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#6– Reclamation project announced for Mather coal refuse pile

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Plans were announced in August to use sediment from the now-dry Duke Lake to reclaim the Mather coal refuse dump. Sediment has to be removed from the lake bed before the lake can be restored. The lake has been dry since 2005.

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John Stefanko, a state Department of Environmental Protection deputy secretary, speaks in August at a ceremony at the Mather coal refuse dump on plans to reclaim the site using sediment from the now-dry Duke Lake.

A project to complete the reclamation of the 70-acre Mather coal refuse pile and assist in the restoration of the long-dry Duke Lake at Ryerson Station State Park was announced by state officials in August.

The plan calls for using the sediment that must be removed from the lake bed before a new dam is constructed to reclaim the gray slate surface of the refuse dump at Mather.

The Mather slate dump has been in existence for more than 95 years. Part of the site was reclaimed by the Greene County Industrial Development Authority in 2001, though the project was halted several years later for lack of funding.

The site will be graded, compacted and covered with two feet of sediment excavated from Duke Lake. The sediment, which meets all state standards for clean fill, should make an excellent ground cover, the state Department of Environmental Protection said.

The project also will assist with the restoration of Duke Lake, which has been dry since 2005. A settlement announced in 2013 to end litigation between DEP and Consol Energy, whose mining operations allegedly resulted in the previous dams’ failure, ensures construction of the new dam.

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