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HANOVER TOWNSHIP — Massive warehouses have cropped up on land once torn up and blackened from coal mining in parts of Luzerne County, raising questions about how this is possible.

The answer: Heavy equipment and lots of pounding.

“It’s not an exaggeration to say we’ve moved mountains,” said Eric Watts, vice president of development at Missouri-based NorthPoint Development.

NorthPoint attracted Chewy.com, Adidas and Patagonia Inc. to its first 172-acre project on mine-scarred land in Hanover Township called the Hanover Ridge Trade Center.

Two tenants have been announced so far for its second project on a 322-acre former coal tract along the new South Valley Parkway known as Hanover 9 in Hanover Township and Nanticoke. True Value Company will occupy most of a nearly 1.4 million foot distribution center still under construction in the township section, and Spreetail.com will set up shop in a 610,000 square foot building on the city portion.

Two more buildings are planned at Hanover 9 as NorthPoint also has started tackling its next 173-acre project prepping former mineland for three new structures along Dundee Road in the township.

‘Dynamic compaction’

One of the main techniques to ensure the soil can support these large structures is “dynamic compaction,” said Watts and Anthony Johnson, who oversees the industrial unit at Chicago-based Clayco, the contractor handling these construction projects for NorthPoint.

Using a crane, a weight ranging from 6 to 20 tons is repeatedly dropped from a height of around 80 feet to compact the soil, they said.

It’s a methodical process following primary and secondary grid patterns to make sure no spots are missed.

A top layer of up to 10 feet must meet compaction standards for the buildings, which typically have shallow foundations, Watts and Johnson said.

In addition to earth moving and compacting, rock is another challenge on former coal property, Johnson added.

Working with geotechnical experts, Clayco selectively used explosives to blast rock at both sites, reducing the need to dig out and break apart rock, particularly in sections requiring utilities and water runoff collection systems, Johnson said.

“You have to understand the risk and parameters with rock excavation and establish a plan to deal with it early on and in a way that’s most expeditious and cost effective,” Johnson said.

With tight construction schedules and “challenging” weather, Clayco figured out ways to artificially heat the buildings so concrete could be poured when it was freezing outside, he said. The company has been working on the projects since October 2016.

“A lot of unforeseen adjustments were made to keep everything on track,” said Johnson, noting his 35-year-old company is the top or second largest builder of warehouses in the country. “Failing wasn’t an option, so we had to think outside the box.”

Unsightly tract

The head-turning Hanover Ridge projects, now well-lit and visible from busy Interstate 81, are on land once so unsightly, the nonprofit Earth Conservancy had to complete initial reclamation work needed to even enter the radar of developers, said agency Executive Director Mike Dziak.

Decades of mining activity had left the property “abused” with extensive damage, including a pit the size of three or four football fields and about 50 feet deep that was filed with silt material and water that had to be pumped out, Dziak said.

Earth Conservancy spent more than $9 million — $7.3 million of it borrowed — to fill deep mine pits and contour the site to eliminate ponds and prevent runoff, Dziak said. It took years to design, obtain permits and complete the work.

While some on-site material was used to fill in holes, dirt had to be brought in by Earth Conservancy and later NorthPoint to support the buildings and sustain vegetation, he said.

“We were very interested in doing that site simply because it looked terrible and was what you saw off the main highway system,” Dziak said. “It was a hindrance to economic development in this area.”

The Hanover 9 site, which also had been owned by Earth Conservancy, contained numerous water and garbage-filled stripping pits, he said.

The pits were left by mining operations that had prospected for coal and “just walked away” before regulations requiring them to restore the land to its original condition, Dziak said.

Using saved funds and grants, Earth Conservancy filled in some sections with the most unsafe pits and completed a stormwater system before NorthPoint got involved, he said.

Hanover 9 would still be dormant without this initial work and its accessibility from the new South Valley Parkway, he said.

Taking risks

NorthPoint is “comfortable with a little more risk” in its site selection, Watts said.

“We look for sites most other developers are scared of or not attracted to because of the complexities associated with them,” he said.

If labor market and location meet requirements, the company’s highly technical and specialized staff allow the company to “figure out these sites that other developers shy away from,” Watts said.

Although the Hanover Trade Center was the company’s first exposure to coal mining land, it had dealt with numerous brownfield sites, including an old naval munitions property in York, he said.

Scarred land is typically available more cheaply, giving companies more financial lexibility to invest in the necessary remediation, Watts said. These projects require “very, very thorough investigation” and large and generally flat tracts close to highways with the option for utilities to attract major tenants, he said.

“There are also challenges with wetlands that can really derail a development if it’s not remediated accurately,” Watts said.

Similar work

NorthPoint’s projects are not the only ones in the area on land once used for mining.

The CenterPoint Commerce and Trade Park in Jenkins and Pittston townships also is on former blighted coal mine land and now houses 51 tenants employing nearly 6,000, with plans to expand to 10,000 jobs when the park is fully built out over the next decade, its website says.

