This news story originally provided by AP and The Charleston Gazette

12/8/03

Unendorsed "clean elections'' bill advances in interims

By LAWRENCE MESSINA
Associated Press Writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Candidates who agree to limit contributions and spending would in exchange get public campaign financing under a bill a divided legislative subcommittee has advanced but refused to endorse.

The bill discussed Sunday would provide public funds to candidates for governor, the courts and the Legislature.

Depending upon the office, the candidate would have to raise "seed money'' as well as collect a number of $5 contributions to qualify for funding. The amounts available to candidates would range from $7,500 for single-member House races to $1 million for governor.

Bill sponsors, including Sen. Jon Blair Hunter, D-Monongalia, point to the success of "clean election'' programs in Arizona and Maine. Hunter is co-chairman of the interim judiciary subcommittee. Bill supporters say these systems prompt candidates to build broad support among voters instead of becoming indebted to wealthy special interests.

"I believe the perception out there is, we have bought our seats because we are wealthy, or we have been bought,'' said Delegate Barbara Evans Fleischauer, D-Monongalia.

Several lawmakers challenged that premise.

"I've heard several people refer to special interests almost like they're bad,'' said Sen. Mike Ross, D-Randolph. "We have educators come in here. We have the coal industry, the hospitals, the nursing homes come in here. They are all special interests.''

Sen. Andy McKenzie, R-Ohio, called the bill's approach "completely off the mark.''

"People who believe in you giving you money, that's what America is built on,'' McKenzie said. "I'm not sure why we want to take that out of politics.''

Subcommittee members differed as well over the proposed fund's sources. The bill would set up a checkoff box on state income tax returns for donations, just as the federal tax return does for presidential elections. It would also rely on other sorts of donations, a portion of civil and criminal court fines and "legislative appropriations.''

Delegate Rusty Webb, R-Kanawha, tried without success last month to remove that last source from the bill. He and other lawmakers balked at the potential use of taxpayer dollars.

"We could start another unfunded mandate very easily with this program,'' said Delegate Steve Kominar, D-Mingo.

The prospect of donations also caught flak. Mark Muchow, chief administrator for revenue operations in the Department of Tax and Revenue, told the subcommittee that the existing checkoff box on tax returns for children's programs raises only about $75,000 per year.

The estimated cost of the program includes $1.9 million in 2008, its first year, when it would cover races for governor, Supreme Court and circuit court. In 2012, with senate races added, it would cost $4.1 million, staff lawyer Connie Bowling estimated. The program would expand to include House races in 2014, with an estimated cost of $3.3 million for that year.

Bowling drew her estimates from the cost of recent West Virginia campaigns and the participation rates in Arizona and Maine. Sen. Steve Harrison, R-Kanawha, said he considers the state's taxes too high and its budget too tight.

"I don't think the state at this time should start subsidizing political candidates,'' he said. "I think it makes it much too easy to qualify for these funds.''

McKenzie proposed a failed amendment to doubled some of the funding levels. The bill would provide between $20,000 and $60,000 to a senate candidate in his district, where he said $100,000 or more is needed to win.

"If we want the program to work, it should be at least fair,'' McKenzie said. "If you're going to handicap the candidates that want to participate in this, no one will.''

This news story originally provided by The Logan Banner

12/9/03

Oliverio calls Logan, Mingo residents 'dumb'

Joseph Oliverio, Republican candidate for governor, outlined his plan to consolidate counties, dissolve Marion County and legalize gambling. CHARLESTON, W.Va. By MICHAEL BROWNING, Managing Editor

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following story is an exclusive interview with a Republican candidate seeking his party's nomination to run for governor of West Virginia. The candidate uses harsh language throughout. The Logan Banner only prints the words due to their pertinence to the story.)

- Gubernatorial candidate Joseph Oliverio doesn't think too highly of Logan and Mingo countians.

A Republican, Oliverio spoke yesterday at the annual Legislative Lookahead sponsored by the Associated Press at the Ramada Inn in South Charleston. Oliverio was one of seven Republican candidates who spoke during the forum.

