Apr 5, 2015 4 min read

The impact of mine subsidence on property and water resources has been a source of controversy for many years in Greene and Washington counties where coal is a major industry.

The discussion seems to intensify when a report commissioned by the state Department of Environmental Protection is released every five years documenting the impact of subsidence on surface land.

The report, the most recent of which was released in December, is mandated by amendments to the state’s Bituminous Mine Subsidence and Land Conservation Act signed into law in 1994 and referred to as Act 54.

Act 54 amended the law on subsidence damage. Prior to the act, the law required coal operators to protect only homes and other structures constructed before April 27, 1966. Under Act 54, coal companies for the first time could mine under homes or businesses, no matter when they were built, but the companies were required to compensate property owners for damage.

The law also required coal companies, for the first time, to restore or replace a property owner’s water supply if it was affected by mining.

Every five years, DEP compiles information on the effects of underground mining on land, structures and water resources in a report to the governor, General Assembly and DEP’s Citizens Advisory Council. The most recent report, the fourth to be completed under the act, was prepared by the University of Pittsburgh and covered the period August 2008 through August 2013. It runs more than 400 pages and offers specific details on damage caused by subsidence as well as the efforts made to repair it. The most recent report was the subject of public hearings last month by the Citizens Advisory Council.

Residents and environmental groups testifying March 27 at DEP’s California mining office maintain the law not only must be more strictly enforced by DEP, but also is inadequate to protect streams and other water resources from damage.

An industry group, Pennsylvania Coal Alliance, which presented testimony at an earlier hearing, said the report indicates the law is working, and strategies to repair damage and restore water resources are being carried out as intended.

It would be difficult here to present both views. However, we believe the report has value in documenting the effects of mine subsidence and providing information that could lead to better methods to mitigate and restore subsidence damage.

For the recent report, the university was asked by DEP to conduct an analysis on the impacts of subsidence on groundwater with the aim of improving the ability to predict damage to streams.

“(W)hile mining companies are generally either able to repair, replace or financially compensate for damages to structures, the ability to repair damage to streams remains largely unknown, as documented in the third assessment,” the report said.

We can conclude that DEP is attempting to resolve issues concerning stream impacts. The information provided in the report and its recommendations could lead to an improved analysis of what works and what doesn’t in regard to stream restoration.

In the latest assessment, DEP also requested the university look at the process by which the agency obtains and manages information concerning the effects of underground mining. Unfortunately, the university cites a number of instances in which the lack of information and uniform management of data made it difficult to draw conclusions regarding subsidence damage and efforts to mitigate or repair it.

Though DEP has improved information in numerous areas, the report said, “it has lost ground since the third assessment period in the organization and accessibility of some areas of data necessary for assessing the effects of underground bituminous coal mining in Pennsylvania.”

In its report, the university addresses the issues extensively and offers recommendations for managing what it refers to as “big data.” It seems to us that having accurate and thorough information is essential to determining the impacts of subsidence. We only hope DEP takes the recommendations to heart.