Crews worked for the fourth straight day to fill in the mine subsidence that opened up in Toby’s Creek on April 14.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
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Water can be seen Wednesday bubbling up from underneath the Simpson Street in Swoyersville.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
Water continued Wednesday to bubble up to the surface from an old mine air vent, seeping into the grassy area of the Little League Field on Tripp Street in Forty Fort.
Margaret Roarty | Times Leader
FORTY FORT — Days after a mine subsidence in Toby’s Creek behind Luzerne Lumber caused water from the creek to pour into an abandoned mine shaft underground, water found bubbling to the surface in several places in the surrounding area was tested by the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR).
In a post on the Forty Fort Facebook page Wednesday, borough officials stated the EPCAMR tested water flowing up from an old air vent into the Tripp Street Little League Field, as well as water bubbling to the surface near the entrance of the field, to determine the quality of the suspected mine water.
The borough urged residents to consider the water hazardous and to keep pets away from the area.
“While our current issues are limited to Tripp Street, there is no way to know the extent of the effects this incident had on the stability of the underground mines,” the post read.
Officials asked residents to contact the borough or 911 if they observe any new ground water or possible subsidence.
According to a post on the EPCAMR Facebook page detailing the organization’s findings, iron was “readily apparent” in the water on Tripp Street, as well as in the water tested on Simpson Street in Swoyersville and Northampton Street near Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre.
In the locations visited by the Times Leader Wednesday, the water was seen flowing into nearby storm drains and did not appear to pose any immediate flooding risk to residents or businesses.
The EPCAMR also stated in its findings that several of the sites visited were noted by residents to have discharged water in the past, especially during heavy rainfall.
Also in the organization’s Facebook post, it said that the results of the water data collected by the EPCAMR were for education purposes and were indicative of one sample at a single point in time.
“It is very likely that the chemistry can and will change over time depending upon whether or not the flows increase or decrease over time,” the post read.
State Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson Colleen Connolly said in a statement Tuesday that the DEP was in the process of looking into several of the areas where water was seen bubbling up.
The water on Tripp Street first surfaced on April 14, the same day that a mine subsidence was reported to have opened up in Luzerne around 7 a.m. in Toby’s Creek behind Luzerne Lumber, causing water to flow into an abandoned mine underground.
A second hole then opened up on April 15 in the backyard of a home on Hughes Street in Swoyersville, where crews successfully filled the hole in later that day.
Crews on Wednesday continued to work for the fourth straight day on filling the mine subsidence in Toby’s Creek with more concrete.