Feb 18, 2005 By Christine Haines 5 min read

BROWNSVILLE – An abandoned strip mine spanning 54 acres in Brownsville Borough and Luzerne Township is getting the attention of the state through a reclamation project costing nearly a million dollars. Kathleen McGinty, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection, visited the site Thursday, pointing out a 100-foot-high, 8,000-foot-long cliff-like highwall that runs the length of the former mining site in close proximity to Brownsville Area High School and the school district offices.

Dr. Harry Miale, the assistant superintendent in the Brownsville Area School District, said he’s glad to see the funding for the project come.

“Some of our staff is saying they have seen tire tracks right up against the edge of the ledge,” McGinty said. “We’re only about 1,000 feet from the high school.

The area is laced with tracks used by all-terrain vehicles. McGinty said similar mine sites have been the scene of fatal accidents involving ATV riders.

“They could easily take a wrong turn in poor visibility and go over the highwall,” McGinty said.

McGinty said the sharp drop-offs aren’t the only concern at the abandoned mine site.

“There are also some ponds that are stagnant that are also a hazard,” McGinty said.

McGinty said the pools of water not only present a drowning hazard, but also provide a breeding ground for mosquitoes that can carry the West Nile virus.

Flooding related to another Luzerne Township mine site claimed the life of a Fairchance man last April 14. Charles Jason Crum, 32, drowned after he drove a truck into the floodwaters that cover a portion of Frogtown Road on April 14, 2004, at approximately 12:30 a.m. The Isabella mine site is just a few miles from the site currently slated for reclamation.

The abandoned mine site is owned by Attilio Cicconi Jr., who’s father received a permit for surface mining on the property in 1977, just four months before the law was enacted that requires mine owners to reclaim their sites, McGinty said. Mining ended at the site in 1982.

“At the time it was done, it wasn’t illegal to just walk away from it when you were done,” McGinty said.

Brownsville Mayor Norma Ryan praised the reclamation work as one more step to help revitalize the area.

“Brownsville’s been a coal mining town and now we need help with our rebirth. Any project that builds us back up again is good for our residents. This could become an area of growth and development,” Ryan said.

McGinty said that in cases where public funds are used to reclaim private property, a lien could be placed against the property if the reclamation substantially increases the value of the land. She said that in the case of the Cicconi property, the reclamation will be eliminating a safety hazard, but will not otherwise change the property to increase its value, so no lien will be placed against it at this time.

D.T. Construction of Dunbar has been awarded the $992,000 reclamation contract. McGinty said. McGinty said the work will take about a year to complete and will involve three phases.

The 8,000 linear feet of highwall ranging in height from 30 to 100 feet will be pulled down to create a gentle slope and return the land to a more natural contour. Areas containing stagnant water will be drained and filled to prevent future pooling and an old steel structure related to the mining work will be torn down, McGinty said.

Troy Soberdash of D.T. Construction said the reclamation site is fairly narrow, running between the steep slope of the highwall and Dunlap Creek. Before the site can be returned to its natural contours, trees and bushes that have grown up on the piles of dirt scraped from the surface to reveal the coal must first be cut down.

“Clearing and grubbing are going to be difficult on this one because the spoils piles are so high,” said Soberdash.

Soberdash and McGinty said there should be enough material in the spoils piles for the contouring that needs to be done without any fill dirt being brought into the site. Once the grading is completed, the entire 54-acre site will be planted with grass.

McGinty noted that the project is being undertaken using funding from the Growing Greener program, which expires at the end of this fiscal year.

“Some of the funding that allows us to do this is about to expire,” McGinty said.

She noted that the state House recently passed legislation called Green PA that does not include the same level of funding for reclamation as was proposed by Gov. Ed Rendell in Growing Greener II. “The governor’s growing Greener II would provide an additional $100 million for reclamation. The House version doesn’t include that,” McGinty said.

McGinty said federal reclamation funds are also in jeopardy if new legislation is not enacted. The current proposal before Congress would increase federal reclamation funding to Pennsylvania from $24 million to $35 million a year.

“This isn’t feel-good stuff. This is basic health and welfare of our communities,” McGinty said.

There are 8,529 acres of unreclaimed refuse piles in Pennsylvania, containing 258 million tons of waste coal, according to the DEP.

Pennsylvania also has at least 2,000 abandoned and flooding mine pools discharging polluted water from about 5,000 known points, with more than 4,000 miles of streams affected by polluted mine drainage.