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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Gary Haluska |
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Haluska announces mine reclamation work to begin in Barr Township
HARRISBURG, Nov. 10 – State Rep. Gary Haluska, D-Cambria, announced today that an $11.12 million contract has been awarded to HRI Inc. to begin cleaning up abandoned mine land in Barr Township.
The contract was awarded by the state Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Mine Reclamation using funding from the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
Haluska said the project being undertaken by HRI Inc. will reclaim 11.3 acres of abandoned mine land and construct a passive mine drainage treatment system to treat the 7.5 million gallons of water discharged per day from the abandoned Lancashire No. 15 mine into the West Branch Susquehanna Watershed.
Estimated completion date for the project is June 2011.
"Reclaiming these abandoned mines and cleaning up the water supplies they contaminate are important for a number of reasons," Haluska said. "First, it helps restore the environment and aquatic life, but it also reduces health and safety risks for people. Many times, these abandoned sites become prime locations for trespassing and dumping trash. These projects help eliminate that by giving the land back to nature or putting it to future productive use."
Haluska said Pennsylvania has about 180,000 acres of abandoned mine lands dating back to the 1700s, when coal mining began in Pennsylvania. More than 2 billion tons of waste coal remain in Pennsylvania, while 5,500 miles of the state's rivers and streams are degraded by mine drainage.
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