The Department of Environmental Protection Wednesday announced it has successfully completed a $5,614,964 abandoned mine reclamation project in Houtzdale Borough, Clearfield County, which stabilized the ground beneath 154 homes to protect them from the threat of mine subsidence.

“This critically important project that required two years to complete eases the concerns homeowners had expressed about potential mine subsidence causing thousands of dollars in damage and possibly making their homes unlivable,” DEP Deputy Secretary for the Office of Active and Abandoned Mine Operations John Stefanko said.

After several mine subsidence events occurred in Houtzdale Borough, the department conducted an exploratory drilling project in October 2010, which confirmed that the area was extensively undermined and there was a high probability of continued subsidence in the area.

The project consisted of drilling about 722 boreholes and injecting a flyash/sand/cement grout into the abandoned mine void below the homes to stabilize the overburden and prevent further subsidence. The depth of the boreholes varied from 20 feet to 70 feet.

The Houtzdale reclamation work was done by Enviro Drill Inc. of Bridgeville and began in March 2012.

The project contract was awarded on a competitive basis and was funded by a grant from the federal Office of Surface Mining. The federal fund is supported by a fee on the 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.

For more information, call 717-783-2267.

7/7/2014