Greene to clean up Crucible mine site
CUMBERLAND TWP. – The days are numbered for yet another abandoned mine site in Greene County. The Greene County commissioners will announce this morning that a no-cost government-financed construction contract from the state Department of Environmental Protection has been awarded to Mather Recovery Systems LLC to clean up the former Crucible mine site. The company will remove coal and reclaim the site so that vegetation can grow there.
The property lies along the Monongahela River, along the path of the Greene River Trail.
Greene County acquired the land as part of an overall riverfront development plan, which takes into account the trail and allows for future development of park areas and the potential construction of boat docks. “I am so pleased that the DEP recognizes the importance of this reclamation project. This will enhance the recreational opportunities at the site and allow us to move forward with our plans,” said Commissioner Dave Coder.
County officials have high hopes for the bike/hike trail, which, to date, runs 41/2 miles from near the Ten Mile Yacht Club in Jefferson Township to Rices Landing. Eventually, the trail will extend 14 miles along an old railroad corridor to Nemacolin, and it could be completed by 2006.
In the interim, the county continues to develop the path. Earlier this year, the Greene County Tourist Promotion Agency announced it would build a restroom for trail users, and in April, the county received a $400,000 allocation from the state Transportation Commission to build another 3.1 miles of the path.
The cleanup is important to the trail because it opens up riverfront development potential at the site, according to county officials.
“This project provides opportunities not only for environmental improvement at the site, but for enhanced access to the riverfront for all types of activity,” said Commissioner Farley Toothman.
To that end, Commissioner Scott Blair said, “We’ve just been handed another tool for our recreational toolbox, one which enhances not only our trail, but river access.”
Ann Bargerstock, county director of planning and development, explained that the site has significant acreage with a number of old buildings in various states of disrepair, as well as a number of illegal dump sites full of building materials and other rubbish. However, she noted that the land itself has great potential for a water park or possibly a trail head facility.
Mather Recovery Systems is the same partnership that was awarded the contract to clean up the Mather coal refuse pile in Jefferson Township. “We’re cleaning up our communities one pile at a time, whether it’s gob or scrap,” Bargerstock said, noting that the county also is working with the former Ruschel’s Salvage Yard in Rices Landing to remove piles of old scrap. “By the end of the week we should have the worst cleaned up. You owe it to yourself to take a drive along the river and look at both places to see how much has been accomplished already,” she said.