Cartwright, Casey, Haaland cite funding to clean up abandoned mine lands

Jan. 24—SWOYERSVILLE — Standing in the shadow of a huge culm back Monday morning, U.S Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland said it will take a collaborative approach with local, state and Tribal leaders to help ensure communities have healthy lands and waters in their neighborhoods.

"I so appreciate the opportunity to meet with federal, state, local, Tribal and labor leaders today to see how federal resources will make a difference and create jobs in communities across the state," Haaland said.

The Secretary was in Northeastern Pennsylvania touring abandoned coal mining lands and talking about how federal funds will be allocated to reclaim the mine-scarred lands lands.

Haaland was joined by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, and U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, and local partners to highlight investments in Abandoned Mine Land (AML) clean-up in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

"Today, Secretary Deb Haaland came to see firsthand what we're fighting for — Pennsylvania has more unreclaimed abandoned mine land acreage than any state in the country, the majority right here in Northeastern PA," Cartwright said. "Cleaning up abandoned mine lands will create good paying jobs and pave the way for economic development in our communities."

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) includes Cartwright's proposal to reauthorize the AML Trust Fund and invests $11.3 billion for reclamation and cleanup efforts across the country. Over the next 15 years, Pennsylvania is estimated to receive $3.8 billion to address contamination and pollution caused by its coal mining legacy — about one-third of that will be allocated to NEPA, Cartwright said.

Casey said across Pennsylvania, 1.4 million people live within one mile of an abandoned mine site.

"Communities and families have borne the brunt of the negative impacts of abandoned mine land pollution, including ravaged landscapes, property damage and poor health," Casey said. "Today, Congressman Cartwright and I were able to show Secretary Haaland the work being done to reclaim mine land in Northeastern Pennsylvania."

Casey added that for too long the pressing needs of communities blighted by abandoned and polluted mines have been neglected.

"The infrastructure law will bring $3 billion to communities throughout the Commonwealth to address vital abandoned mine land and water reclamation projects, clean legacy pollution, create jobs and improve Pennsylvanians' quality of life," Casey said.

Secretary Haaland said the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law makes critical investments to help clean up legacy pollution as part of the Biden-Harris administration's all-of-government approach to support communities as they address the lingering impacts of extractive industries.

Haaland, Casey and Cartwright were also joined by Bobby Hughes, executive director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR). EPCAMR has long been engaged in advocacy to clean up the AML sites in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

"EPCAMR is proud to discuss with Secretary Haaland the needs of our coalfield communities that are transitioning legacy mining landscapes to job-creating economic corridors," Hughes said. "These investments, coupled with Rep. Cartwright's advocacy for acid mine drainage treatment, will lead to clean water and restored watersheds in our mining impacted communities and create good paying jobs in the manufacturing distribution and clean alternative energy sectors."

In Swoyersville, the group toured a site of a 40-foot-high pile of coal waste impacting the local community. The "culm bank" has been present since a coal processing facility at the site closed in the 1970s. The visit highlighted how funding from the infrastructure law will help reclaim the land for recreational facilities and other economic redevelopment, as well as improve local water quality and reduce flooding.

Secretary Haaland also visited the Askam Borehole Acid Mine Drainage Treatment System in Hanover Township, where she viewed an active acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment project that removes iron and other metals from water draining from underground mine pools.

"We cannot address legacy pollution without dealing with polluted waters," added Secretary Haaland. "I am grateful to the teams at Interior who worked diligently to ensure we could make this funding available to communities, including many in Pennsylvania, to clean up our rivers and streams in a way that wasn't possible before the law was signed."

Secretary Haaland continued her visit in Nanticoke, where she toured Bliss Bank. This former mine waste area once jeopardized the health of the community and polluted waterways in the Nanticoke Creek watershed. Over the last several years, the area has been restored using Abandoned Mine Land (AML) funding to clear out mine waste and use it for electricity generation, plant grass and native vegetation, and construct stormwater management systems.

Gov. Wolf announces $25M

for Abandoned Mine Lands

Gov. Tom Wolf Monday announced funding for environmental restoration projects focused on economic development or community revitalization at abandoned mine land (AML) locations across Pennsylvania. This year, $25 million will be made available for reclamation projects with economic development components.

"These newly approved projects will bring economic opportunity and activity to Pennsylvania, and eliminate dangerous environmental scars left over from Pennsylvania's mining history," said Gov. Wolf. "Removing the dangerous hazards from these sites also removes barriers to productive use. These sites will become hiking trails, farm fields, and solar farms — a new future for sites still marred from past use."

The 2020 Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) Program (formerly known as the AML Pilot Program) will provide an additional $25 million of U.S. Treasury funds for Pennsylvania's AML program.

The Federal Office of Surface Mine Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) recently approved the following Luzerne County projects:

—Mocanaqua AML Recreation Access

Reclamation of a 165 linear foot dangerous high-wall, a one-acre spoil area, several mining pits, industrial/residential waste, and 10 mine openings to eliminate the health and safety hazards. The reclaimed areas will be repurposed for public parking areas to accommodate at least 30 cars for visitors of the state forest and game lands and gravel resurfacing improvements of an existing 2,400 linear foot access road will be performed along with the installation of historic information kiosks. The primary project partners are the PA-DCNR, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and Earth Conservancy.

—Audenried Coal to Solar — Phase 1

Reclamation of 185 acres of AML comprised of mine refuse, mining pits, multiple hazardous abandoned mine structures, and approximately 2.5 million yards of mine spoil to eliminate the health and safety hazards. The reclaimed area will be repurposed by Teichos Energy, LLC. to accommodate construction of their first of two phases of a utility scale solar photovoltaic facility. A future, Phase 2 project is planned to reclaim similar AML features covering an additional 125 acres and restoration of stream segments of Hunky Dory Creek. Once the second phase is completed, Teichos Energy estimates that the facility will support 150-300 full-time jobs directly related to the solar construction and 6-8 permanent jobs related to facility operations and maintenance of the solar panels. The primary project partners are Teichos Energy, LLC, and the property owner of the AML site.

—D&L Trail Wilkes-Barre Mountain — Phase 2

Reclamation of a nearby abandoned mine opening through installing a bat friendly gate and back-filling pits situated immediately adjacent to the D&L Trail by utilizing onsite and borrowed material will eliminate the health and safety hazards. A 2.3-mile trail will be constructed and traverse through the Pinchot State Forest along an abandoned railroad bed and would begin where the existing Wilkes-Barre Mountain Section (Phase 1) trail ends about one mile from the PA-DCNR's Seven Tubs Recreation Area and would end near Laurel Run Park on East Northampton Street, Wilkes-Barre. The primary project partners are North Branch Land Trust and the PA-DCNR.

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.