HANOVER TWP. — U.S. Sen. Bob Casey said Pennsylvania has more abandoned coal mine lands than most states, as he announced federal funding for reclaiming and restoring land impacted by coal mining in Luzerne County on Monday.
“So I don’t have to tell you what projects like this mean to this area,” said Casey, D-Scranton. “As you look around, you can see quite a view here.”
Casey was in Hanover Township on Monday to announce federal funding for the Nanticoke Creek restoration project, which will reclaim and restore land impacted by coal mining in Luzerne County.
“The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will provide $1,354,600 for the Nanticoke Creek restoration project,” Casey said. “This new funding follows the $244 million Pennsylvania has already received from the infrastructure law.”
Casey said Pennsylvania has already received $270 million for abandoned mine land cleanup, including $244 million from the Casey-backed infrastructure law.
Terence J. Ostrowski, president/CEO at Earth Conservancy, and Elizabeth W. Hughes, director of communications, explained the scope of the Nanticoke Creek restoration project at a news conference.
The Nanticoke Creek watershed, located in the City of Nanticoke, Hanover and Newport townships, and Warrior Run Borough, is a sub-watershed of the Susquehanna River Basin. Earth Conservancy has worked with consultants and agencies to develop a comprehensive plan to restore the historic alignment of the upper portions of the Nanticoke Creek.
Ostrowski and Hughes said the work will start near Clarks Cross Road and move upstream, addressing impairments on the main stem and both tributaries — the Upper Nanticoke and Leuder Creeks. Nearly 15,000 linear feet of permanent stream and floodway improvements are planned.
General activities will involve grading, channel lining and stabilization, reconstruction using natural channel design, and planting of a riparian buffer. Specifically, restoration activities will include:
Nanticoke Creek – Main Stem
• A new alignment for Nanticoke Creek at Clarks Cross Road.
• A new water conveyance structure at South Main Street.
Leuder Creek
• A new culvert at Hanover Street.
• Removal of Leuder Creek dam.
• Replacement of reservoir with natural channel and shallow overflow ponds.
• Replacement of buried culvert and deteriorated bridge with a new culvert.
Nanticoke Creek – Upper Reach
• Replacement of culvert on Hanover Street.
• Elimination of existing obstruction and replacement with an open channel.
• Removal of bridge and stone arch from the path of the stream.
• Re-establishment of the channel based on historic alignment to reconnect upper and lower watersheds.
• Buried railroad tunnel to be reopened and lined with a smaller culvert.
• Restoration of deteriorated masonry arch with slip lining.
Ostrowski said the project will take three to five years to complete.
Casey said Pennsylvania will receive $244 million this year in funding for abandoned mine land cleanup as a result of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. He said the funding will create good-paying jobs in rural and energy communities in Pennsylvania, while reclaiming abandoned mine lands and addressing the hazards and environmental pollution posed by legacy mining sites.
Senator Casey stated that Pennsylvania's coal industry played a crucial role in powering the nation for many years. However, now these communities are suffering from the effects of abandoned mine land pollution, including damaged landscapes, property, and health. He believes that the urgent needs of these blighted communities have been ignored for too long.
Casey mentioned that the funding marks the beginning of the benefits that the infrastructure law will bring to Pennsylvania communities. It will address important issues such as abandoned mine land and water reclamation projects, pollution cleanup, job creation, and the enhancement of Pennsylvanians' quality of life.
Casey expressed his determination to continue advocating for infrastructure investments for Pennsylvania and to ensure that efforts are made to address acid mine drainage, allowing all Pennsylvania families to have access to clean water.
Given that Pennsylvania is one of the largest coal producing states in the country, Casey highlighted the disproportionate impact of abandoned mine lands and environmental effects on the state. He noted that one-third of the nation’s abandoned mine land is in Pennsylvania, as tracked by the Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Abandoned Mine Land Inventory System. Additionally, Casey stated that 1.4 million Pennsylvanians live within one mile of an abandoned mine.
Concern for native brook trout
Bobby Hughes, the executive director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, mentioned that the stream exhibits healthy baseflow in its upper sections and good ecological health. However, he noted that flow becomes intermittent or ceases, as the landscape is highly uneven due to mine spoils, closed depressions, and other disturbances.
Hughes pointed out specific issues, such as a large pile of mine refuse near Hanover Street, which obstructs downstream flow, as well as instances where flow is lost to subsurface mine voids, resulting in acid mine runoff and drainage.
Hughes also highlighted a concern related to native brook trout. He mentioned that upstream on Nanticoke Creek, residents have observed native brook trout in the headwaters.
Hughes described the stream ecology as healthy, with an abundance of macro invertebrates, both under and on the rocks, and in the leaf litter and woody debris to support trout. He also emphasized that the water is cold and well-oxygenated due to cascades over waterfalls and step-pools in the stream near the flank of the Valley just below Tomko Avenue.
Hughes explained that when the clean water flows downstream, during lower flows throughout the years, there is usually a “losing reach” of stream due to the previous mining activities below the ground. He mentioned that the water is then lost and percolates down into the underground mine workings and a mine pool, allowing the water to interact with pyrite and other minerals that form abandoned mine drainage (AMD).
Below this area, Hughes explained that the channel is typically dry unless there is a storm event that pushes the clean water downstream even further over the loss point temporarily, until it reaches an abandoned stripping pit and ponded area of waste culm and silts, where the water then percolates again into the ground that is fractured and highly permeable, leading to the loss of water to the underground mines beneath the former Truesdale Colliery.
The person named Hughes mentioned that by fixing the stream and removing the waste culm, they can reconnect the stream to the other side of the pile through the Nanticoke Creek Restoration effort led by Earth Conservancy. This will help the stream to become connected again and allow fish and aquatic insects to move downstream in the Nanticoke Creek. It will also stop the water from entering the underground mine pools. This is known as aquatic connectivity. They also hope that millions of gallons of water will not go to the Askam AMD Borehole along Dundee Road to become AMD, and it will stay on the surface in the newly designed stream channel.
