HT News

February 5, 2010

Hazle Township mine project gets state funding

HAZLETON – The 168-acre Cranberry West abandoned mine reclamation project in Hazle Township has been awarded $1.68 million in state funding, state Rep. Todd A. Eachus, D-Butler Township, announced Thursday.

Eachus said the funding was awarded by the state Department of Environmental Protection and will be used to eliminate public health and safety hazards that exist at the site.

The project will consist of backfilling and grading dangerous high-walls, pits and spoil areas, as well as filling mine openings and removing abandoned mine structures.

“This project will reclaim more than 168 acres of abandoned strip mine land by using existing, on-site materials,” Eachus said in a news release. “This is a smart and logical way to reclaim a mine site, and eliminate a highly treacherous area that is a danger to public safety.”

Eachus said in the release that storm water drainage ditches will be constructed on the abandoned site to help with flood control and water flow, and the project area will be seeded with grass and legume mixtures.

“It is important for the state to reinvest in communities that have been damaged and affected by coal mining,” Eachus said. “This project is an example of how we can reclaim these abandoned mines without posing any additional threat to the communities surrounding the site.”

The project is funded by the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Trust Fund, which is subsidized by the coal industry through taxes paid on each ton of coal mined.

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