Oliverio offered the most sweeping plan, saying he would phase out coal mining altogether, except for mountaintop removal projects in which coal operators installed all infrastructure and recruited new businesses to build on the newly paved land.

Oliverio also wants to consolidate about 13 southern counties and eliminate Marion County (which he said was filled with ''corruption''); turn Logan and Mingo counties (which he said were filled with ''dumb'' residents) into a hunting preserve; and turn other southern regions into a huge, drive-through zoo.

Oliverio, from Bridgeport, said he would dissolve Marion County, because it's filled with "corruption," and would consolidate 12 counties, including Logan and Mingo, whose residents he called "dumb a--."

"It's not just Logan and Mingo. It's about 12 all together, Logan, Mingo, Boone, and then even parts of Kanawha," Oliverio said. "They're very rural and desolate areas. They would make excellent places to hunt. And that's probably the one thing I'm going to be sorry for. I like animals.

"The people down there, like I said, they don't want to use their brains, I'll use it for them and if I have to kill some of my animals, I think I'll pray to God every time I wake up and say I'm sorry for that. They don't want to use their heads, so we have to do something down there. It's mostly the male population who are ignorant b-------. They women are pretty good."

Oliverio said consolidating 12 counties would cut government jobs such as county commissioners and would save taxpayers' money.

"If we consolidate 12 of those counties or more and we make one county, we have 12 times the savings," Oliverio said.

Marion County, Oliverio said, would be dissolved because of the corruption. He doesn't think much more of Logan and Mingo counties. He also said he plans, as governor, to get rid of coal as West Virginia's No. 1 industry.

"The dumb a---- are in Logan and Mingo County," Oliverio said. "When I go down there and explain to people about how we can get away without coal, and how I go down and say 'Look, I don't want to kill these animals.' Use your head. I'm out there calling you a dummy, now show me that you're not. Show me that you're not a dumb a--. I would love to come over and apologize to every single person in Logan County if somebody comes up with a way - and it could be a group of people - for a 1,000 jobs, I'll go down there and kiss everybody's a--."

Oliverio said he doesn't want to eliminate coal altogether, but plans to stop issuing mining permits. Once coal runs out from the current mines, that's it, he said.

"I'm not going to eliminate it, I'm just not going to issue anymore permits," Oliverio said. "In another words, yeah, 'You've got five or 10 years, do your permits right' - and I'm going to make sure they're done properly - 'Yes, you can keep on mining.' You already have a permit, I would not take that away from somebody, because I'm in business. They've already geared up and got all their equipment and men ready. No, I wouldn't stop somebody in the middle of work."

Oliverio said he thinks tourism is the next big industry for Logan and Mingo counties. The candidate is also proposing to make one area of the state a zoo and the consolidated 12 counties one large hunting ground.

"Tourism is going to be the big thing, mainly with the hunting and the fishing," Oliverio said. "Then, as you can see down in the other parts, a zoo connects up to it. So, I'm thinking maybe daddy and his buddies want to go fishing while mom and the kids want to go to the zoo ... because West Virginia is family-oriented."

Oliverio said plans to tackle the southern coalfield's biggest problem.

"One thing I'm going to stop and it's probably down in your part of the state is incest," Oliverio said.

"That's killing our kids and killing our future in West Virginia. It's prevalent all over West Virginia. It's a shame they're not educated enough. We need to educate them."

Oliverio said he wants to make sure first time child molesters get the death penalty.

"That should be a deterrent, don't you think," Oliverio said. "Whether they mess with their brain or their bodies. They don't have to actually physically hurt them, because I'm tired of the pedophile ... chickenhawk kind. They disgust me."

-The Associated Press contributed to this story.

This news story originally provided by AP and The Daily Mail

12/12/03

Dozens of miners file lawsuits over respirator masks

MORGANFIELD, Ky. (AP) -- Dozens of western Kentucky coal miners have filed lawsuits in Union County claiming they developed black lung disease or similar ailments despite using respirator masks.

