Mine site reclamation starts
The $1.68 million project is for work on 168 acres in Cranberry West in Hazle Twp.
By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer


Work has begun on a $1.68 million project to reclaim the 168-acre Cranberry West mine site in Hazle Township.



To reclaim the site, abandoned structures will be demolished and removed, and 1.3 million cubic yards of on-site material will be used to backfill and grade highwalls, waste piles and mine openings.

Stormwater and erosion-control measures will be installed, and the entire site will be planted with a grass/legume mixture specially formulated to grow on abandoned mine sites.

All backfill will come from on the site, said Tom Rathbun, a spokesman with the Department of Environmental Protection.

Work is being done by Earthmovers Unlimited Inc. of Kylertown, Clearfield County, and is expected to be finished by March 2012.

Funding comes from the federal Abandoned Mine Lands Fund, which is supported by a tax on each ton of coal produced by the modern coal mining industry. The fund was established to reclaim mine sites that were abandoned prior to passage of modern mining regulations in 1977.

Rathbun said the site was targeted for reclamation because of several factors, including its safety concerns, the cooperation of the landowners and the potential for economic development at the site, which is at the Route 924 and I-81 intersection, near the Humboldt Industrial Park.

Rathbun said he understands there is an interest by some groups to use the land for commercial development but could not identify them. A message left with Pagnotti Enterprises, which owns a portion of the property, was not immediately returned.

“Few places in America bear the scars of our industrial legacy as deeply as Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal fields, where entire communities struggle to overcome the damage caused by the unregulated mining practices of the past,â€

_________________
Scott K
"Watch Your Top"

Love when they use the term " scars" to describe historic sites. Almost like the era of mining in Pennsylvania is an embarassment instead of an era to be proud of. Safety yes, sure. But in the process all to many times historic sites are bulldozed to erase all traces. Besides with all the deficits the national and state goverments are facing is this really the time to be planting grassy fields. These "unsafe" sites have been " unsafe" for more than 50 years in most cases. All of the sudden they are a priority ? When the funds could be used for other more pressing problems like ailing infra structure ? Just my opinion. In most cases mining roads are smoother than most interstates !! And no matter if its federal, state, or taxs levied on the coal industry. We all end up paying in the end. So when they say " grants". People think free money. Not so much the case if you think about where the money comes from.

where is this place?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=Hazleton,+Luzerne,+Pennsylvania&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.610437,76.552734&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FdL5cAIdCbh4-w&split=0&hq=&hnear=Hazleton,+Luzerne,+Pennsylvania&ll=40.943472,-76.037664&spn=0.030342,0.10746&t=h&z=14

now according to this there are portals and buildings? Are these still there and if i were to go there is work being done, is it posted and if work is being done would they let me take pictures?

Oh great Earthmovers, Inc. I think the site will look better now then by the time that company gets through with it.

_________________
Everyone's Goal is to Mine More Coal

Typical. Get rid of the common working mans history as well. That way you can push the post industrial rhetoric to its logical conclusion---

_________________
Neeb?

I couldn't have said it better Miner490. I equate it to destroying your personal photo albums and diaries and then being told, now that you have no history to look back on, life will be better! Sure, historic sites may not appeal to everyone, but under what definition do they become "scars" -- when they can be labeled in association with an "abandoned mine"? Under what other criteria would one differentiate between a scar from an historic landmark?

_________________
"If you thought old, abandoned mines were only in the west, then you haven't been to IronMiners.com!"

is there anything left in the hazleton area other than surface strip mines and piles?? Or have they gotten rid of it all?