DUBOIS – Corbet Construction was approved for shale mining and excavating at its property near Platt and Sher De Lin roads during Monday night’s Sandy Township Supervisors meeting.
Prior to the approval, the supervisors conducted a public hearing during which Dan Corbet of Corbet Construction testified about his intentions to mine shale from an existing, but inactive, shale pit on his property. He said the shale would mostly be used on the property, which would not require any permits. He is completing the process in case he decides to sell shale in the future.
He said the shale pit doesn’t have any electricity. He didn’t have any objections to having his operation limited to only the day-time hours. Initially, he said shale would be trucked out through Sher De Lin Road, but that would require bonding the road through PennDOT.
Corbet said the long-term plan would be to construct an internal road to an existing route to Platt Road. He also stated that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) had approved his permits contingent on Lawrence Township’s approval. He did not get the permit for blasting.
The supervisors said the pit is in an industrial zone and could be approved with a conditional use. They said current ordinances limit the operation from being 100 feet from the property line, 300 feet from certain buildings, such as schools and hospitals, and 1,000 feet from water wells. They said extra conditions would be applicable here, so that the mining could only occur between dawn and dusk and from Monday through Saturday.
The four supervisors who were present voted to approve the mining operation so long as Corbet met the aforementioned conditions. Supervisor Brady LaBorde was excused from the meeting.
