EDITORIAL Interior secretary makes an odd visit
Observer-Reporter
The Observer-Reporter
Rick Shrum/Observer-Reporter
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is shown speaking during his Feb. 24, 2018, visit to Fredericktown.
A member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet visited the Mon Valley Feb. 24, which seemed to baffle state Rep. Pam Snyder.
“It probably wouldn’t be unusual if the Secretary of the Interior came to Harrisburg, Pittsburgh or Philadelphia,” the Democrat from Jefferson said. “But to have the secretary in Fredericktown is unusual.”
Much about Ryan Zinke’s trip to East Bethlehem fire hall, actually, was baffling – to local residents, the media and, likely, those who planned his appearance.
From beginning to end, the event had the feel of a hastily arranged news conference/town hall meeting/political opportunity – depending on one’s perspective. There was little advance notice, the first media advisory arriving by Observer-Reporter email at 12:01 p.m. the day before, less than 24 hours before the secretary would speak. Its message vaguely referred to “an announcement for Coal Country.”
News people, however, are accustomed to reacting on the fly, and this decidedly was not on the fly. So that was not an issue. But noonish Feb. 23 was the earliest the general public could have found out about the event, on social media, and that isn’t fair to these people, especially those who have worked in “Coal Country.”
A followup email from the Department of the Interior three hours later – accompanied by the media advisory “FOR PLANNING ONLY” – explained: “The Secretary will announce how much funding Pennsylvania will receive in abandoned mine land grant funding and present a check to local officials.”
This subject would be of keen interest to local residents living near the Black Dog Hollow abandoned mine site, about a half-mile from where Zinke would speak. The audience at East Bethlehem fire hall was large, considering the short notice. But how many more people would have shown had they known the secretary was coming?
Could this withholding of information have been intentional, to prevent protesters from descending on Fredericktown?
Zinke stepped to the podium and announced his department was providing $300.7 million to 25 states and three Native American tribes nationwide to reclaim abandoned coal mine land. Pennsylvania is getting $55.7 million to tackle reclamation projects, like the hazardous 45-acre Black Dog Hollow site that has a 90-foot-tall pile of “gob,” as Snyder describes it. An official from the state Department of Environmental Protection said the DEP hopes to launch that project by autumn.
The secretary spoke before signing one of those ceremonial huge checks for a huge amount of money, in this case $300.7 million. A trip to the refuse site was supposed to follow, but that was canceled the day before because of rain and a dreary forecast for Saturday. Zinke was at the podium for about five minutes. A 500-mile round trip for five minutes.
One of the interesting aspects of the event was despite an atmosphere of hastiness, a number of political figures were on hand – split equally among Republicans and Democrats. This wasn’t just a GOP show. But the most prominent pol there was Rick Saccone, Republican candidate for Congress who has gotten the president’s backing.
You could call it a news conference, a town hall meeting, a political op. And you could call it something else: fake news.