DUBOIS – The Sandy Township Supervisors and members of the public heard plans for a new mining site during a public hearing before Monday night’s usual supervisor and water authority meetings. City of DuBois Manager John “Herm” Suplizio and Jason Reed of Lee Simpson Associates explained the City of DuBois’ plan to mine sandstone and shale on city property in Sandy Township.
The plot of land covers 240 acres, but only 180 acres of land is being planned for possible mining. This is the same property that the City of DuBois has recently dug six water wells it hopes to use as its primary water source in years to come.
“Just so everyone knows, the reason the city bought that property was for the water,” stated Suplizio.
Suplizio stated multiple times that the water source was the primary concern. Because of this the city has a vested interest in making sure this mining does no harm to any wells in the area, of which they own six of the eight in the 240 acreage plus two more in a 1,000-foot buffer zone around the property.
Nine test burrows were already completed to a hundred feet. The announced results show the mining will only go down fifty feet to get the sand stone and shale. The permit process is still ongoing. Revealed in the public questions segment of the hearing, clay removal requires another permit that the city doesn’t have plans to get. Nor does the city own the rights to sell any gas on the property. This prevents the city from utilizing the land for marcellus shale.
The permit also requires the reclaimed land to be fit for forestation. Answering a question, this requirement would be difficult to meet if the mined land was then turned into a landfill, according to Reed..
“I don’t see anything starting by December,” said Reed concerning the end of the permitting process.
There will be a second public hearing on the matter at the November 1.
