By Brenda Ruggiero

September 22, 2018 - On Monday, guests at a town council meeting in Grantsville, Maryland included representatives of Corsa Coal Corp., who attended to discuss an ordinance that prevents mining in the town.

The group included Doug Berkley, land manager; Tom Moran, manager of business development; and Rob Bottegal, senior vice president of Maryland Energy Resources.

Representatives of Corsa Coal Corp. addressing Grantsville Town Council are, from left, Tom Moran, Rob Bottegal and Doug Berkley. Also pictured is Councilwoman Emily Newman-Edwards. 

Photo by Brenda Ruggiero

“We looked at this thing in-depth, and we want to try to work with Grantsville,” Berkley said. “We need the ability to get into that area in a couple different ways.”

He said the group met with the Town Council about a year ago to give an update on a permit they were trying to acquire for a mine known as Casselman North.

“We are expecting it to be issued in the first quarter of 2019, if not sooner, and what that will do is allow us a new opening ... to develop the reserves south of (Interstate) 68,” Berkley said. “We’re limited right now. We can only cross one spot underneath the Casselman River, and that’s why we need to develop another entry over here to mine the rest of this coal.”

He noted that Corsa has been drilling all summer north of Grantsville.

“Everybody knows we’ve been up there drilling, and we wouldn’t be here if we hadn’t found good results,” he said. “We have found good results, so we need a way to get through a couple different areas under Grantsville. We want to try to work something out, and that’s why we’re here this evening to see what we can do to help facilitate our future mine to get out into the bulk of the reserves. ...”

Berkley said there is probably at least 10 to 15 years of work in the area, depending on the coal market.

“We’re going to be here a while,” he said.

Councilman Rich Towers noted he has heard the mining request before, and asked if the coal is all staying in the United States.

“For the most part, a lot of it is,” Berkley said. “Not all of it, but at least 50 to 60 percent of it is. It’s going to U.S. Steel ... some of it does go to Baltimore ... some does go overseas to Korea.”

Moran stated that Corsa operates three underground mines in Somerset and in Grantsville.

“All those go to a collection plant,” he said. “The coal is washed and blended ... so you don’t know what’s going where, really. Some is trucked to Pittsburgh and some’s shipped by rail to Baltimore.”

Berkley stated that he knows there is currently not an extraction tax.

“We want to be good stewards here to the town of Grantsville,” he said.

Mayor Mark Diehl noted this is something new for the council, and they will have to investigate where to go from here and get a reading on how town residents feel about it.

“It is our job to try to give the best representation that we can,” he said. “I’d say our first point of order would probably be to go to the Bureau of Mines and speak with them, and then we can probably run it by our town attorney just to get a quick opinion from him on it, too. We want our citizens to be able to benefit from things around here. Hopefully we can find a happy medium.”

• The Route 219 groundbreaking ceremony is planned for 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13, and will include Gov. Larry Hogan.

• A follow-up meeting will be set with M-TEK to discuss the town security cameras. Hopes are to be ready to move forward in the spring.

• CDBG survey collection is still ongoing. Each council member was asked to knock on doors and collect five surveys before the next meeting.

• Councilman Blake Walker shared his thoughts on the Danter Market Value Rental Study, which is available for viewing on the town website. A meeting will be set up to discuss the study further.

The next meeting is planned for 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 1.