Coal mine act gets backing

MERCER, Pa. -- Mercer County commissioners plan to formally support renewing of a federal act to reclaim abandoned coal mines when they meet May 25.
Jim Mondok, manager of Mercer County Conservation District, told commissioners at their Chief Clerk's meeting this week that Mercer County is not one of the more seriously affected Pennsylvania counties with abandoned mines.
Less than 1 percent of Mercer County's land -- less than 1,000 acres -- has abandoned mines. But two Mercer County creeks are affected by acid drainage from abandoned mines and some high walls, spoil piles and lakes created by the mines pose safety hazards here, he said.
He said support is being asked because the U.S. Congress may let the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund lapse. The fund imposed fees for each ton of coal or lignite mined to provide revenue to finance reclamation of land mined before 1977. He said that Mercer and McKean are the only Pennsylvania counties which have not passed resolutions supporting re-authorizing the fund.
Mercer County has been fortunate, Mondok said, because there has not been much acid discharge from abandoned mines. But he said that Fox Run and parts of the Wolf Creek watersheds have had some acid drainage. Fox Run is mostly in Jackson Township. The major part of Wolf Creek runs through Worth, Wolf Creek, Pine and Liberty townships.