WESTERN PA. State agency seeks maps of old coal mines

Dozens of old underground coal mines are scattered across both counties.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is looking for maps of old underground coal mines in Mercer and Lawrence counties.
It's part of the state's effort to develop a database of mines across the Commonwealth to provide an accurate recording of where such mines are located.
Although mining is no longer the big industry it once was in Mercer and Lawrence counties, the state still wants to know where the old mines can be found.
The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration recently awarded Pennsylvania a $1 million grant to boost the work of mapping underground mines.
The goal is to prevent accidents like the one last year at the Quecreek mine when miners accidentally dug into the wall of a flooded, abandoned mine that an outdated map showed should have been hundreds of feet away.
The miners were trapped by water rushing from the abandoned mine, but were later rescued.
Dozens in two counties
Underground mining was a big industry in Mercer and Lawrence counties in the mid-to-late-1800s and there are literally dozens of underground mines scattered across both counties, some in residential areas.
For example, part of Sharon High School and its Tiger Stadium are over an old mine, and nearby streets have experienced cases of mine subsidence over the years.
"We're looking at maps wherever we can get them," said DEP spokesman Carl Lasher.
The federal money is being used to help create a digital image base of all the maps in the DEP's possession.
A check of the agency's Web site shows that it has only a handful of Mercer and Lawrence county mines in its registry so far, and most of those are from the early-to-mid-1900s.
The DEP is working with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to build a repository for all mine maps.
Many such maps are now in the hands of private individuals, and the state would like to see them, Lasher said.
They can be scanned and returned to the owner or the information on a map can be recorded for use in the repository, he said.
Anyone with maps should contact the DEP's Bureau of Deep Mine Safety at (724) 439-7469 to arrange to have them copied.