Mining official abandons
diocese
By JACQUELINE MARINO
Special to the National Catholic Reporter
Jim Mottet, a practicing Catholic from Signal Mountain, Tenn.,
doesnt attend Mass at St. Augustine Parish in his hometown anymore.
He now drives his family across the state line to a church in
Georgia where his tithes wont go to a diocese that advocates against the
way he earns his living.
Mottet is the president and general manager of Skyline Coal Co.,
which is seeking approval to mine inside the watershed of Fall Creek Falls
State Park. Skyline has maintained that strip-mining will not harm the
watershed. But local environmentalists, led by the activist group Save Our
Cumberland Mountains, want the watershed declared unsuitable for mining. They
argue that mining would pollute the water, threaten the land and endanger the
native wildlife and vegetation.
During Mass two years ago at St. Augustine, Mottet learned in a
rather abrupt fashion that he and Knoxville Bishop Anthony J. OConnell
were on opposite sides of the debate.
Marcus Keyes, who codirects the diocesan Office of Justice, Peace
and Integrity of Creation with his wife, Glenda, read a strongly worded letter
from OConnell.
If mining occurs in this area of the Sewanee coal seam,
considered the most toxic coal seam in Tennessee, the local ecology, including
the people and wildlife, will be devastated and the face of Christ that
is etched in every part of creation will be defaced and even
obliterated, the bishop wrote.
Mottet was shocked. He wrote a letter to OConnell, rebutting
many of the charges made in the letter and asking him to come out and see the
mining operation for himself.
Edgar Miller, editor of the diocesan newspaper, The East
Tennessee Catholic, accepted Mottets invitation, as did St.
Augustines pastor, Fr. Paul Valleroy. Mottet said Miller then wrote a
fair story about Skylines operations in which he quoted Valleroy saying
he was favorably impressed with the mining operation and its
reclamation.
Several months passed, however, before Mottet heard from the
bishop. Although Mottet had left St. Augustine, his daughter was preparing for
confirmation there. Before the ceremony, Mottet said OConnell saw her
name on the roster and wrote to him.
Mottet said OConnell apologized for any negative feelings
stemming from his letter. But Mottet explained that his decision to leave the
diocese did not hinge on that letter or on the incident at St. Augustine.
He missed the boat, Mottet said in a recent phone
interview. He was concerned that I was embarrassed that it was read in
church. As an active Catholic, Im concerned that if hes making
uninformed decisions on other things like he did on mining, then I didnt
want to participate in the Knoxville diocese or St. Augustines.
OConnell told NCR he takes stands on many issues
based on information provided to him by his advisers. Although he taught
physics and chemistry for 25 years, OConnell said he is not a mining
expert and did not feel as if he had enough technical knowledge to view a tour
of Skylines operations in an objective light.
Like many in the area, OConnell, who grew up in the west of
Ireland, loves the outdoors and especially the park.
You cant live in a place like this and not feel as if
we have a serious obligation to rebuild what has been damaged and to preserve
it, he said.
OConnell has relied on information supplied by the diocesan
Justice and Peace office to keep abreast of the Fall Creek Falls mining
situation. The diocese hasnt funded the effort to resist mining there.
However, the diocesan office does actively advocate for the cause in the
community.
OConnell didnt know that the group was going to read
the letter to St. Augustines congregation. It was addressed to the
government Office of Surface Mining.
That Mottet happened to be there is unfortunate, the bishop
said.
When I wrote him, I expressed my sadness about that and I
apologized, he said.
National Catholic Reporter, October 16,
1998
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