Smith Township abandoned mine project receives grant
An abandoned mine land reclamation project in Smith Township has received a financial boost.
A state grant of $193,493 was awarded to Natural Streams Foundation Inc. to support the initial planning work for the project.
The funding will support engineering design and permitting work needed to begin removing more than 250,000 cubic yards of coal refuse from a nearly five-acre site in the township. Work includes preparing an engineering design plan and securing the appropriate permits for a future abandoned mine land reclamation project to remove the coal refuse.
The grant is part of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Abandoned Mine Land and Abandoned Mine Drainage Grant Program, which recently awarded $15.2 million in funding for 15 environmental restoration projects across the commonwealth.
DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation is authorized through the United States Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. Its function is to issue grants for the purpose of reclaiming abandoned mine lands and abating abandoned mine drainage.
An abandoned mine land site is described as land that contains hazards such as landslides and mine openings where the land containing the problems was mined prior to Aug. 3, 1977, and left inadequately reclaimed.
The grant program prioritizes funding to address serious human health and safety problems resulting from abandoned coal mines, as well as treating abandoned mine drainage to continue watershed restoration efforts and prevent the loss of restored streams.
Pennsylvania has the largest inventory of abandoned coal mines in the nation, with a roughly $5 billion need for reclamation and steam restoration.
Funding comes through Pennsylvania’s federally supported Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program.
“Projects like this are an important step in restoring land affected by historic mining,” said state Sen. Camera Bartolotta. “This funding enables essential planning so the site can be reclaimed, improving environmental conditions and supporting safer, more productive land use.”