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Nottingham supervisors acted in the best interests of all residents

6 min read

A letter to the editor by Faith Bjalobok of McMurray titled “Corporate Bullying in Nottingham” appeared in the Observer-Reporter May 14. As chairman of the Nottingham Township Board of Supervisors, I feel compelled to respond to this letter because it is full of exaggerations, inaccuracies, false statements and reckless accusations.

I might add that Bjalobok is not a resident of Nottingham Township and not affected by the proposed deep mine.

Let me preface my remarks by stating that the residents of Nottingham Township were made aware that the supervisors, including myself, were personally opposed to the deep mine. However, in a conditional use application, if the applicant agrees to all the conditions imposed by the supervisors, the application must be approved as a matter of Pennsylvania law.

First, as Bjalobok is aware and despite her claim to the contrary, Nottingham Township did not pay for the security at the May 6 public meeting. Ramaco paid for that security. That was made clear by me at the beginning of the meeting. The need for security at the meeting was the result of a verbal confrontation that occurred between a neighbor who opposes the deep mine and a young woman who was one of the owners of the property being sold to Ramaco. The incident resulted in a call to the Pennsylvania State Police. Further incidents occurred thereafter when the owners of the property were subject to threatening phone calls and had garbage thrown on their property. As I stated at the public meeting, this conduct is not acceptable.

Ramaco hired, at its expense, security for the property owners. That was also made clear at the public meeting.

The supervisors were aware that an emotionally charged atmosphere existed among many who opposed the deep mine, that a large crowd would be in attendance, including many from outside Nottingham Township, and decided it would be in the best interests of everyone to have security present to ensure that the meeting was conducted in a peaceful and orderly manner without the demonstration of tactics designed to disrupt the meeting. Those in attendance were apprised of that fact and were informed that anyone who disrupted the meeting would be removed.

The day after the public meeting, an article appeared in the Observer-Reporter which erroneously stated that Nottingham Township paid for the security both at the meeting and at the owner’s property. This prompted a request by Supervisor Doug King to correct the statement, which was done, but only in the online edition of the newspaper. This mistake has perpetuated the myth that Nottingham Township paid for the security. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it is hard to put it back. Few people who read the article in the print edition would then read the online edition.

Bjalobok also claims the “aesthetic beauty and peaceful atmosphere” of Mingo Creek County Park will be destroyed by industrialization that necessarily attaches to the mining of coal. First, the deep mine proposed by Ramaco will have no effect on Mingo Creek County Park. The deep mine is not on park property. Second, deep mining already occurred long ago in Mingo Creek County Park. That whole area has been undermined. In fact, a deep mine portal, mining bath house and ventilation shaft are located at one of the entrances to the park from past deep mining activities. This did not destroy the “aesthetic beauty and peaceful atmosphere” of the park.

The letter contained another totally false claim that Ramaco has engaged in bullying tactics, that Ramaco has started a calculated attack against those who oppose the mine and that Ramaco’s “first corporate strategy is to label their opposition as unpatriotic radicals with a proclivity for violence,” further falsely claiming that Ramaco sold that view to both the township and media. The supervisors are unaware of any such tactics, no such labeling has occurred and no such claims have been brought to our attention. There also has been no attempt by Ramaco to sell any such view to the supervisors, which would have been promptly rejected.

Bjalobok then claimed that residents were denied the right to make further comments. The residents who opposed the deep mine were given the opportunity to and did make comments at a public meeting March 18, a public hearing April 1 and a public meeting April 15. The residents provided substantial input to the supervisors on the conditions to be imposed on Ramaco. Bjalobok herself submitted suggested conditions. Many of the proposed conditions received were included in the final 62 conditions imposed and agreed to by Ramaco May 6. Bjalobok cannot complain that the voices of residents were ignored. The sole purpose of the May 6 public meeting was to inform Ramaco of the conditions to be imposed and to determine if Ramaco would agree to the conditions, which it did. No further comment was either needed or necessary.

Bjalobok then makes a serious, false and reckless allegation against me personally, claiming that “it was obvious that the board chairman had partaken of the corporate Kool Aid,” which suggests that I accepted or took some type of bribe to side with Ramaco. No such thing occurred, and I object to and resent such a suggestion. If Bjalobok has some evidence to support her allegations, then I demand that she produce it and make it public in this newspaper. Otherwise, I expect an immediate apology from Bjalobok.

In conclusion, the role of the Nottingham Township Board of Supervisors was to act in the best interests of all its residents, both those who oppose the deep mine and the owners of the property proposed to be sold to Ramaco for the mine. We cannot differentiate between the two. We have an obligation to follow established law when presented with a conditional use application such as that submitted by Ramaco. We also have an obligation not to make decisions that might seem popular at the time but that we know will not stand up in court and which will incur substantial costs at the expense of Nottingham Township taxpayers in the long run. The supervisors did just that.

Peter Marcoline Jr. is the chairman of the Nottingham Township Board of Supervisors.

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