Geological Survey working to map sites

By Abbott Koloff

Daily Record Sunday August 14, 2011

Stanley and Janet Chin heard a crack of what sounded like thunder as they were getting ready for bed 23 years ago, and then a low rumbling just as their Mine Hill home lost heat and hot water.

Stanley went downstairs to check the furnace, turned on a light, and looked down at where his basement floor used to be. He stared into a black hole that authorities later estimated to be 200 feet deep.

Janet Chin, who now lives with her husband Stanley in Manhattan, said she had no idea there was a mine underneath her house on Xenia Court. The people who sold her the house didn’t know about it, she said, adding that she later found maps in the township’s possession showing mine shafts in the area.

“Someone knew about this,â€

Imagine being the recipient of a letter by the geological survey asking if they can survey your property because you have an abandoned mine on your property you didn't know you had! As long as it was an adit, I'd be perfectly fine.

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

Yeah, I agree.. I'd be honored to be honest! But I'm surprised I hadn't heard of this happening, and that there would be funding for this type of thing in this day and age. Certainly would be a fun project to participate in!

Miner Greg

On that note, according to this article, http://mahwah.patch.com/articles/abando ... scientists , the Department of Environmental Protection is partnering with the New Jersey Geological Survey to study..... the Butler Mine in order to decide "whether or not future actions and precautions will need to take place at the site." The NJGS was awarded a federal grant in order to obtain accurate GPS coordinates and "to develop a scientific database of information to be used to prioritize the risk of subsidence or ground collapse.” That is a great objective but I think we should be studying mines that actually pose a threat to people's lives, homes or property, not the unassuming Butler Mine, a water filled hole in the middle of the woods! If you ask me, I think this money would be better spent examining mines in residential areas such as in Mine Hill or North Arlington, where significant subsidence has occurred in the past, and where potential development might actually occur, not mines located off of scenic trails celebrated as hiking destinations (btw, kudos to Mr. Steinberg for the plug). A field trip to Harriman State Park armed with Iron Mine Trails would probably be far more productive and perhaps enlightening.

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

I became aware some weeks ago that all sealed workings in North Arlington will be examined by the middle of next year.

That will be interesting. I wonder if they have any plans to rehabilitate the adit and study the mine from that perspective.

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