dangerous policies have been expanded under his watch. One of these is the practice of burying power plant waste in unlined pits, sometimes in old mines, creating contamination in groundwater.

Pizarchik's record and the concerns of the environmental community had been made clear to the White House and Department of Interior.

KFTC had twice written to Department of Interior officials urging the nomination of someone who was not a bureaucratic insider or had close ties with the coal industry. OSM has been plagued with inefficiency, has supported the weakening of mining and water protection rules and has some glaring failures in its oversight of state mining programs. KFTC supported candidates like Joe Childers and Pat McGinley who could help change OSM's non-enforcement culture.