Della Thomas 
Nov. 18, 1992 
Della Thomas, 78, Of Robert Street, Scranton, Died Wednesday Night At Mercy 
Hospital, Nanticoke.

Josephine Garvey 
Nov. 8, 1992 
Josephine A. (jody) Garvey, Died Nov. 8, In Roxborough Hospital, Roxborough.

Wednesday, November 18, 1992 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A/12A QUICK WORDS: EARTH CONSERVANCY 





EARTH CONSERVANCY &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Blue Coal land sale spurs personal attacks &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Rep. Paul Kanjorski's and Blue Coal trustee &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 John Doran's tempers flare over whether sell the land piecemeal or sell to
Earth &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Conservancy &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 By CHARLES H. BOGINO &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Times Leader Staff Writer &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On Good Friday, John H. Doran worked late into the evening trying to put
together a rush job. The lawyer for the bankrupt Blue Coal Corp.'s estate had
an interested buyer for the company's land that had languished for more than
15 years. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 His kids were home from college, but he forsook Easter weekend in order to
put together what he viewed as a workable sales agreement with the Earth
Conservancy, a non-profit environmental venture whose key-figure has been U.S.
Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It was when he got a call from a reporter inquiring about a Kanjorski press
conference scheduled for that Monday that he started to fume. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I realized that I had been in the process of giving up my Easter weekend
to make a deadline of a press conference," Doran testified at a Monday hearing
in federal bankruptcy court. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 While this week's hearing brought no resolution to the nearly 16-year-old
tale of a bankrupt coal company, the groups it still owes money and the U.S.
representative who wants the land for the research project, it shed light on
personal animosities that have developed. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The friction, which testimony indicated had been simmering for some time,
boiled over Monday into nasty remarks tossed between Kanjorski and Doran. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For Kanjorski, not getting the land probably would mean the end to a
project that he envisions would clean up land scarred by years of coal mining
and eventually create wetlands and a Susquehanna River in which people will be
able to swim. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At stake for Doran is the possibility that the Blue Coal land would be sold
at a price that wouldn't even put a dent into the debt the coal giant owed
when it went belly up in December 1976. The company owes at least $11 million
in back taxes, which would have to be paid off first. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Doran has been adamant about getting the best return for the land, which
appraiser Jeffrey R. Kern testified was probably worth close to $30 million.
Earth Conservancy has offered $12.5 million for the land. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "The trustees' mandate by law is to get the highest amount for the
creditors," Doran said Tuesday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kanjorski called "fantasy land" the idea that Doran would be able to sell
parcels of the property within three years, as the appraiser's plan suggests. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Doran characterized as threats Kanjorski's intention to bring the federal
Environmental Protection Agency in to inspect the Blue Coal land if it is not
sold to the Earth Conservancy. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I couldn't think of a better word for it," he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kanjorski said he simply was concerned that environmental laws could be
skirted if the EPA was left out. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We're trying to clean up the land," he said. "We don't want to see people
getting rich off contaminated land." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Kanjorski said there was an agreement to sell the land, though that
agreement was never filed with the court. Doran said no contract exists and
the sales agreement that he had prepared for the Easter Monday press
conference was snatched from his hands before it was complete. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 At the hearing, however, Kanjorski accused Doran of trying to block the
sale to Earth Conservancy, saying Doran and trustee Frank J. McDonnell had
parted ways philosophically over the sale. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "The trustee wants the bulk sale while the counsel does not," Kanjorski
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Doran shouted that Kanjorski's remarks were "irresponsible." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It's no secret around this room that some people think I've been dragging
my feet on this thing," Doran later testified. "It's no secret that the first
contract was put together under rather strained circumstances." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 McDonnell, who sat impassively throughout most of the seven hours of
testimony, at times had animated and apparently heated exchanges in hushed
tones separately with Kanjorski and Doran. He snapped at Doran at the end of
the hearing as the group of lawyers, Kanjorski and Earth Conservancy board
chairman Christopher Breiseth were about to enter a closed-door meeting. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On Tuesday, Doran said the informal meeting yielded no results, but that
afterwards Bankruptcy court Judge John Thomas gave them a chance to gather
again when he scheduled a hearing for Jan. 11 to deal with the appraisal.

Earth Conservancy 
Blue Coal Land Sale 
Spurs Personal Attacks 
Rep. Paul Kanjorski's 
And Blue Coal Trustee 
John Doran's Tempers Flare 
Over Whether Sell The Land

Earth Conservancy Blue Coal Land Sale Spurs Personal Attacks Rep. Paul Kanjorski's And Blue Coal Trustee John Doran's Tempers Flare Over Whether Sell The Land