![](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/imagecache\/Image_Right\/pnl\/images\/mumia-graphic.jpg\")
<\/p>\nArroyo didn\u2019t plan on such an endeavor, as he is, already, a jailhouse lawyer. But, like much in life, it was forced on him. In 1998 former PA Governor Tom Ridge invited an area businessman to join him on a trek to South Africa. He, John W. Rich, Jr, was a power plant operator and a major landowner in the Mahanoy Susquehanna County area, a distressed, impoverished region where coal mines have closed down decades ago. Rich met and made deals with the South African SASOL Industry, and before long, he announced plans for a major coal to liquid gas project, literally right next door to the state prison in Mahanoy. By every measure, this was a done deal, for Rich, his family and colleagues contributed to federal, state and local politicians (who supported his plan without dissent), and he was even bi-partisan in this effort, gaining the praise and support of Democratic Governor Ed Rendell.<\/p>\n
State permits were issued for the $800 million plant, and state subsidies cut the costs by hundreds of millions of bucks. But, Arroyo, a curious and inquisitive man, having read about the proposed plant in local papers, felt uneasy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if this isn\u2019t safe?\u201d he wondered.<\/p>\n
He visited the prison library, asked for the environmental impact statement (a study required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), read it \u2013 read it again \u2013 and determined he would do everything in his power to stop the project.<\/p>\n
But what could one man \u2013 a prisoner at that \u2013 do?<\/p>\n
He talked to everybody he could, gangbangers, guards \u2013 everybody.<\/p>\n
Under prison rules, petitions are forbidden. So, he wrote a letter \u2013 and made hundreds of copies \u2013 to Mahanoy Township Supervisors \u2013 each mailed by one prisoner. Within weeks, after receiving over 400 letters, the local Township Supervisors appeared in a local paper looking disturbed.<\/p>\n
When a local reporter tried to belittle him by referencing his criminal conviction, Arroyo simply went back to work, and before long over 900 letters flooded the offices of the Township Supervisors.<\/p>\n
His activities even attracted the attention and support of CELDEF \u2013the Community Environmental Legal Defense and Educational Fund \u2013 which crafted an ordinance for the Township barring any non-renewable energy projects which threatened the area\u2019s health and safety.<\/p>\n
Even prison guards, through their union local, opposed the project, with union secretary Timothy Teltow (a prison guard and resident of nearby Shenandoah), telling reporters, \u201cI just can\u2019t see why this facility is being built right next to a state penitentiary.
\nEventually, within a few years, the done deal was done. Over. Dead.<\/p>\n
An $800 million coal gasification plant, supported by powerful corporations (like Bechtel, and Texaco), and politicians (like the late Senator Arlen Spector, and ex-Senator Rick Santorum), had to submit.<\/p>\n
But it began when one man \u2013 a prisoner no less \u2013 Bryant Arroyo became a \u201cjailhouse environmentalist\u201d and said no.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Most of us have heard of jailhouse lawyers \u2013 guys and gals who battle in court for themselves or others. But I\u2019d wager few of us have ever heard of a \u2018jailhouse environmentalist.\u2019 Truth is I didn\u2019t think such a thing existed. Well, it\u2019s real, and his name is Bryant…<\/p>\n