Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Spokeswoman says it was worst damage ever at an agency reclamation site.
Vandals tore down Earth Conservancy fencing and ripped up reseeded ground with ATVs at Nanticoke-Hanover Township site.
Submitted photo
Over the weekend, vandals created the worst damage that has ever occurred at an Earth Conservancy reclamation project, setting the site straddling Hanover Township and Nanticoke back perhaps a month and costing thousands of dollars to repair.
People riding on all-terrain vehicles broke into what is called the silt-pond reclamation site off Middle Road on the edge of Nanticoke by cutting through a chain-link fence, said Jacqueline Dickman, the conservancy’s director of public affairs and development.
A stretch of 150 feet of the fence was then torn down, and ATVs were driven through the property, creating deep ruts. Bales of hay also were cut open and strewn about and burned, she said.
“We probably had about $300,000 into the reclamation site to date,” she said, but now the fence must be replaced, the ground re-leveled, the grass reseeded and the protective layer of hay scattered over it again.
“The damage this time really surpasses anything we’ve seen in the past,” Dickman said. “You might think that tearing up the grass isn’t a big deal, but considering the amount of work that went into the site … it’s really disheartening.”
The Nanticoke and Hanover Township police departments responded to calls about the damage, and at least one fire department was dispatched, though firefighters ended up allowing the fire to burn out on its own.
The conservancy is considering offering a reward for information about the vandals. Anyone with such information should call the office at 823-3445.
Dickman said the conservancy is well aware of the potential for damage at its sites since they’re usually rural, but she hoped that bringing publicity to this incident might help people be more vigilant.
“There’s always a concern that our reclamation projects are going to have damage. It’s becoming a chronic problem,” she said. “It’s definitely something that happens with regularity, and I think our hope is by bringing this to people’s attention, people keep their eyes open for problems at this site and others.”
The site, which had been a repository for mine waste, is being cleaned and turned into an open green space through a federal brownfields grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.