U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright with Henry Zielinski of Northampton Generating Co., LP, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (at rear) and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland are seen at the Swoyersville Bank Reclamation & Community Athletic Area Economic Revitalization Project, formerly the Harry E. Collier site, Monday morning in Swoyersville.
Submitted photo
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Like colossal scars from old war wounds, culm banks and treeless stretches of pitted black and gray ground mark Luzerne County from top to bottom. Rust orange water seeps — sometimes gushes — from holes in the ground created decades ago, pouring acid into our waterways.
Coal mining made this region, both the deep mine version that created engineering marvels like the Jeddo Mine Tunnel drainage system in the south of the county and the strip-mining that left pock marks and piles of blackish spoils heaped nearby.
And coal mining, long a small and shrinking part of the county’s economy, continues to keep this region from becoming something new. As much successful reclamation as we’ve seen over the years, most county residents are a short drive from a man-made mountain of unsightly “ugh!” When listing the many very real amenities moving here offers outsiders, “culm banks” are a glaring negatives.
That’s why it was genuinely good news when U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Moosic), U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Scranton) and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland got together to announce an estimated $3.8 billion will be coming to Pennsylvania for reclamation and cleanup projects, courtesy of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.”
Sure, it was a bit of political theater, the sort of “dog and pony” show elected and appointed officials stage to tout the value of their work for locals. And frankly, it’s getting a bit tiresome that every other bill passed by Congress seems to automatically look for a place to add the word “jobs.” But this is still a big win.
The law set aside $11.3 billion for reclamation across the country. And it looks and sounds like Pennsylvania’s share is fair. “Pennsylvania has more unreclaimed abandoned mine land acreage than any state in the country, the majority right here in Northeastern Pa.,” Cartwright said, according to staff writer Bill O’Boyle’s story.
We don’t know where he got his stats, but driving around the Wyoming Valley or the Hazleton area it sure seems like it’s true.
Mitigating acid mine water runoff is essential to keeping waterways clean. Eliminating culm banks is more than a reduction of eyesores, it’s a way to restore forest and greenery that can help keep our air clean. And restoring scarred mine land to usable tracts can encourage economic growth.
There have been those, over the years, who have argued sincerely that such sites are part of our history and should be preserved. We agree, but not much. Pick one or two big culm banks, and maybe an old stripping pit, and save them as museum pieces, both to remind us of how we despoiled the land for profit and how hard it was to rebound from letting companies profit by trashing the environment without consequences.
But the rest? Let’s reclaim it. The sooner and more thoroughly, the better.
It’s too early to say how much reclamation this money will buy. We doubt it will get us to that “Here’s the lone culm bank museum, kids!” moment. But it’s a healthy boost in the right direction.
— Times Leader