The Department of Environmental Protection Monday announced it has awarded a $789,995 contract for the Beauty Camp Far West abandoned mine reclamation project in Burnside and Snow Shoe townships, Centre County, and a $105,583 contract for the Owens Cemetery project in Clearfield Borough, Clearfield County.

“These two projects are excellent examples of how DEP’s aggressive mine reclamation program is successfully reclaiming abandoned mine sites and eliminating harmful acid mine drainage, protecting private homeowners and restoring land to enhance recreational activities,” DEP Deputy Secretary for the Office of Active and Abandoned Mine Operations John Stefanko said.

The Beauty Camp Far West project will reclaim 53 acres of abandoned mine land, which includes an illegal waste dump. The reclamation work will include removing 20 tons of solid waste along with grading, drain installation, seeding and the planting of 5,600 trees. The rural site is located within State Game Lands 100 and has heavy site visitation for hunting and other recreational purposes.

The Owens Cemetery project will collect acid mine drainage currently entering residences along Fifth Street in Clearfield Borough in order to abate the hazard of a landslide. In conjunction with this project, a residence, garage, shed and retaining wall will be removed and backfilled with stone aggregate. A subsurface drain also will be installed. There are seven homes inside of or within 50 feet of the Owens Cemetery project work area and a total of 225 homes within 500 linear feet of the project.

The Beauty Camp Far West reclamation work will be done by Morgan’s Excavating LLC of Mount Union and will be completed by spring 2015. The Owens Cemetery reclamation work will be done by H&R Excavating Inc. of State College, and will be completed by the end of 2014.

Both contracts were awarded on a competitive basis and are being 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