The Department of Environmental Protection Wednesday awarded Minichi, Inc. of Dupont, Luzerne County, two contracts totaling more than $3 million for work on abandoned mine reclamation projects in Hanover Township and the city of Pittston.

The $2,488,175 project in Pittston is designed to control mine subsidence by drilling 53 exploratory boreholes throughout the city and injecting flowable fill and cellular concrete fill to stabilize 58-acres in a residential neighborhood.

In the past decade, the Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation has investigated more than 150 cases of subsidence near homes along Mill Street in this part of the city. Most of the subsidence cases are due to the voids left behind as a result of past underground mining of various coal seams. Work on this project should be completed in summer 2014.

“These collapses manifest themselves at the surface in any number of ways, from shallow depressions in lawns or roadways to openings in the ground of varying diameter and depth,” Mike Korb, Manager of the BAMR District Office in Wilkes-Barre said. “The larger surface expressions of subsidence present a hazard to residents and cause damage to roadways, sidewalks, utilities, swimming pools and even to the foundations of homes or businesses.”

Work in the Lee Park Section of Hanover Township will involve drilling five new boreholes near the intersection of the San Souci Highway and St. Mary’s Road in Hanover Township, Luzerne County, and backfilling two boreholes that have collapsed.

This site was part of a mitigation project constructed in the early 1970s to maintain mine water elevations, prevent flooding in the lowland areas of the valley, and minimize subsidence in Nanticoke, Wilkes-Barre, Plains Township, and the surrounding areas.

New work at this location totals $729,000 and should be completed by spring 2014.

Both projects are funded by the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Trust Fund, which is supported by a fee on the modern coal industry.

For more information, call 570-826-2511.

NewsClip: DEP Funds 2 Mine Reclamation Projects In Luzerne

11/4/2013