HARRISBURG – State Rep. Camille “Bud” George, D-74 of Clearfield County, announced today that 11 acres of abandoned mines in Woodward Township will be reclaimed at no cost to taxpayers.
The state Department of Environmental Protection’s Moshannon District Office awarded the no-cost contract to Finney Enterprises of Osceola Mills to reclaim severely subsided and abandoned deep mines located southwest of Brisbin.
The site, known as the Pacific Operation, will be re-graded close to original contours. Waste lime will be applied to the pit floor at roughly 50 tons an acre to treat acidic conditions affecting two tributaries to Moshannon Creek, which is the fifth largest tributary to the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.
The work is valued at $132,000, and Finney Enterprises will recover about 21,000 tons of remaining coal from the site. Blasting and reprocessing at the site is prohibited.
The DEP said that the lands were formerly mined by William Flango in the late 1950s.