I am writing to express my dismay and disgust with you, our elected officials, regarding the recent decision to cancel the waste coal power plant project in Karthaus, Clearfield County PA. I feel that this project would have been a great asset to our community and region by providing construction jobs in the near term and truck driving, and plant operation jobs in the long term. This power plant would also have provided a means of responsible disposal for the hundreds of millions of tons of waste coal just in Karthaus Township, let alone the waste coal that is produced elsewhere in the area.
Currently, Clearfield County, and in particular Karthaus Township, is one of the most economically depressed areas in Central Pennsylvania. We need good paying construction and operation jobs in this area which a waste coal power plant could have provided. It makes no sense for an ethanol plant to be constructed in Clearfield, hundreds if not thousands of miles away from a significant source of corn to fuel it, and not construct a waste coal plant in Karthaus where a decade’s long supply of fuel sits only a few miles away.
I ask that you, our elected officials, apply some reason and common sense to this topic, and push for to have this project restarted. Why there is reluctance to use a common and abundant resource in this area is confounding. If the waste coal is not used it will be buried, which will only further pollute our water sources taint natural habitats in the Pennsylvania Wilds. Please reconsider your position, or apathy, towards this project and help get clean up the waste coal in this area while creating jobs and domestic energy in the process.Sincerely,
Benjamin Hoffman
Karthaus
EDITOR’S NOTE: Benjamin Hoffman sent this letter to the Hon. Barack Obama, President; Hon. Edward Rendell, Governor; Sen. Robert Casey Jr.; Sen. Arlen Specter; Rep. Glenn Thompson 5th District; State Sen. John Wozniak; State Rep. Camille ‘Bud’ George, 74th District