The lawsuits claim the miners suffer pneumoconiosis or silicosis because respirators they wore failed to protect them from inhaling fine dust inside the mines. They name current or former manufacturers of respirators -- 3M Co., Mine Safety Appliances Co., American Optical Corp., Flexo Products Inc., Aero Corp. and Cabot Corp. -- as defendants along with several distributors of mine safety equipment.

The lawsuits contend that manufacturers made claims concerning the effectiveness or ease of use of their respirators.

But, plaintiffs attorney Eric R. Jacobi of Louisville said, "You have more and more of these guys wearing respirators who are getting the disease at the same rate as the old guys'' who didn't use respirators.

The lawsuits were filed in Union County Circuit Court, the first Oct. 16 on behalf of 23 former or current miners and the second on Monday naming 31 miners.

Most of the plaintiffs are residents of Union, Webster, Hopkins or Muhlenberg counties. Jacobi said the miners worked in or near Union County mines, for companies including Peabody Coal, Pyro Mining, Lodestar Energy, Island Creek Coal and Pittsburg & Midway Coal. The mining companies aren't named as defendants in the suits.

3M didn't return a phone call seeking comment Thursday. A spokesman for Mine Safety Appliances, Ben DeMaria, said his company doesn't comment on lawsuits. But, he said, "One thing I can say is we've been in business for 90 years, and we think we make the best safety products in the world. We think that comes out in the end.''

Tens of thousands of workers in the asbestos industry have filed similar claims against respirator manufacturers over the years.

3M said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Sept. 30 that some 84,500 individual workers have filed claims against it; Cabot, which formerly owned American Optical, said in a June 30 SEC filing that it faced some 84,000 claimants.

Cabot said it has been negotiating a possible settlement; 3M said it has set aside millions of dollars to cover potential respirator mask/asbestos liabilities.

But 3M also said that in a case in Orange County, Texas, a jury found it innocent of any liability. That was only the fourth respirator case to reach a jury, it said, saying it has been absolved in three of those cases, with the fourth under appeal.

While those cases involved the asbestos industry, the litigation has moved to the coal fields. The West Virginia attorney general sued three respirator manufacturers in August, demanding they pay the state for the costs of treating 20,000 coal miners suffering from black lung, silicosis and other diseases, the Charleston, W.Va., Daily Mail reported last month.

3M said in its SEC filing that it "believes that the allegations have no merit and is vigorously defending this lawsuit.''

Coal-related lawsuits have also been filed in eastern Kentucky.

This news story originally provided by The Lexington Herald-Leader

12/12/03

Catholic leaders to tour mountaintop mines, towns

COAL OFFICIAL DOUBTS FAIR VIEW TO BE GIVEN

By Roger Alford
ASSOCIATED PRESS

PIKEVILLE - A group of Roman Catholic leaders, including three bishops, will tour Appalachia's mountains next week to get a firsthand look at the effects of a method of extracting coal known as mountaintop removal.

Church leaders also will listen to the concerns of residents who live so close to the mining operations that their homes shake each time explosives are detonated, said the Rev. John Rausch, coordinator for peace and justice for the Lexington diocese.

"We want to hear about the human effects and environmental effects of mountaintop removal," he said. "We want to hear local residents describe the horror of cracked foundations, the threat of flooding."

Rausch said he hopes the two-day tour, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, will bring attention to the plight of affected residents.

"We also are hoping to hear the struggles of those in the coal industry as they make their living and deliver coal for energy production, knowing full well that many in their industry are ignoring appropriate environmental boundaries and causing real harm to local residents," he said.

Church leaders also will hear from miners and mine industry leaders during the visit to communities in Eastern Kentucky. Rausch said he hopes the tour will spark a dialogue about ethical principles that should guide the mining industry.

Bishops scheduled to tour the region are Ronald Gainer of Lexington, Joseph Kurtz of Knoxville and Walter Sullivan of Richmond, Va. They'll be accompanied by officials from the Catholic Committee on Appalachia, the National Catholic Rural Life Conference and the Appalachian Office of Justice and Peace.

Bill Caylor, president of the Kentucky Coal Association, said he is worried that the church leaders will not get a true picture of the mining industry from the visit.

