PennDOT plans for mining under I-79
Greene County Commissioner Farley Toothman announced Wednesday that over the next six to seven years, there will be at least a half dozen critical places where longwall mining will occur under Interstate 79. During Wednesday’s agenda meeting of the commissioners, Toothman said the commissioners were notified by the state Department of Transportation a couple weeks ago of the mining plans.
PennDOT will construct ramps off of I-79 that traffic will have to use as a detour in the event of an emergency along the interstate. The ramps will be located outside of Waynesburg and Mount Morris, and will divert traffic to Route 19 as the main detour road.
Dave Whitlatch of PennDOT said RAG Resources will conduct the mining, which will begin next spring. He said the ramps are not being exclusively built because of the mining, but the mining enabled PennDOT to receive the funding to construct the ramps.
PennDOT has submitted an application to the state Department of Environmental Protection to construct ramps from I-79 to State Route 2006 and 2026.
Whitlatch said they don’t anticipate any road closures during the mining. He said longwall mining that occurred under and near Interstate 70 in Washington County never caused any road closures. Whitlatch said the odds are higher that closure of the interstate will occur for something other than longwall mining impacts. He said the interstate has been closed several times this year due to accidents and emergencies.
Chief County Clerk Gene Lee explained that the mining will occur at spots under the interstate between Kirby and Waynesburg.
Lanny Hewitt, roadway programs coordinator for the Greene County office of PennDOT, said the detours won’t be used unless something happens along the interstate, such as “settlement.” He said there is not currently a viable detour for traffic to get off of I-79 in the event of an accident. Hewitt said he is hopeful that the ramps will never be used because of settling on the highway. Toothman said the potential detours “could have a tremendous impact for travelers.”
The commissioners also heard a report from Jeff Marshall, director of the Greene County Emergency Management Agency, about the damage from the Nov. 19 flood.
Marshall reported that as of Tuesday there were 315 homes that were impacted and “70-plus businesses.”
He said more than 50 people in 41 locations couldn’t stay in their homes the night after the flooding. He said two families were put up by the Red Cross/Salvation Army and the remaining families stayed with friends and relatives. Marshall said damage to public entities such as municipal authorities and schools are already at $514,000. He said that figure doesn’t include damage to the West Greene School District, which is expected to be significant.
Following the flooding, crews from PEMA (Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency) and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) assessed damage, Marshall said.
He said the aid the criteria for damage is as follows: less than one foot of water in a basement, affected; more than one foot but less than up to the rafters, minor; water up to the rafters, major and water into the living area, destroyed.
Marshall said the majority of flooding was in the center of the county but there was damage in every municipality in the county. He said PEMA crews initially only saw some of the damage and believed it constituted all of the affected areas and will have to come out again. Marshall said unlike floods or disasters in the past, which normally affect other areas of the state, this flood just impacted Greene County.
He said if there is a disaster declaration, it would be the smallest ever in the state. Marshall said he will continue working toward receiving the declaration for the county.
Portions of Fayette County were impacted by the floodwaters on Nov. 19, including downtown Uniontown.