Good Morning. My name is Dennis Simmers and I live in Cambria Township,

Cambria County, Pennsylvania, and I have read many reports on today's issue. I am here to testify, in my opinion, on the wide-view of my community's perspective. I represent the sixth generation of my family to live in Cambria County. Through three successive generations, and now four with my children, we have been subjected to the hazards and detrimental consequences of discarding waste bituminous coal on the surface of the earth. The effect is well known: acid mine drainage, contaminated surface and ground water, hundreds of acres of unfit property, public nuisances and life threatening terrain, as well as air quality issues. The Revloc waste coal pile was a perfect all-in-one example to me of these detrimental effects. From my earliest recollection until I was 30, I can clearly recall the acrid rotten egg stench and contaminated water around this pile. I also recall that the pile caught fire a few different times resulting in smoke and odors crossing U.S. Route 422. I do not know how large this pile was, but it certainly encompassed many tens of acres. Some of the residents of Revloc bordered within feet of the pile. Approximately 20 years ago we witnessed the arrival of the first of three waste coal fired power stations in Cambria Township. By historical standards, it seemed like the coal piles were being eliminated in no time, and I believe that the Revloc pile for example has now been totally removed. What took the mining industry approximately 60-100 years to create was eliminated in less than 20 years at I believe no cost to the

taxpayer. I attended a similar public meeting on September 29 th , 2009, and heard a Sierra Club spokesperson say that he would prefer if we left Mother Nature take care of thesepiles, and threw around the term 10,000 years. With all due respect to that individual, and

on behalf of my children, I disagree. I am delighted that piles such as Revloc no longer exist. My young children have no recollection of "what was". They are not subjected to the odor, smoke, dust, physical hazards and unsightliness of the Revloc pile. The waste coal power industry has taken an unchecked, volatile situation and controlled it. A waste coal pile sits there as it was placed a long time ago with rain water and snow melt freely dispersing heavy metals and other pollutants into the surface and ground water. The waste coal ash that is returned now is cement-like. Free, unchecked dispersion of pollutants is virtually eliminated when compared to the open waste coal piles. The ash is covered with clay and soils and the area is re-vegetated with a wide variety of plant species. Mammals of all kinds, insects, and aquatic life have returned to

the sites. The waste coal industry does not belong in discussions further regulating air emissions. 30 years of technical study with high scientific integrity has concluded that there is no basis for further punishing this industry. I would like to close my comments with a request. As a local resident with children, I have witnessed the arrival of a substantial solution to our problem. The waste coal power industry is in the process of safely remediating what I consider to be Pennsylvania's #1 environmental catastrophe. I urge the EPA to support the waste coal power industry's unique position in cleaning up the environment in mind during your consideration of the proposed rule. I do not live in Boston, Washington, Philadelphia or Seattle, and visit this area once in a while. I live in the community 100% of the time. In my opinion, waste coal fired power is the very definition of "environmental stewardship".

### It should be encouraged and not made to be even slightly more financially burdensome or

punitive.

Dennis C. Simmers

428 Vetera Road Ebensburg, PA 15931 (814? 472-4574

Dennis C. Simmers