HARRISBURG – Gov. Tom Wolf on 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 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.
First authorized by Congress under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116-94) the funds are to be used “to accelerate the remediation of AML sites with economic and community development end uses.” This is the fifth year Pennsylvania has received funding from the AMLER Program.
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell was joined by Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to announce the investment at an abandoned mine in Luzerne County Monday.
“This program demonstrates that investments in environmental cleanup can have strong economic benefits to communities, creating new opportunities for recreation, land reuse and clean energy development,” said McDonnell.
“There has been $130 million invested into projects like these in partnership with local governments, other state agencies and private companies and these investments are paying dividends for the communities and environment of Pennsylvania.”
The Federal Office of Surface Mine Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) recently approved a local project.
Clearfield County:
Thompsontown
Reprocessing approximately 140,000 tons of high British Thermal Unit (BTU) coal refuse from a 10-acre 240,000-ton abandoned coal refuse pile. The high BTU material will be used at a local co-generation facility.
The remaining low BTU value refuse will be regraded on site to eliminate the health and safety hazards and to improve the watershed environment.
A DEP-approved alkaline material will be added to neutralize acidity and re-establish vegetation. The current condition of the refuse pile is unstable and erodes acidic sediment into Wilson Run causing significant AMD.
The watershed improvement will enable a local fishery to expand and improve its current operation that has been negatively impacted by the adjacent acidic refuse pile.
The primary project partners are the Thompsontown Cooperative Trout Nursery and the property owner of the AML site.