The land in southwestern Pennsylvania is scarred with valley fills as a result of historic and current coal mining in the area. Valley fills, also called coal refuse disposal areas (CRDAs), occur as coal mining companies extract coal, process the coal and then dispose of both liquid and solid, rock waste in surrounding valleys. These valleys are home to families, communities, places of recreation, headwater streams, and wildlife. In Greene County, Consol Energy has over 2,000 acres of valleys filled with toxic coal waste. There are about 30 coal refuse disposal areas across both Washington and Greene counties, many of them obliterating entire communities. Consol Energy has submitted an application for construction and operation of two new CRDAs, No. 7 and No. 8. These projects threaten to destroy two more communities and ecological habitats.
About Allegheny
Since 1997, the community has been a dumping ground for the toxic waste material resulting from the burning of coal-coal ash.