Avondale Hill reclamation project nearly done
Posted on Monday, 23 February 2009 (14:43:30) CST by admin
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BY ELIZABETH SKRAPITS STAFF WRITER
Published: Monday, February 16, 2009 4:06 AM EST
Although the project is running behind schedule, the formerly trash-strewn pit on Avondale Hill in Plymouth Township is almost filled in and 136 acres of mine-scarred land have been cleared in a swath visible from the South Cross Valley Expressway.
The non-profit Earth Conservancy, which owns the land, would like it to be used for housing at some point.
"We have plans that area could be used for a residential kind of development," Earth Conservancy Executive Director Mike Dziak said. "There certainly are no immediate plans. With the market conditions and the timing, that could be years."
The key part of the project was filling in the 200-foot deep strip-mining hole, said Mike Korb of the state Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation.
"The pit pretty much is not there anymore. We left a small portion of it open for drainage," said Tony Popple, vice president of Napcon, the company contracted to do the work.
It took about 5,134,800 cubic yards of material to fill the pit; there were 112,400 cubic yards of rock to excavate, and 136 acres' worth of trees to be removed, he said.
"To be able to do the grading on the material, you have to take the trees off," Korb said.
After the pit is completely filled in, Napcon will put in large drainage swales to control stormwater. Seventeen thousand square yards of rock will prevent erosion as the water runs down, Popple said. Since it drains toward state Route 11, it requires installation of a concrete-lined channel that runs under the road and into the Susquehanna River, he said.
The last step of the project will be to seed the entire area with grass and trees, "put in a mix of the kinds of plants animals like to eat," Popple said. A gravel road will be put in from one end of the project to the other, he said.
The Avondale pit was a souvenir of coal strip-mining from the 1940s. Over the years it became a notorious illegal dump site, especially for used tires and large items. A tire fire in the pit in November 2001 rekindled concern about it being a health and safety hazard.
The Earth Conservancy had been trying to do something about the pit for years. In 1995, the organization proposed filling it with tons of fly ash that would be imported from around the country. It didn't fly.
After convincing the Department of Environmental Protection the Avondale reclamation project was worthwhile, the Earth Conservancy ended up getting a $3.9 million federal abandoned mine land grant, administered through DEP.
Groundbreaking for the project was in September 2004. Completion, originally slated for October 2007, was moved to October 2008.
The safety issues at the Avondale site are remedied, but the rest of the project has fallen behind, DEP spokesman Mark Carmon said.
"The job still has some time to go. Our estimate is that we're about 60 percent completed. We really don't have an idea of a completion date," Korb said.
Popple blames the delay on fuel prices. Off-road vehicle fuel is a bit less expensive than regular diesel fuel because no road taxes are imposed on it, Popple said.
When Napcon bid for the project, off-road fuel was $1 gallon, Popple said. It shot up to almost $4 a gallon and, even though it has gone down to $2 a gallon, that's still double what the contractor expected, he said.
Not only is Napcon paying the higher fuel prices out of pocket, but the company is being penalized $950 a day for going over the deadline, Popple said.
"They don't have any problem with the quality of our work, but we can only afford to do what we can with the fuel, then they hinder us with the penalty," he said.
Asked for comment from DEP, Carmon said, "We're in litigation with this contractor, so all we can say is that he fell behind on the contract and wasn't even considered for other projects because of his past problems."
[email protected], 570-821-2072
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