HARRISBURG -- A man whose parents' floral shop was severely damaged by mine subsidence embarked on a hunger strike at the state Capitol to call attention to coal company practices.

Brandon Hudock, whose hunger strike began nearly a month ago, has been surviving on Gatorade, vitamins and water.

Hudock, 27, of Washington, Pa., said he wants to force Consol Energy to pay a claim for damage at his parents' garden center business.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has ordered the coal company to pay nearly $1.2 million in damages.

The Hudocks said water flow on their 25-acre farm changed radically after the property underneath was stripped of coal through longwall mining in 1997 and 1998.

Hudock said he will not eat until Consol pays his family nearly $1.8 million -- the cost, he said, of fully restoring the farm.

"I need to do it for closure," he said. "Then I will know that I have done all that I can do."

Hudock, who said he's lost 41/2 inches from his waistline and fainted two weeks into the fast, is looking for a vitamin that will maintain his energy level.

He spends time each week on the steps of the Capitol's rotunda.

Some farmers and nursery owners say longwall mining has done irreparable harm to their livelihoods and that the DEP, which regulates mining, is not equipped to understand the financial ramifications.

Consol, which is a major economic contributor to the region, said there have been few public clashes with property owners over mining because the company goes out of its way to right any damage.

Hudock said his mother's response to the hunger strike has gone from worried to "being mad I'm doing this to her," he said. "I wish she'd understand that I'm doing it for them."

Hudock was arrested in April after he was reported to have driven a Hothouse Floral Co. van with a protest banner into Consol Energy's parking lot.