The state Department of Environmental Protection issued a second
surface mining permit Thursday to the Corsica-based company
foraging for coal in Shippen Township, Cameron County.

The controversial project – which DEP officials said will save
taxpayers $230,000 in reclamation costs – began nearly two years
ago and is being done in a couple phases.

Officials said the second permit is for a 206-acre site; the
current mining operation covers 58 acres along the West Branch of
the Susquehanna Watershed. The project is being undertaken by
Allegheny Enterprises Inc. of Corsica.

“Cameron County contains acres of dangerous abandoned mines and
miles of streams damaged by unregulated mining practices of the
past,” DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty said, adding the agency
“worked aggressively” to ensure the company addressed residents’
concerns about surface mining damaging the area.

McGinty said the permit – which officials said goes beyond
regulatory requirements – includes a number of conditions Allegheny
Enterprises must meet as part of its operation. Those conditions
include the incorporation of stream buffers, limiting the size of
active operations and a hike in water monitoring and testing of an
abandoned mine.

“These … conditions are the direct result of a decision-making
process that gives the public an opportunity to shape local
projects,” McGinty said.

When news of the mining first became public, county residents
and officials expressed concern over how it would effect the
environment and public safety. The DEP held a handful of meetings
to try and allay those worries, and the project was eventually
allowed to commence.

DEP officials said the permit was modified following the
agency’s May public meeting in Emporium.

According to Tom Rathbun, information specialist from the DEP,
the company has permission to mine the entire area, but is only
bonded to disturb five acres at a time.

“They are not going to dig up the entire 206 acres,” Rathbun
said, noting of that expanse, 79 acres have not previously been
mined.

Rathbun said the agency has changed the way it permits such
operations, noting companies are now required to reclaim the area
they mine. He added mining was largely unregulated by the agency
prior to 1977.

“Basically, the company works its way forward with the land and
reclaims what is behind them,” Rathbun said, adding the company is
responsible for placing the “mine spoil” back in the hole which was
dug, grade over the top of it and restore the land to its
approximate look before being disturbed.

“They look at the lay of the land, take away the cliffs and
areas prone to run-off and then establish vegetation,” Rathbun
said. “We hold onto a company’s bond for a period of time until
after the vegetation is established. They can’t just leave the area
barren.”

Rathbun said such projects are actually a “win-win” for the
state and company, adding the federal money Pennsylvania receives
to rehabilitate abandoned mines is usually poured into those areas
that are significant threats to human safety. That means, according
to Rathbun, areas with a larger population usually receive the
funding, leaving such locations as Cameron County waiting years to
reclaim its mine sites.

“This way, an operator can be brought in to reclaim the site,”
Rathbun said. “The operator gets the coal for free or at a discount
depending on where ownership lies and, in turn, they reclaim the
area for the state. If a company does it right and they work with
us, there’s a couple places across the state where they could have
all the work they’ll need for the rest of their life.”

Rathbun said Allegheny Enterprises has posted a “good compliance
record thus far,” adding the agency has inspectors travel to the
site on a regular basis to look for air and water problems, dust
and to make sure the company complies with its permit.

According to the DEP, the company will maintain a 100-foot
no-mining buffer zone around the tributaries in the headwaters of
Finley Run. The company also dropped plans to auger-mine about 13
acres of the Brookville coal seam to avoid the possibility of
leaving mine voids that could create acid mine drainage.

The permit will also force the company to strictly regulate
discharge rates from treatment ponds, require the collection of
surface run-off in sedimentation ponds and establish water-quality
testing at nearby springs and monitoring wells.

The company will also add lime to back-filled areas to eliminate
potential acid mine drainage, and must reclaim disturbed areas as
the mining progresses. Officials said the company is slated to
begin the second phase of its operation in late 2006.

Officials said the land being re-mined was abandoned in the
1960s.