Senator announces $245M coming to Pennsylvania for abandoned mine reclamation
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL FILE - The abandoned 'Shen Penn' strip mine is seen in 2023.
HARRISBURG – Just over $245 Million is coming to Pennsylvania to help clean up abandoned mine lands in the Keystone State, U.S. Senator Bob Casey announced Friday.
The funding is the third round from the U.S. Department of the Interior as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“I have long fought to help Pennsylvania’s coal communities overcome the legacy of abandoned mine pollution, which has ravaged landscapes, damaged property, and threatened the health of far too many Pennsylvanians,” Casey said. “Thanks to the infrastructure law, we can continue cleaning up this land, create good-paying jobs and boost our Commonwealth’s economy. These communities built and powered our Nation for decades and I will keep working to ensure that they are not left behind.”
The funding, Casey’s office says, are intended to help reclaim abandoned mine lands and mitigate health hazards and environmental pollution.
Such lands cover much of the landscape in the Shenandoah and Mahanoy Valleys and have claimed numerous lives over the years, including a Shenandoah Valley High School student in 2015.
In total, $735 Million for abandoned mine reclamation has come to Pennsylvania from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Though abandoned mine lands acutely impact the Shenandoah area and multiple sites — including the abandoned, water-filled strip mines ‘Shen Penn’ near Shenandoah and ‘A-Hole’ near Girardville — have killed multiple residents, the Commonwealth historically disburses the funds elsewhere.
The federal government provides the funding to the state, which is then used by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which spends the vast majority of the funds west of the Susquehanna and virtually none in northern Schuylkill County.
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