The Department of Environmental Protection is assisting Indian Creek Valley Water Authority by partially funding a project that will extend a public waterline to 10 residents who live along Mt. Tabor and Hawkins Hollow roads in Springfield Township.

Groundwater that supplies private wells used by those residents has been greatly diminished by underground and surface mining in the area. Underground mining largely ended in the 1950s, while surface mining came to a halt when the Dunn and Copetas Mining Company abandoned their site in 1981, forfeiting reclamation bonds.

Faced with the loss of their well water, residents petitioned ICVWA to extend a nearby waterline to their homes.

The Mountain Watershed Association, Springfield Township and the ICVWA Municipal Authority asked DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation to help fund an extension of public water to the affected homes. DEP’s grant comes from a federal abandoned mine lands fund, which is supported by fees on every ton of coal mined in the state.

“This project is an example of how the fund can be effectively used to help improve quality of life for people impacted by long-abandoned coal mines,” said Dean Baker, Environmental Program Manager for the Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation’s Ebensburg office.

The ICVWA obtained a Community Development Block Grant to cover some of the cost. The DEP grant will cover the remainder.

For more information, call 412-442-4000.

9/30/2013