The Department of Environmental Protection Monday announced it has awarded a $12,181,873 contract for the Huling Branch abandoned mine reclamation project on Sproul State Forest property in Leidy and Noyes townships, Clinton County.

The approximately 100-acre project will eliminate public health and safety concerns related to dangerous highwalls and reduce acid mine drainage.  It is one of the largest mine reclamation projects undertaken by DEP in recent years.

The Huling Branch work includes the backfilling of about 6,000 linear feet of dangerous highwall that is 40 to 70 feet high, and one adjacent spoil area. The spoil material will be graded into the pits to return the surface mine site to its original contour.

The project will use more than $756,000 in Growing Greener funding to implement a source remediation plan aimed at reducing acid mine drainage pollution originating from the site. The money will be used to purchase 370,000 tons of alkaline material to neutralize highly acidic mine spoil, including about 15,000 tons of coal refuse material improperly placed within pit areas throughout the site.

In addition, about 137,000 tons of crop coal around the perimeter of the reclamation area will be removed, along with 17,500 tons of buried coal refuse along sections of the existing highwall.

“The project area is part of a designated ATV trail administered by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Bureau of Forestry,” DEP Deputy Secretary for Active and Abandoned Mine Operations John Stefanko said. “The highwalls are a dangerous hazard to these riders and other forest visitors, and DEP clearly understands the need for their removal.”

The project will reconstruct about 8,500 feet of recreational trails, which are part of the Bureau of Forestry’s Whiskey Springs ATV trail system. About 54 acres will be re-vegetated with 48,150 tree seedlings utilizing the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative. An additional 47 acres will be re-vegetated with wildlife habitat grasses.

“Preliminary plans call for the western half of the Whiskey Springs ATV trail to remain open, but in a diminished capacity for the length of the remediation project,” said DCNR Acting Secretary Ellen Ferretti. “We will be coordinating closely with DEP and the contractor before start of construction to address shortened future riding seasons, and trail, state forest road and parking lot closures.”

One of 11 ATV trails on state forest lands across the state, Whiskey Springs stretches 45 miles through Sproul State Forest, beginning near Westport, Clinton County. The 305,450-acre forest also is home to the nearby 39-mile Bloody Skillet ATV Trail.

“As Huling Branch construction intensifies, the safety of all will be paramount and the bid to lessen ATV-heavy truck and equipment traffic conflicts will be pronounced,” Ferretti said. “For instance, access and parking for trailered ATVs will be severely limited.

 “For these reasons, we foresee Whiskey Springs evolving as a ‘local use’ trail, with the nearby Bloody Skillet ATV Trail emerging as the alternative for riding. ATV enthusiasts -- particularly those traveling long distances and trailering machines -- will find much more satisfying experiences on the Bloody Skillet ATV Trail than at Whiskey Springs for the next several years.”

The acting secretary noted future trail inactivity will better enable the Bureau of Forestry to complete much needed trail rehabilitation work, such as improved erosion and sedimentation controls and trail surface restoration.  The summer riding season will end on July 30, 2014 and 2015 in order to address these enhancements.

The reclamation work, which will be done by L.R. Costanzo Co. Inc. of Scranton, will begin around September 4 and be completed by September 3, 2015.

The contract was awarded on a competitive basis and is being paid for out of grants from the federal Office of Surface Mining in addition to state Growing Greener money. The federal fund is supported by a fee on the modern coal industry and is distributed to states as annual grants to reclaim mine sites that were abandoned prior to passage of the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.

The contract requires that any revenue generated from the recovery of crop coal be credited toward the overall project cost.

For more information, visit DEP at 717-783-2267.

9/9/2013