Sen. Musto (green jacket) and Brian Hill, PEC, (red sweater) visit demonstration site.

Members of the Joint Legislative Air Pollution Control and Conservation Committee joined staff from the Pennsylvania Environmental Council and Penn State University to tour an innovative demonstration project at an abandoned mine land reclamation project in Hegins Township in Schuylkill County.

The reclamation project represents a potential win-win-win solution for beneficial use of excess poultry manure, reclaiming abandoned minelands and growing renewable biomass energy crops.

Rep. Scott Hutchinson (R-Venango), Committee Chair, and Sen. Ray Musto (D-Luzerne) Vice-Chair, and Rep. Tim Seip (D-Berks) toured a demonstration plot that is testing different methodologies for using poultry manure as a soil additive to reclaim abandoned minelands for the cultivation of biomass crops for renewable energy production.

The current test project involves 20 small subplots that have different applications and mixtures of poultry manure, composted poultry manure, commercial fertilizer and varying amounts of pulp mill sludge from a local paper mill. The pulp mill sludge serves as a source of carbon for the reclaimed soil.

Research results from the project will hopefully demonstrate the optimum mixture of manure, mill sludge and mine spoils for growing switchgrass for biomass energy production while minimizing nutrient runoff to surface water and leaching to groundwater.

The results will also inform the design of a 30-acre demonstration project slated to begin in the summer of 2008.

PEC and Penn State will grow parallel plots of switchgrass and high diversity native grasses at an abandoned mine land site in or near Schuylkilll County. The project team will evaluate biomass production and carbon sequestration rates and the commercial viability of the methodology for reclaiming mine lands and growing biomass energy crops.

For more information, contact Scott Van de Mark, PEC, at 412-481-9400 or send email to: svandemark@pecpa.org .

Video Blog: NRCS Grant Supports Innovative Mine Reclamation Project

11/9/2007