ALLENTOWN - Activists met with Pennsylvania's top environmental official Wednesday to make the case that filling surface mines with coal ash can lead to groundwater contamination.

The Clean Air Task Force and other environmental groups met with Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty to urge better testing of coal ash - residue produced by coal-fired power plants - and improved monitoring of mines that accept the ash.

The task force said in September that it found elevated levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium and other pollutants in groundwater near 10 of 15 Pennsylvania mines where coal combustion waste has been used as fill.

Pennsylvania has encouraged the use of coal ash for mine reclamation for more than 20 years and says the practice is safe. The state Department of Environmental Protection said last week in a rebuttal of the task force's report that its conclusions "do not withstand scientific scrutiny."

But Jeff Stant, lead author of the group's study, said Wednesday that McGinty indicated a willingness to reevaluate the department's monitoring program and make changes if necessary.

"Both sides were honestly looking for common ground," he said. "She seemed very open-minded about ... moving forward to resolve some of the basic differences between us and the mining sections of the DEP."

McGinty also said the meeting went well, and that her staff will work with the environmentalists on the testing issue.

"I think it is absolutely the case that Pennsylvania has the best and most exemplary program in the country in terms of regulating the use of ash for reclamation purposes," she told The Associated Press. "Is there room for progress? There always is, and there's certainly room for progress and development here as well."

Pennsylvania has one of the largest coal-ash programs in the nation, issuing permits to about 120 mines that accept some 6 million tons of ash per year. The Clean Air Task Force said it examined 15 of those sites and found groundwater contamination at mines in Schuylkill, Carbon, Clearfield, Cambria, Indiana and Greene counties.

"Placing large amounts of (coal ash) in mines is a dangerous practice that appears to be causing toxic levels of contamination," the group's report said.

In a 23-page response, the department said the group's analysis is incorrect, in part because it used one-time, anomalous water quality readings to "jump to the conclusion" that ash is causing pollution.

"Allegations of pollution from ash are seriously flawed," DEP experts wrote.

The federal government does not classify coal ash as a hazardous waste. But the National Research Council concluded last year that placing coal ash in mines - while a viable option for disposal - has the potential to harm human health and the environment if done improperly.

McGinty said the requirements of Pennsylvania's coal-ash program are so stringent that they are being used as a basis for federal regulations being developed by the Environmental Protection Agency to govern the disposal of coal byproducts in landfills and mines.

Nevertheless, she said she has instructed her staff to work with the environmentalists on ways to improve the program, primarily through more stringent testing.

That pleased Lisa Graves-Marcucci, 48, who lives near an ash dump in the Pittsburgh suburbs and attended Wednesday's meeting with McGinty in Harrisburg.

"I have had some pretty tough times with the DEP, but what I saw today was the opening of a very important dialogue. I feel very encouraged by it," she said.

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