Caylor said he doubts that the bishops will be taken to see beautifully reclaimed mountaintops covered with lush grasses for horses, cattle and livestock.

Mining, Caylor said, has created the only flat land suitable for building factories in some of the most mountainous counties in Eastern Kentucky, a fact that he hopes the bishops don't miss.

"We want them to see the other side of the story," Caylor said. "If you're not given the entire picture, you get a distorted view."

Representatives from the coal industry will address the Catholic leaders during a meeting at the Hindman Settlement School on Tuesday afternoon. Later that evening, representatives from the environmental groups Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition -- staunch critics of the coal industry -- will be speaking to the church leaders.

The bishops also will be given aerial and ground tours of mining operations in the Hazard area.

The church leaders are scheduled to visit a mine-scarred mountaintop at McRoberts where Rausch led a religious service a year ago, praying for God to stop coal companies from destroying the land.

Rausch said the barren mountaintops allow rain to rapidly run off into the communities below, causing flooding that damages homes and businesses. He said he wants God to enlighten the hearts of the mine operators and to move them to use less damaging means to extract coal.

Kentucky's Catholic bishops last year issued a statement saying that mountaintop removal mining damages homes, water wells and streams essential to animal and plant life.

This news story originally provided by The State Journal

12/13/03

Chemical Companies Targeted in Suits

Marshall County Case Represents Plaintiffs Seeking Medical Monitoring Costs

By JULIET A. TERRY
jterry@statejournal.com

A Wheeling lawyer wants coal companies to know they are not the target in a newly certified class action lawsuit. He's going after chemical companies.

Dean Hartley represents a class of at least 500 people in West Virginia — mostly coal preparation plant workers — who are not ill but fear they may develop a serious disease because of exposure to dangerous chemicals. That fear makes them entitled to medical monitoring, periodic medical testing to monitor the class members for diseases, Hartley said. And he wants chemical companies to pay for it.

The lawsuit is pending in Marshall County Circuit Court.

Defendants include Chemtall Inc. of Georgia, CIBA Specialty Chemicals Corp. and Cytec Industries Inc. of Delaware, G.E. Betz Inc. of Pennsylvania and Hychem Inc. of Florida.

The defense declined to comment. In a previous article published in The State Journal about the lawsuit, Donna Jacob-owski, spokeswoman for CIBA Specialty Chemicals, said the company's products are safe.

"We believe we have a strong position. We believe the products we provided were very safe," she said.

Cleaning Coal

Coal preparation plants use a chemical called polyacrylamide, which is part of a class of chemicals called flocculants that help particles settle in liquid. Flocculants are used in a variety of industries, such as in wastewater treatment, paper-making and oil recovery.

Polyacrylamide in the water helps remove unwanted materials when coal is washed at the coal preparation plants.

High-quality polyacrylamide is safe, Hartley said. But he will try to prove the chemical company defendants were selling a lower-grade flocculant that contained residual acrylamide, the basic chemical compound called a monomer that repeats itself during polymerizeration to become polyacrylamide.

The residual acrylamide is what makes the flocculant dangerous, Hartley said, and he believes the chemical manufacturers never told coal preparation operators and workers that they should be taking safety precautions.

"We didn't sue the coal companies, we sued the manufacturers, suppliers and sales representatives," Hartley said.

"We feel, based on talks we've had, that sales reps for various polyacrylamide flocculant manufacturers misled the coal companies into believing their product is safe.

"They were told by the reps, 'You can swim in this stuff and be safe,'" he said.

Jacobowski said in a previous interview that polyacrylamide does contain some residual acrylamide but not enough to harm anyone.

"We test our products and found the amount of residual acrylamide fell well below worker safety levels," Jacobowski said in September. "We are going to cooperate in this process, and we feel optimistic."

Cause for Concern

Hartley said he first learned of the dangers at the coal preparation plants when he was trying to determine if a certain type of hydraulic fluid used mostly in longwall mining operations could be causing health problems miners were complaining of to him.

"Someone said we should look at the material used to separate coal. We were told a lot of people were developing Parkinson's-like symptoms," Hartley said.

