KNOX, Pa. (EYT) — Forty concerned property owners gathered recently at DEP offices in Knox for an informal conference concerning an application for approval of plans to conduct limestone mining on a 232.5 acre tract of land in Richland Township and the Chestnut Ridge area by Amerikohl Aggregate, Inc. of Butler..
(The meeting was reported in a story last week in The Progress News written by Dave Staab. Photo by Dave Staab: Melanie Williams, DEP Community Relations Coordinator moderates landowner conference. Thank you to The Progress News for permission to use their information and photo.)
The conference was part of the process necessary for approval on the non-coal mine about the land affected by permit application no. 16150302 if approved. Several of the 40 landowners present voiced their questions and concerns about the project and did not want to see the permit approved.
After a summary statement of the project by Knox DEP District Mining Manager Joe Ferrara, the conference was conducted by DEP Community Relations Coordinator Melanie Williams who allowed each person present no more than 10 minutes to speak their minds and ask questions. If a question could not be answered, written answers would be provided after the February 10th deadline for written questions by landowners to the DEP.
First to speak was Amerikohl President and CEO John Stilley who pled the case for AmeriKohl’s permit acceptance. Some of his comments included that his company would be a good neighbor to the landowners. He cited their 85 reclamation awards over the past 50 to 60 mines for which they were responsible. He also expressed their desire to keep their employees working with good jobs and welcomed a review of their mining records. If approved, he said that the mining would not begin for another three to four years.
John Saugrich of Amerikohl spoke about the mining operations that would need to take place. The depth of the mine could go as deep as 95 feet in at least 59 acres. Homes within 1000 feet of the blasting areas would receive blast testing prior to any blasting, and, if approved, mining would begin near Jones Road and the land would be restored to forest land as it is now.
Despite Amerikohl’s best efforts to alleviate doubts, landowners had serious questions and concerns about the mining operation. On the top of the list were water wells, dust pollution, run-off into nearby streams, and road conditions. Some homes, with children, are within three feet of the road where these dump trucks will be passing in and out. Some asked how well the roads would be maintained for easy access for emergency vehicles.
Amerikohl’s responded that they would maintain the road or reconfigure the road to maintain safety and dampen roads and areas when dust became a problem. However, DEP did not offer any way in which the dust levels would be monitored to warn Amerikohl that the dust needed to be minimized or reduced. DEP received the question in writing, and landowners had hoped they would receive written answers.
LeRoy Best and Marty Sanders presented a couple of unanswered questions. Best pointed out that the Richland Township area was a “Key Conservation Area” in Clarion County and questioned how a mining operation could even be considered on Chestnut Ridge. He also asked if this was approved, could Amerikohl shift hours of operation from starting at 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.
One of the more eye opening statements during the conference was the accusation by a landowner Sanders who had first-hand knowledge of a wetland area being disturbed on his property. He said an employee of Amerikohl contacted him, so he could bring in an excavator to drain a pond and remove the wetland. He said that the employee did not want to have any problems with DEP over the wetland being there.
Neither DEP nor Amerikohl commented on the allegation. The landowner is hoping for a response from the DEP after the February 10 deadline, since he also gave them the written question in advance.
Another distraught landowner, Mike McDonald, was upset at the prospect of losing or damages to his spring water. He was also upset that the landowners were not properly notified of the request for the mining permit in the first place and that he only learned about it through an article in The Progress News.
Williams responded saying that a legal notice was published in The Clarion News. McDonald was still upset because 90 percent of the landowners in the area, if any, get The Clarion News and that their effort to notify land and property owners was inadequate, according to The Progress News story.
DEP noted again at the end of the meeting/conference that written questions would to be accepted until 4:00 p.m. on February 10. They can be dropped off or mailed to the DEP Knox District Office at 310 Best Avenue, Knox, PA 16232.
