West Mahanoy zoners approve new coal breaker
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Bobby Burns, left, owner of Keystone Anthracite, shows members of the public and the West Mahanoy Township Zoning Hearing Board a map of the planned coal preparation plant.
SHENANDOAH HEIGHTS – The West Mahanoy Township Zoning Hearing Board approved a new coal breaker on Girard Estate land southwest of William Penn.
The approval came at a hearing Thursday afternoon at the West Mahanoy Township Municipal Building.
Keystone Anthracite, of Girardville, sought approval under the township’s zoning ordinance, which requires a special exception for structures in a mining district.
Bobby Burns, president of Keystone, and Lloyd Hampton, attorney for Keystone, were both present at the hearing, as were five residents of the township.
The company sought permission to build a new processing plant on Girard Estate land which they lease for mining.
According to maps presented at the meeting, the plant would be a quarter mile north of Main Street in Gilberton borough, about a half mile south of William Penn, and 1.25 miles west of the North Schuylkill Transfer Station.
“I’ve been out there several times, it’s out in the middle of nowhere,” Hampton said.
Hampton says access to the plant will be via the Gold Star Highway. Burns said run-of-mine coal would be brought to the plant via haul roads from adjacent mines, not via state highways.
Hampton also said the haul road is wide enough to accommodate emergency services.
The building, as planned, would be 77 feet tall with an elevator. The township ordinance requires an elevator for any structure taller than 35 feet.
Township Engineer Bill McMullen asked about the purpose of the elevator.
Burns said it would be a cargo elevator, and McMullen asked if personnel could also be carried.
“It’s for parts. Parts and equipment for inside the plant,” Burns said. “There’s a lot of stuff people can’t carry upstairs, so you need something like that to get the heavier parts up.”
“The reason I ask that is because the ordinance says that its 35-feet for an at-grade or 70 feet for an elevatored structure,” McMullen said. “Which would imply that an elevatored structure would take people up and down.”
“So again, for the record, if I was at the facility, and I wanted to ride the elevator, would I be able to ride the elevator,” zoning board solicitor Robert Matta asked.
“You’d probably be able to get on it and ride it, but safety-wise, I wouldn’t want anybody to ride it,” Burns answered.
McMullen suggested an amendment to the zoning application to request a variance for the elevator requirement, which was then requested by Keystone.
Zoning board chair Charles Lawson also requested that the fire department be provided with a tour of the facility in case of an emergency.
The zoning board approved the application with that as a condition.
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