Hartley began interviewing coal preparation workers who were suffering from diseases such as peripheral neuropathy, a degeneration of peripheral nerves that sometimes is associated with lead poisoning.

After some research, Hartley identified the possibility that residual acrylamide was causing health problems for the workers. But he decided to pursue a medical monitoring claim before a personal injury lawsuit.

"We haven't determined what to do with the folks who are already sick," he said. "The class is for people who aren't sick. We hope that with medical monitoring, we can pick up their problems early so they'll have a better outcome."

Warnings Were Needed

The defendants should pay for medical testing for their failure to warn about the dangers of residual acrylamide, Hartley said.

"Would the amount of residual monomer be enough to cause problems? That's the crux of this case," he said.

Different grades for polyacrylamide are manufactured because it is used in everything from contact lenses and Tupperware to water and soil, Hartley said.

And while some European nations, particularly Scandinavian countries, have regulatory control over the chemical, the United States does not require such quality control, he said.

"The cost to eliminate the monomer rises as it's 'cooking,' so to speak. There comes a time when it is not economically feasible to continue to polymerize the product to eliminate the monomer," Hartley said. "We understand that. But if it's not economically feasible to remove enough monomer to make the product safe for these workers, they should have warned them so they know how to protect themselves. I don't think that's unreasonable."

Class Certification

Marshall County Circuit Judge John T. Madden certified the class action, and now plaintiffs' and defense counsel are filing briefs for how they believe the case should proceed. The judge can take their suggestions under advisement or devise his own parameters for the case management order.

The class is certified to include all people who worked in coal preparation plants in West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia who have had significant inhalation, ingestion or skin exposure to polyacrylamide flocculants with the residual acrylamide monomer and are at a significantly increased risk for the following:

 

• nervous system deficits
• cancer
• genetic abnormalities
• reproductive or fertility problems

The class also includes offspring of coal preparation workers.

This news story originally provided by Salon

12/17/03

Wrongful termination for coal-mining official? 

A congressional committee wants to know if mining safety official Jack Spadaro is being fired for his whistle-blowing activities.

By Phillip Babich
Dec. 16, 2003

Members of a congressional committee have launched a probe into personnel actions taken against a high-ranking mine safety official who is accusing the Bush administration of engaging in a coverup.

On Nov. 18, three Democratic members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce requested that U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao provide them critical documents and information to help them assess whether Jack Spadaro, the superintendent of the National Mine Safety and Health Academy, is being wrongly terminated.

In April 2001 Spadaro resigned from a government team assigned to determine the causes of the Martin County Coal Co.'s slurry spill on Oct. 11, 2000, an environmental catastrophe that fouled 100 miles of waterways, annihilated wildlife, poisoned drinking water and soil, and caused extensive property damage. An engineer with a career in federal regulatory agencies spanning more than 30 years, Spadaro alleged that the accident-investigation report wouldn't be "complete and accurate" because Bush administration officials had cut the investigation short and severely limited its scope.

Spadaro spoke out publicly about the administration's handling of the Martin County Coal investigation. On June 4, 2003, he was put on administrative leave.

Spadaro has also accused the top leadership at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), a wing of the Department of Labor that regulates the mining industry, of handing out lucrative contracts to their friends and former business associates.

In October 2003 MSHA took steps to fire Spadaro, charging that the superintendent had abused his authority at the academy, made unauthorized cash advances on a government credit card, and failed to follow supervisory instructions and appropriate accident procedures.

In their letter to Chao, Reps. George Miller, D-Calif., Robert Andrews, D-N.J., and Major Owens, D-N.Y., wrote: "Obviously, Mr. Spadaro's status as a whistleblower -- questioning the conduct of the Martin County Coal investigation and the Department's use of no-bid contracts with friends and associates of Department officials -- raises a very serious concern about the nature of the current disciplinary investigation against him. It is incumbent upon the Committee to ensure that whistleblowers such as Mr. Spadaro are afforded fair treatment and the full protection of the law in employment matters."

