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Strip mine receives board’s OK

By Steve Ferris 3 min read

The Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board approved a special exception for Amerikohl Mining to open a strip mine off Route 653 in Springfield Township, but added some conditions. Board members voted 2-1 in favor of the exception Thursday, with Leon Evans casting the negative vote and Dennis Nurkiewicz Sr. and Chairman Mark Morrison voting for approval.

Conditions attached to the approval require Amerikohl to post $5,000 bond per acre for all 103 acres in the mine site, post a $1.5 million bond to cover possible damages to the school and to submit a restoration plan.

The vote came long after the board first convened a hearing into the matter on Oct. 27 last year.

Amerikohl concluded its case that day and several township residents opposed to the mine also testified.

It was continued to Dec. 29 because several other objectors wanted to speak out against the mine, but the hearing was continued that day because only one board member showed up.

Attorneys from both sides met with the board on Feb. 10 when Amerikohl attorney Charles O. Zebley Jr. contended that the company had “deemed approval” because the continuances exceeded the time limits established in the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.

The code requires zoning boards to schedule the initial hearing no longer than 60 days after receiving an application and each subsequent hearing must be held within 45 days of the prior hearing unless the applicant agrees to a longer delay.

The board took no action on Zebley’s request to recognize a “deemed approval” and continued the hearing on March 16, when the Mountain Watershed Association, which opposed the mine, concluded its case.

The association argued the mining operation would pollute Indian Creek and a tributary, Stoney Run, which flows at the base of a hillside below the mine site.

Some residents testified that they feared blasting would damage the new Springfield Elementary School, which is about 1,000 feet from the mine.

Before the board voted, Nurkiewicz said Amerikohl did not submit a site restoration plan as is required by the county’s zoning ordinance.

He said the watershed association submitted development plans for the area, but no scientific data on possible damage to the waterways from the mine.

“I don’t think the objectors met their burden of proof,” Nurkiewicz said.

Evans said he was concerned about possible damage to the school, which, according to testimony, cost $8.5 million to build.

Nurkiewicz noted that nobody from the school district attended any hearing into the mine.

“I’m really concerned about that school. I have a problem approving this,” Evans said.

He said he also believed the mine would harm the stream.

Morrison said he did not believe the objectors met their legal obligation. “We should grant it,” he said.

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