Is the federal Office of Surface Mining (OSM) a pawn
of the mining industry? The Denver-based Citizens Coal Council says
“yes’ and points to documents it obtained by filing a Freedom of
Information Act lawsuit.
The Citizens Coal
Council, a federation of 48 citizens’ groups in 21 states, sued the
OSM to release its files. Last April, the U.S. District Court in
Denver ordered the agency to pay the council $5,200 in attorney’s
fees and court costs, and to turn over documents outlining the
bonuses it gave some of its employees.
The
documents show that between 1994 and 1997, OSM, whose mission is to
“protect citizens and the environment during mining,” paid over
$20,000 to two employees who had held coal companies blameless for
damaging homes.
One case involved Ann and Jim
Tatum, who sued Basin Resources in 1997 and won $160,000. The
couple said the company tunneled near their Weston, Colo., house,
causing walls to crack, and they pressed their case in state court
after losing agency appeals (HCN, 9/14/98). OSM documents show that
the agency awarded engineer Mike Rosenthal a bonus of $910 for
“efforts including, specifically, the investigation and testimony
in connection with Tatum V. Basin Resources.” Rosenthal had
testified that mining wasn’t the culprit.
Though
the Tatums won their case, Ann Tatum says she’s angry that a
tax-supported agency sided with a coal company. She calls the OSM’s
attempt to defend the public “a charade.” The OSM’s Rosenthal said
he did not support the mining company in his testimony; he merely
testified about a report he wrote. Rosenthal also denied that his
agency gives incentives for siding with the industry. “We are paid
whether we testify for the citizens or the coal company,” he
says.
The Coal Council says another example of
agency bias occurred on the Navajo Reservation in the mid-1990s.
Some residents said that coal-company blasting had cracked the
foundations of their homes and broken out windows. Council members
cite the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which requires coal companies
to make repairs, or compensate residents whose homes suffer damage
from nearby mining – regardless of how the homes are built. OSM
staffers Rosenthal and Billie Clark, however, said any damage was a
result of improper construction and not blasting by a coal company.
Both received multiple awards and bonuses for their work;
homeowners received no compensation from the coal
company.
For more information, contact Carolyn
Johnson at the Citizens Coal Council, 1705 South Pearl St. Suite 5,
Denver, CO 80210 (303/722-9119), or Mike Rosenthal, OSM,
303/844-1400, ext. 1453.
*Keri
Watson
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Is help from a federal agency a “charade’?.
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