Greene Co. OKs agreement to clean coal refuse
WAYNESBURG — Greene County commissioners Thursday approved a renewal agreement with a reclamation company that will enable the county to clear coal refuse on roughly 95 acres at an abandoned mine site in Crucible.
The agreement with Mather Recovery Systems LLC of Fairmont, W.Va., will allow an extension until the end of the year for the company to complete a reclamation project started in February 2008.
County Chief Clerk Jeff Marshall said Mather Recovery is in the process of removing usable coal materials found along six tracts of land that amount to roughly 95 acres at the old Crucible Mine site, which has been closed since the 1960s.
Commissioner Pam Snyder said the project will not cost the county any money; rather, the county will earn 25 cents for each ton of coal that is removed from the site, she said.
The project is expected to be completed by the end of the year, at which time the agreement will expire, Marshall said.
In other business, the commissioners agreed to apply for funding allocated through the state Community Development Block Grant program for three projects.
The county is applying for more than $233,000 through the federal grant program, which is about the amount the county received last year, Marshall said. The county applies for CDBG funding annually.
Marshall said the 2011 funding will help pay for three separate projects, including sewer projects in Poland Mines and Alicia, Monongahela Township; a water extension project in Jefferson Township; and housing rehabilitation assistance requested by the Greene County Redevelopment Authority.
The CDBG program, one of the longest-running programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, funds local community development activities such as affordable housing, anti-poverty programs and infrastructure development.
In other matters, the commissioners were notified that the county has been recognized as being certified through the National Weather Service’s “Storm Ready” program.
According to the NWS website, the program — which started in 1999 in Tulsa, Okla. — helps equip America’s communities with the communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property, before and during the event. The program helps community leaders and emergency managers strengthen local safety programs.
During the commissioners’ meeting, Fred McMullen of NWS presented the national certification, which recognizes that Greene County “has all the necessary means of receiving and disseminating information regarding severe weather in the area,” said Jason Craig, operations and training officer for the county’s emergency services.
The certification is valid for three years and the county will reapply for it when it expires, Craig said.