ARIPPA’s Executive Director Jeff A McNelly reported this week the waste-coal-to-alternative-energy industry in Pennsylvania have now restored over 4,500 acres of reclaimed mine-scarred lands since 1998.

ARIPPA also announced the winners of its 2009 awards.

McNelly said he is proud that the industry has reached this significant milestone and is happy to add the industry’s successful efforts (without the use of tax dollars) with those of the Department of Environmental Protection. recently announced that they had successfully restored 960 damaged acres at an approximate tax-payer cost of $32 million in 2008.

“Our industry’s successful efforts without the use of tax dollars together with the Commonwealth’s tax-payer supported efforts add up to a dedicated and concentrated effort to rid our lands of the significant environmental hazards that abandoned mine lands have created” McNelly stated. “Such hazards endanger the public and limit economic development and recreational opportunities in mining communities”, he added.

“Reclamation efforts by our industry, valued at approximately 90 million dollars has positive effects not only on the directly improved community, but also on many other affect counties nearby, and government efforts which utilize tax-payer dollars,” McNelly emphasized.

Circulating Fluidized Bed clean-coal technology, universally utilized by the industry, annually generates approximately 10 percent of the total electric generation in the Commonwealth supplying hundreds of thousands of homes and industry with much needed alternative energy, while at the same time directly and indirectly employing approximately 2500 workers and pumping millions of dollars into the economy.

Collectively the industry has removed and converted over 145 million tons of waste coal into alternative energy. Its removal and conversion efforts added together with the highly regulated use of beneficial ash to reclaim environmentally damaged lands makes it one of the few environmentally beneficial alternative energy industries in the world.

Pennsylvania has approximately 180,000 acres of abandoned mine lands dating back to when coal mining began in the commonwealth in the 1700s. More than two billion tons of waste coal sits in piles across the state and an estimated 4,600 miles of rivers and streams are degraded by mine drainage. DEP has determined that it would cost approximately $10 billion of taxpayer funds to correct these problems.

Twenty years of operational and environmental industry data indicates that the conversion of waste coal into alternative energy is generated in a safe manner at near capacity levels with a high degree of availability.

In recognition of these factors ARIPPA, the non profit trade association representing the industry, annually recognizes and awards member plants with exceptional operational industry data results. Awards being announced include availability, capacity, environmental achievement, and safety.