An aide for Miller said that the House Committee is still waiting for the Department of Labor to fully comply with its request. Miller is the senior Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee and a senior member of the Resources Committee. His office was alerted about the possible firing of Spadaro through press accounts, including Salon's Nov. 13 story.

This news story originally provided by AP and The Daily Mail

12/18/03

W.Va. donors come mostly from richest zip codes 

By ALLISON BARKER 
Associated Press Writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Residents of five mostly white Charleston neighborhoods were among the top West Virginia contributors to federal campaigns during the 2000 and 2002 election cycles, a new study of political donations shows.

The Color of Money 2003 ranks West Virginia 43rd overall with a total $6.3 million in contributions of $200 or more to federal candidates. All of that money came from zip codes where the majority of residents are non-Hispanic white. Only about 5 percent of the state's population is minority.

"This report obviously sheds light on who pays for elections in West Virginia. Not a single African-American has a seat at the table,'' said Pam Nixon, president of the Charleston Branch of the NAACP and a former candidate for the House of Delegates from Kanawha County. "For the most part, issues important to us do not receive enough attention or result in beneficial public policy for African-American communities here.''

The 34-page Color of Money report was released Wednesday by the Public Campaign, the Fannie Lou Hamer Project, the William C. Velasquez Institute, the West Virginia People's Election Reform Coalition and the Charleston branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The report analyzed more than $2 billion individual contributions of $200 or more to federal candidates, parties and political action committees from more than 20,000 zip codes nationwide during the 2000 and 2002 election cycles.

"Campaign money -- not votes -- is now the currency of our democracy, determining who is able to run a viable campaign for office, who usually wins and who has the ear of elected officials,'' said Nick Nyhart, executive director of the Public Campaign in Washington, D.C.

The top contributing West Virginia zip code was 25314 in Charleston, where 93 percent of residents are white and 28 percent of households have annual incomes of $100,000 or more. Only about 6.5 percent of residents live below the poverty level.

The 25314 area, which is home to Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and her former Democratic challenger, millionaire Charleston lawyer James Humphreys, contributed a total $873,936. About 59 percent of contributions went to Republicans, while about 41 percent went to Democrats.

The area did not support minority candidates in federal campaigns in 2000 or 2002. The only area in the state that is represented by a minority in the state Legislature is the 25302 zip code area which is the home of House Judiciary Chairman Jon Amores, D-Kanawha.

The second highest contributing zip code was 25301, which includes Charleston's historic East End. Six percent of residents in the area, which is 69 percent white and 27 percent black, earn $100,000 or more a year, while 34 percent of residents live below the poverty level.

Residents there contributed a total $386,603 to federal campaigns for the 2000 and 2002 election. Nearly 61 percent of contributions went to Republicans, compared to about 39 percent to Democrats.

Nixon said many of the 25301 area's minority residents contribute little if at all to federal campaigns.

"The area is a pretty liberal area but that area also is home to many low-income African-Americans who cannot afford to donate,'' Nixon said. "Those that do are not donating to the point that they are gaining influence.''

Janet Fout of the West Virginia People's Election Reform Coalition said the report shows the need for election reform. And next year's legislative session may be the time.

During interims, a joint legislative committee endorsed a clean elections bill that would provide public financing of races for circuit court, Supreme Court, House and Senate and the governor.

"Only one-half of one percent of voters here contribute to political campaigns,'' Fout said. "Anything we can do to open up the process is a good thing in West Virginia.''

This news story originally provided by AP and The Daily Mail

12/18/03

Commentary:
Janet Fout and Julie Archer

Here's to clean elections for W.Va.

In response to the Daily Mail’s Dec. 9 editorial, “Bad idea: West Virginians should not be forced to subsidize politicians,” the West Virginia Clean Elections Act is a voluntary system.

It is modeled after laws in Maine and Arizona, where 63 percent and 37 percent of legislators, respectively, are now free from special-interest ties.

“Voter-owned” elections had broad bipartisan support, saw more women and people of color get elected, and increased voter participation. Arizona elected the nation’s first governor who owes her successful campaign to the people, not special interests.

To qualify for public financing, candidates must pass a threshold test by collecting a substantial number of small contributions from registered voters in his or her district. The show of public support required will weed out so-called “fringe” candidates.

