Ashland backs Pioneer Tunnel application for mine reclamation grant
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL FILE - The entrance to the Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine in Ashland in 2017.
ASHLAND – Borough council voted Wednesday to allow Pioneer Tunnel to apply for a grant to reclaim abandoned mine lands owned by the borough near the tourist attraction.
The tunnel wants to reclaim nine abandoned mine features, including a large pit which will need 1.9 Million cubic yards of fill material to reclaim, according to a letter read at the meeting by Ray Jones, borough manager.
The pit stretches 7,000 feet across, Jones said.
The reclamation, if approved, would be one of the largest grant-funded reclamation in mine-scarred northern Schuylkill County in years.
The vast majority of grant money awarded by state and federal agencies for mine reclamation in Pennsylvania goes to projects in western counties, despite numerous deaths on abandoned mine lands in northern Schuylkill.
When $55.6 Million in grants were awarded to fund at least 150 projects across the Commonwealth in 2018, only two were in Schuylkill County. Meanwhile, at least four people have died on abandoned mine lands since 2015 in northern Schuylkill County.
In other business, council approved motions to apply for funding to demolish 1728-30 Walnut Street and 1239 Arch Street; to purchase 932-36-38 Walnut Street, 1133-35 Walnut, 1728-30 Walnut, and 1239 Arch for demolition; and to advertise borough lots for sale.
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