Mericle Commercial Real Estate posted a news release in February about local developer Robert Mericle’s foresight to tap “land potential others did not see.”

According to the release:

Tens of thousands of motorists passed the “rough looking property” for decades and overlooked its potential until Mericle “saw what others were missing” and started transforming the site into a business park in 2005.

“Perhaps it was the fact the land had been strip mined that kept other developers away. Or maybe it was because so much work would have to be done to install roads and utilities. Or maybe others looked at the rugged topography and thought there was no way that it could be turned into level building pads,” it said.

Believing Northeastern Pennsylvania was “positioned to become a major player along the I-81 corridor,” Mericle settled on about 1,800 acres with immediate access to major highways and secured state incentive financing and grants to help fund some of the infrastructure and reclamation work.

Through past local construction projects and growing up in Wilkes-Barre, Mericle said he was very familiar with the region’s hilly topography and “tough site conditions brought about by past coal mining activity.”

“I knew that finding a few thousand flat acres near an interstate was not in the cards. I also knew that I’d have to be willing to take land that others had passed over and have confidence that we could make that land productive,” he said in the release.

Mericle’s heavy equipment operators had the experience to “tackle CenterPoint’s very rough, mine-scarred terrain and make it ready for new buildings,” it said.

Reaction

Dziak said he gets “stopped all the time” by people pleased with development now springing up on its former coal land.

Many expected some of the mine sites would always remain scarred and be traversed only by all-terrain vehicles, he said, adding that he is impressed with the structures NorthPoint and Clayco are “creating.”

“The transformation is huge from what it was before,” Dziak said. “When you start a project, it’s very difficult to visualize what could happen and what it could be in the end.”

The nonprofit acquired 16,000 acres of former Blue Coal land in 1994 and follows a land use plan that carved out areas for green space, recreation, commercial and residential development. It is now down to 6,000 acres, he said.

Neighbors of reclamation sites sometimes complain about the loss of trees and scrub that grew in the “overburden” material that had been excavated during past mining, Dziak said.

As part of reclamation, tree removal is necessary to move earth and fill in pits holding stagnant water and often garbage, he said.

The re-purposing of mine land for commercial development is better for the environment that destroying pristine land, he said, stressing some of the nonprofit’s reclaimed sites now provide recreation opportunities, including the Greater Hanover Area Recreational Park that can be seen from Interstate 81.

Contractors move dirt and rock in February at the Hanover Township site that will house a massive True Value Company distribution center.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL022619truevalue4.jpg.optimal.jpgContractors move dirt and rock in February at the Hanover Township site that will house a massive True Value Company distribution center. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

A dump truck moves material at the Hanover 9 development site as seen from the South Valley Parkway in Hanover Township last week.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_billtcoalphoto2.jpeg.jpg.optimal.jpgA dump truck moves material at the Hanover 9 development site as seen from the South Valley Parkway in Hanover Township last week. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

These new buildings, occupied by Chewy.com, Adidas and Patagonia Inc.,were constructed on Hanover Township land once ravaged by coal mining.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_Hanover-Ridge-Buildings-1-2-3-complete_v2.jpg.optimal.jpgThese new buildings, occupied by Chewy.com, Adidas and Patagonia Inc.,were constructed on Hanover Township land once ravaged by coal mining. Submitted photo

Rock blasting and repeated dropping of a weight to compress the dirt were necessary to prepare the mine-scarred Hanover 9 site in Hanover Township, seen here, for development.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_Hanover-9_092218_3.jpg.optimal.jpgRock blasting and repeated dropping of a weight to compress the dirt were necessary to prepare the mine-scarred Hanover 9 site in Hanover Township, seen here, for development. Submitted photo

A view of the mine-scarred Hanover 9 development in Hanover Township and Nanticoke, with Route 29 along the right, that will house facilities occupied by True Value Company, Spreetail.com and others.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_Hanover-9_022319_2.jpg.optimal.jpgA view of the mine-scarred Hanover 9 development in Hanover Township and Nanticoke, with Route 29 along the right, that will house facilities occupied by True Value Company, Spreetail.com and others. Submitted photo

The blackened tract containing a large coal mining pit at the center of this photograph is seen before it was reclaimed and modified to house new facilities occupied by Chewy.com, Adidas and Patagonia Inc.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_ecbeforecoalchewysite.jpg.optimal.jpgThe blackened tract containing a large coal mining pit at the center of this photograph is seen before it was reclaimed and modified to house new facilities occupied by Chewy.com, Adidas and Patagonia Inc. Submitted photo

Site work at the Hanover 9 development on former mine-scarred land in Hanover Township is viewed last week from the South Valley Parkway.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_billtcoalphoto1.jpeg.jpg.optimal.jpgSite work at the Hanover 9 development on former mine-scarred land in Hanover Township is viewed last week from the South Valley Parkway. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader
Derelict mining sites transformed for modern warehouses

By Jennifer Learn-Andes

[email protected]

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.