Mahoning Valley Ambulance Association has appealed the suspension of the registrations of two of its ambulances and is scheduled to appear in Carbon County Court.

The state Department of Transportation suspended the registrations of two Mahoning Valley Ambulance Association ambulances due to what the state says is nonpayment of tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

But the association’s representative, Robert Miller, who filed a petition in the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas appealing the suspensions, claims in pleadings the tolls relate to emergencies the association was called to.

“They want us to send our license plates back,” Miller said. “We’re not going to do it.”

In letters to the association, PennDOT said the ambulance association’s 2014 Chevrolet ambulance’s registration will be suspended indefinitely effective at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 2, and the association’s 2010 Chevrolet ambulance’s registration will be suspended indefinitely effective at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 9.

In both instances, PennDOT states it received notification from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission that the association has incurred six or more unpaid toll violations and accumulated $500 or more in unpaid tolls and fees. The letters state the suspensions will remain in effect until compliance is confirmed by the commission that the requirements for registration restoration are satisfied.

In the appeal filed by Miller, he contends the “all E-ZPass trips were emergencies.”

“The rule is, and it has been, that if you use the turnpike for an emergency patient, you don’t have to pay for it,” he said. “Then, along comes E-ZPass; they think they’re God’s gift to everything, and they think we should pay it.

“We don’t think we should pay it.”

Miller, who serves as treasurer of the ambulance association, explained how things have changed since E-ZPass has come along.

“When E-ZPass all of a sudden came on, you had to get an event number from the turnpike, which we do,” he said. “We used to match that event number up with our violation and they would wipe it clean; now along comes E-ZPass, now you have to get an event number, you have to make a copy of the trip sheet, and you have to fax it in to them, and ‘they’ determine whether you have an emergency patient or not.

“We’re a little different; the only time we use the turnpike is for an emergency patient.”

As a result, Miller said the association is scheduled to have a hearing March 16.

Despite the suspensions, Miller said the association continues to run both ambulances.

“We’d be letting our residents down if we don’t,” he said. “We’re not going to take our ambulances out of service.”