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 29th, 2009, and heard a Sierra 

Club spokesperson say that he would prefer if we left Mother Nature take care of these 
piles, 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