Qualified candidates must agree to accept no private contributions and refrain from spending their own money, and in exchange, they receive a modest amount of public money to run their campaigns.

The Daily Mail editorial stated that taxpayers should not subsidize politicians, but we often forget that nationally, taxpayers have already been paying for partial public financing for many years through a federal income tax checkoff.

It’s true that tax-check off provisions, the primary source for paying for this type of public financing, have been confronted with decreasing rates of participation.

That may have to do with taxpayers’ observation that partial public financing eliminates neither the money chase nor candidates’ obligation to special interests that give the most.

However, in states that have a “clean elections” system of full public financing, support has been overwhelming.

In Arizona, over 650,000 people contributed to the clean elections fund through a voluntary $5 tax check-off in 2002, a 77 percent increase since the program’s implementation in 2000.

Another 70,000 voters gave $5 contributions to help qualify one or more candidates in 2002.

And despite hostile lawsuits and political attacks, 64 percent of Arizona residents who responded to a poll conducted by the Arizona Republic said they support the state’s “clean elections” system.

Six states have adopted full public financing programs, and most of these measures were passed by voters through the initiative process.

Undoubtedly, a major hurdle for passing a clean elections law will be finding a stable funding mechanism.

The legislative interim committee studying the Clean Elections Act received a report from a Charleston-based law firm on potential sources of funding for public financing. This analysis identified sources outside of general revenue accounts.

The Reform Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based educational organization working on campaign finance and election reform issues, commissioned the study. Hopefully, lawmakers will take a closer look at this analysis as they consider the Clean Elections Act during the regular session.

The amount of money required for a clean elections system may seem high, but it is very low in relation to the actual cost of legislative and regulatory favors routinely given to wealthy special interest contributors.

Furthermore, when the total cost is broken down per average taxpayer, it comes to less than $5 a year.

Free and open elections are a public good and indeed, the bedrock of our democracy.

To provide some sort of government funding for candidates reduces the possibility of corruption, reduces the amount of time a candidate spends raising private funds, and diminishes the role that special interests have in determining public policy.

Taking theses things into consideration, one can wholly justify the small amount that a public funding system would cost relative to current spending measures.

Archer is research director of the Mountain State Education and Research Foundation. Fout, co-director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition in Huntington, is coordinator of Citizens for Clean Elections, a coalition of 28 organizations supporting clean elections legislation in West Virginia.

This news story originally provided by The Charleston Gazette 

12/19/03

Citizens comment on synfuel plant

Corps of Engineers plans hearing on facility planned for Ohio River at Ashland

By Paul J. Nyden
STAFF WRITER

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will hold a public hearing in February about a proposal to relocate a coal synfuel plant, now operating at an undisclosed coal mine, to huge river barges on the Ohio River just across from Ashland, Ky.

Susan Fields, a regulatory specialist with the Army Corps’ offices in Huntington, said on Thursday that the agency would schedule the hearing after the holidays. All public hearings must be announced at least 30 days before they are held.

The Army Corps received eight comments or letters about the proposed floating plant prior to the Dec. 10 deadline.

Coal Grove Treasurer Juanita Markel told the Army Corps that the village’s city council unanimously voted to ask that the “public hearing be held within the village limits, on the application from McGinnis Inc. for a permit to install a mobile synfuel processing plant.”

McGinnis Inc. is a company that operates river barges and docks along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

Each of two barges supporting the proposed synfuel plant would be as large as six regular river barges and be 600 feet long — the length of two football fields. The plant would rise 67 feet above the river surface, according to the permit application filed with the Army Corps.

The McGinnis plant would operate around the clock, seven days a week.

The Ohio Historic Preservation Office informed the Army Corps it has no records of any “archaeological sites or historic structures in the project area. It is our opinion that the project will not affect historic properties.”

Columbia Gas Transmission told the Army Corps that the proposed floating plant would not be located near any of its gas transmission facilities.

Letters from private citizens criticized the project.

