DEP deputy secretary for the Office of Active and Abandoned Mine Operations John Stefanko said the two projects would eliminate many environmental hazards that would benefit not only the environment but surrounding communities.

The Mudlick project will reclaim 86 acres of abandoned mine land, with the work to include relocating a gas line, grading some one million cubic yards of surface material, 770 cubic yards of ditch excavation, planting more than 31,000 trees, and reseeding the area.

The Bethlehem School project will extend a public water supply to 55 homes that have had water quantity and quality problems due to a nearby abandoned surface mine.

For many years, impacted residents have purchased water, collected rain water or installed wells with treatment systems in lieu of a reliable, safe source of drinking water.

The Mudlick reclamation work will be done by Earthmovers Unlimited of Kylertown, Clearfield County and will be completed in the winter of 2016. The Bethlehem School reclamation work will be done by DJ Wisor and Sons of West Decatur, Clearfield County, and will be completed by the end of next year.

The DEP said both contracts were awarded on a competitive basis and are being funded by Pennsylvania’s Abandoned Mine Land grant from the federal Office of Surface Mining.

The federal fund is supported by a fee on the coal industry and is distributed to states as annual grants to reclaim mine sites that were abandoned prior to passage of the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.