HT News

November 16, 2009

Mine-site work draws concern

Monitoring groundwater among issues to be mulled at public hearing on experimental mixture plan to fill Hazleton area site.

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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A state-certified geologist working for an environmental group is concerned that the state Department of Environmental Protection is not following its own policy for monitoring groundwater at a controversial mine reclamation site in Hazleton.

Robert Gadinski is also concerned about rising levels of arsenic and pH in groundwater at the site, and he believes the monitoring system is inadequate.

Those concerns are likely to be discussed tonight at a public hearing on a permit application to use another controversial mixture for fill at the mine site, located between state routes 93, 309 and 940 in the southwestern area of the city.

DEP already granted a permit to Hazleton Creek Properties to reclaim the strip-mined land using a mix of fly ash, kiln dust and silt dredged from eastern waterways such as the Delaware River.

Tom Yurick, president of Citizen Advocate United to Safeguard the Environment – CAUSE – says DEP needs to take a close look at Gadinski’s report, given that the developer is now applying for another permit for an experimental project at the site.

DEP will hold a public hearing tonight on a proposed project by Hazleton Creek Properties that would use an experimental mixture of silt dredged from rivers and ground-up construction and demolition material to fill nearly 60 acres of abandoned mineland in southwest Hazleton.

The permit was slated for approval or denial without public comment until state Rep. Todd Eachus, D-Butler Township, pushed for it last month in a letter to DEP Secretary John Hanger in which he detailed concerns about the project, including a lack of a public comment period or public hearings and a lack of scientific data supporting the safe use of the mixture in mine reclamation.

Hazleton Creek Properties in August submitted an application to DEP for a permit for a “research-and-development” project at the abandoned mine site where it already had an active permit to use dredged materials mixed with kiln dust and fly ash, Eachus noted.

In his report, Gadinski notes that only one groundwater monitoring well drilled down-gradient from the site was used to collect groundwater samples for testing after the site was partially filled. Other down-gradient wells were dry, he said.

Gadinski also noted increased levels of arsenic in test results from that well, in addition to rising pH levels. He said the pH level in the down-gradient well was higher than in the pH level in other wells on the site, which is unusual for a mine pool site. He is concerned that the higher pH level will allow arsenic and other metalloids to become more soluble and leech into the groundwater.

Yurick sent copies of the report to the DEP, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, elected officials and the media.

Mark McClellan, of Evergreen Environmental, consultant to Hazleton Creek Properties for the reclamation project, said Gadinski’s report is “full of intentional misrepresentations.” He said Gadinski, in his report, brought up the same issues he brought up in an appeal CAUSE filed against DEP’s granting a previous permit for the site, “and in almost all cases found that his comments had no credibility.”

McClellan said CAUSE’s preparation of the report is a “direct violation” of a settlement agreement from the court case that prohibits CAUSE or Gadinski from challenging the groundwater monitoring system.

He also said Gadinski damaged the reputation of a testing company by naming the company in the report even though it did not prepare test results. “It is below a geologist to put out such an erroneous report,” McClellan said.

Gadinski replied that he did not initiate a legal challenge to the groundwater monitoring system; he merely prepared a report based on test results collected by DEP. He said the only erroneous information in the report was a typographical error that mistakenly named a consulting company as a testing company “that had to do with the way the report was packaged” when made available to him.

Gadinski also questioned McClellan’s expertise when it comes to questioning the substance of his report, noting that McClellan is neither a state-certified geologist nor a state-certified engineer in Pennsylvania.

“I have no problem being challenged as long as I’m being challenged by a professional in the field who is certified in Pennsylvania to make challenges of that type,” Gadinski said.

IF YOU GO

There will be a public hearing tonight before the state Department of Environmental Protection on a permit application that could allow Hazleton Creek Properties to use an experimental mixture of silt dredged from rivers and construction and demolition material to fill nearly 60 acres of abandoned mineland in Hazleton.

The hearing will be 7 to 9 p.m. in the large-group instruction room of the Hazleton Area School District Administration Building, 1515 W. 23rd St., Hazle Township.

Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7311.

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