News

December 21, 2008

Mine voids raise fears at Drifton

State help is in the works, but one resident is pessimistic about what can be accomplished.

By Sheena Delazio sdelazio@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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DRIFTON – Jack Burke summed up his thoughts about the state Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation’s request to residents for help in finding more mine voids in the Drifton Estates:

“They would not be able to solve this problem in a million years,” Burke said. “The damage has already been done.”

Burke, a 22-year resident of the Drifton Estates, said he appreciates what the state mine reclamation office is doing to help the community, but said the agency must “face reality.”

“They’re fighting a losing battle,” Burke said. “These mines are man-made disasters. This was not caused by Mother Nature.”

The state mine reclamation office asked residents at a meeting last week for information about any mine voids beneath Drifton Estates and Smith Drive.

With residents’ help, Kimball Associates, of Ebensburg, will create a new underground map to locate the mine voids, which eventually will be filled, as the voids filled earlier this year after a subsidence, said Michael Korb, manager of the Wilkes-Barre office of the state Bureau of Mine Reclamation.

By spring, workers are expected to do on-site work in the area, followed by a survey of what is underground, Korb said.

The mine reclamation bureau contracted Kimball to complete the job, Korb said, and depending on what is found underground, will determine how long the project will take.

Korb said Kimball Associates will develop a plan to ascertain what the subsurface conditions are in Drifton Estates using drilling and geophysical techniques to find out what’s underground.

Korb said the firm will begin by doing background research through mapping and by getting permission from homeowners to do investigative work on their properties.

“We’re really looking to see if the work that was done is enough to make sure the people are safe,” Korb said, referring to the mine voids that were filled in the spring.

What will be used to fix the problem, Korb said, depends on what is found.

Burke said he knows of one mine shaft that extends from the east side of Smith Drive to Calello’s service station and used car dealership just up the road on Route 940. Burke said the shaft was used as an entrance into the mine, and is unsure if it has been filled.

Burke said he and neighbors are sure there are more voids beneath Drifton Estates, and was told the voids filled in the spring were as large as four football fields.

“When they first started drilling holes and dumping cement, they sent cameras down and the cement disappeared,” Burke said, referring to work done in May by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the federal Office of Surface Mining. “The voids are very deep down there.”

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