Funding for the project was through forfeited reclamation bonds and a federal fund for the reclamation of abandoned mine lands, supported by taxes paid by the active coal-mining industry on every ton of coal mined.
The coal-processing site in Washington Township, Dauphin County, was abandoned in 1990. The site contains a partially collapsed 70-foot-tall coal preparation plant, underground storage tanks, asbestos-containing materials, abandoned processing equipment and piles of fine coal refuse.
The entire site will be graded to approximate the land’s pre-mine contours and planted with grasses and a trees. The project is expected to take about 10 months to complete.
The Growing Greener II initiative proposes to use $US100 million over four years to address a vast array of environmental and public health problems at abandoned mine sites. Negotiations are currently underway to secure a vote on a compromise plan that preserves the funding levels provided by Growing Greener II.
Pennsylvania faces at least 350 years of mine clean-ups. The state has 8529 acres of unreclaimed refuse piles and 258 million tons of waste coal.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the state has at least 2000 abandoned and flooding mine pools, discharging polluted water from about 5000 known points and threatening the health of its rivers and streams. More than 4000 miles of streams have been polluted by mine drainage.
