Residents protest river cleanup
Posted on Wednesday, 03 June 2009 (17:58:03) CDT by admin
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Project will remove iron oxide from the mine water draining into the Lackawanna River.
RALPH NARDONE Times Leader Correspondent
DURYEA – Borough officials thought Friday’s meeting would involve taking a few minutes to authorize some bills.
But just before adjourning, council members were forced to respond to several protests from taxpayers who questioned council’s authority to proceed with a Lackawanna River cleanup project.
Council Chairman Alfred Akulonis fielded accusations from two former council members who claimed the borough moved ahead on a $790,000 mine water reclamation project without giving the public any say. Akulonis denied any breaches of proper procedure.
Audrey Marcinko, a former council member poised to retake a seat on council next year due to her win in the recent primary, admonished Akulonis for authorizing the project without doing the necessary research on its value to the community.
The project, funded by gambling grant money from the state Department of Community and Economic Development, will remove iron oxide from the mine water draining into the Lackawanna River from a bore hole in Old Forge, according to Akulonis.
Marcinko accused council of using grant money that could have been used for city streets and sidewalks for a project she called an “experiment.”
She said the value for the iron oxide has not been determined.
Akulonis pointed out the grant for the river project did not hinder acquiring sidewalk grants. They were two separate grant applications, he said, and the state decided “the river is more important.”
Akulonis accused Marcinko of not supporting cleaning up the river.
“You don’t want the water clean,” he said.
She fired back she has proven her support for river cleanup for years.
Akulonis said after the meeting the iron oxide taken from the river could be sold for up to $1 million annually. It is used in all types of wood-staining products, he said.
At the June 9 meeting, the borough will have a public hearing concerning the iron oxide removal.
Within six weeks, a trailer with equipment will be set up somewhere downriver from the Old Forge borehole to start testing the water to determine if it represents a good source of iron oxide. Akulonis said he is confident it is.
In other discussions, former council member Don MacRae questioned the council on the $27,000 authorized for a new park behind the borough building. Akulonis said the money was from another state grant and is not a cost to the borough.
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