Earth Conservancy celebrates the opening of Dziak Drive

NANTICOKE — State Sen. John Yudichak Thursday said all great monuments begin with a great architect who sketches out a masterful plan.

“Mike Dziak was the chief architect of the Earth Conservancy and its indelible legacy of mine reclamation, land conservation, and economic development,” said Yudichak, I-Swoyersville.

Earth Conservancy (EC) held a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday to celebrate the opening of Dziak Drive, which will connect the Prospect Street roundabout on the South Valley Expressway to the formerly mine-scarred Bliss Bank site, which is now under construction by NorthPoint Development.

Dziak Drive is the fourth access road constructed by EC. The roadways, conceived along with the South Valley Parkway in EC’s Land Use Plan in 1996, were to connect local abandoned mine lands to the area’s larger transportation network, once the properties were reclaimed for economic development.

Now, some 25 years later, that vision has become reality.

Along the South Valley Parkway, EC’s Hanover 7A, Hanover 9, and Loomis sites are now home to companies such as True Value, Spreetail, and Thrive Market, as well as the new headquarters for Troop P of the Pennsylvania State Police, with thousands of jobs created. NorthPoint’s recent groundbreaking ceremony at Bliss Bank (Tradeport 164), with another 1,700 jobs anticipated, continues to realize EC’s original plan.

Dziak Drive, which leads to Tradeport 164, is named in recognition of Mike Dziak, EC’s first President/CEO. Dziak took the helm of EC in 1994, which coincided with the purchase of the holdings of the bankrupt Blue Coal Corporation.

Yudichak said under Dziak’s leadership, EC completed 10 long-range land use plans/feasibility studies; reclaimed 2,000 mine-scarred acres; constructed three acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment systems; built three trail systems; funded and started work on the re-establishment of nearly 5,000LF of stream channel; and conserved 8,700 acres of mainly forested land for recreation and green space (with another 700 acres in process).

These efforts earned EC dozens of awards, including eight PA Governors’ Awards for Environmental Excellence.

More than $56.2 million has been invested in EC’s projects to date. Dziak officially retired from EC in February 2020.

Terry Ostrowski, PE, EC’s current President/CEO, commended the foresight and dedication not only of Dziak, but also of EC’s board of directors and the municipalities and elected leaders involved.

“Only through their perseverance and cooperative work over the years could this major transportation initiative be achieved,” Ostrowski said. “This project will benefit the residents and economy of the area for decades to come.”

Yudichak said during his two decades in the state legislature, it has been an honor to work with Dziak and the Board of the Earth Conservancy.

“Together we have seen the transformation of the South Valley with projects, like the $90 million South Valley Parkway, and with developers like NorthPoint, who are investing more than a billion dollars in private equity to create more than 5,000 new jobs in the communities of Hanover Township, Nanticoke, and Newport Township,” Yudichak said.

“The economic legacy left by Mike Dziak’s work at the Earth Conservancy is equaled, if not surpassed, by an impressive environmental legacy — thousands of mine lands reclaimed, miles of polluted streams restored, and a land conservation achievement that I do not believe has been matched anywhere in Pennsylvania, and one I am personally most proud of, the expansion of the Pinchot Forest from 8,000 acres a decade ago to what it is today — nearly 50,000 acres of pristine forest lands and green mountain ridges.”

Funding for the approximately $1.2 million project was received through grants from the PA Department of Community & Economic Development’s Multimodal Transportation Fund and the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Pilot Program, with additional financial support provided by EC.

Yudichak said his father, Joseph, an original board member of the Earth Conservancy, introduced him to Dziak when he was named the organization’s first executive director.

“My Dad said Mike was the right guy for the job because he was smart, determined, and he could take a punch and keep on going,” Yudichak said. “As anyone who has ever been a part of the Earth Conservancy history, there were more than a few punches along the way — and Mike Dziak took them all in-stride with a no-nonsense professionalism that he brought to the job every single day.”

Yudichak said Dziak did not win every battle along the way.

“But the pure magnificence of his struggle to transform the Earth Conservancy from a vision to an economic and environmental legacy unmatched and unparalleled in Luzerne County history is the work of a man who deserves our gratitude and the lasting recognition we bestow upon him today with the naming of Mike Dziak Drive,” Yudichak said.