Donald R. Vredeveld, a retired chemical engineer from Union Carbide who lives in Charleston, wrote, “I am a strong supporter of legitimate research for producing synthetic liquid fuels from coal. I urge your continued support of such research projects at West Virginia University, for example.”

But “as a scientist and engineer, it really offends me,” Vredeveld continued, when companies collect federal tax credits “by simply spraying coal with worthless chemicals which add no value whatsoever to the coal as a fuel... I urge you to ... stop funding these worthless projects.”

Vredeveld also sent his letter to Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., and Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

Jo Huff, a Chesapeake, Ohio, resident, asked several questions in her letter to the Army Corps. “Initially the facility will be stationary.

“But what happens when it becomes mobile? What are the potential tying [docking] sites from Pittsburgh to Cairo [Ill.]? Uninhabited islands managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife [Service] should be off limits.”

“Ironton’s [Ohio] drinking water supply is just downstream. How would it be affected if a spill occurs?”

“How will noise levels affect the surrounding communities?”

“Has the city of Ashland [Ky,] been asked to comment, since the facility will be located almost directly across from their downtown?”

Huff also asked if chemicals used to make the synfuel will produce hazardous wastes. “In my opinion, this project is nothing more than a tax dodge.”

Roland H. Peterson, a St. Albans resident, wrote, “As an American citizen, I would like to give you my total and adamant opposition to, and rejection of, this proposal....

“In all probability, the Ohio River will be polluted with ‘washings’ and spills of several different kinds....

“I do not believe it was Congress’ intent to provide funds for ‘doctored’ coal, but rather for the creation of new and cleaner burning fuels,” Peterson wrote. “Clever industry lobbyists managed to incorporate language into the bill that legally permits this perversion of the bill’s true purpose.”

Winnie Fox of Huntington also asked for a public hearing, stating that the coal synfuel-making is “a process straight from Hell.... It just screams ‘Public Hearing.’”

To contact staff writer Paul J. Nyden, use e-mail or call 348-5164.

This news story originally provided by Ap and The Charleston Gazette 

12/19/03

Overweight ticketing down since October coal truck change

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- The West Virginia Public Service Commission has cited only 14 coal truck drivers for hauling overweight since October, when the legal weight limit on roads in 15 southern counties increased from between 60,000 and 80,000 pounds to 120,000 pounds.

PSC inspectors had issued an average of 200 tickets each month before the coal truck law passed this year by the Legislature changed safety and weight standards, PSC spokesman Mike Browning said.

Though the new law doubles the weight limit on some roads, coal haulers concede that trucks had routinely exceeded 120,000 pounds.

"The days of trucks weighing 200,000, 180,000 and 160,000 pounds hopefully are coming to an end,'' Browning said. "We're working to make sure that never happens again.''

Another measure from the new law phases in next week, and requires coal shippers and receivers to report truck weights. Violators face tripled fines and other steep penalties, Browning said.

"We're out there aggressively looking at locations,'' he said. "They're expected to comply with the law Jan. 1.''

The coal industry lobbied legislators for higher weight limits, while coalfield residents said fatal crashes involving overweight trucks called for stricter enforcement.

Coal operators complain the higher limits are insufficient. But Browning said many truck drivers told him they drove in fear while hauling at 160,000 pounds or more

"They feel they are a lot more comfortable with the weights we have now, compared to what they were required to do in the past,'' he said.

The new law transfers weight enforcement duties to the PSC from the Division of Highways. It also requires truckers to obtain PSC permits before they can haul heavier weights on the 15-county road system, designated by DOH this summer.

Of the 861 permits issued by the PSC since October, 640 are for 120,000-pound loads. Another 77 permits allow 110,000 pounds. Only 49 truckers bought permits to haul 80,000 pounds, which remains the legal limit on all federal highways.

Browning says the PSC expects between 1,000 and 1,500 permits ultimately to be written.

"We're working with officers to monitor the weight situation to make sure weights are actually coming down, and we believe that they are,'' he said.

The PSC has also fielded 119 complaints on a citizens hot line established by the new law for reports of speeding and reckless driving by haulers. Just over half the calls came from McDowell County, Browning said.