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Mittal Steel and PA DEP Work Out Reclamation Plan for Former Mine Site

05/16/2005 - Mittal Steel USA has worked out a conceptual reclamation plan with the Pennsylvania DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation (BAMR) for an abandoned vertical mine refuse area at the company’s property near Bentleyville, Pa.

Mittal Steel USA has worked out a conceptual reclamation plan with the Pennsylvania DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation (BAMR) for an abandoned vertical mine refuse area at the company’s property near Bentleyville, Pa.

DEP's Stay Out! Stay Alive! program instructs residents to stay out of old mines, mine refuse sites and quarries because of the potential dangers that those sites present. In recent years, more people have died on abandoned mine sites than on active mine jobs.

The increased popularity of off-road recreation has brought more people in contact with abandoned mines. Many accidents are a result of loss of control in unfamiliar surroundings, leading to overturns and rollovers when riders encounter a hole or change in terrain. ATV riders also sometimes break through brush on the crest of an old mine site and roll down a hillside.

The goal of DEP's Stay Out! Stay Alive! program is to inform the public, particularly young people, about the dangers of abandoned and active mines. DEP visits schools and community groups to discuss the environmental and public health hazards.

Two all-terrain-vehicles (ATV) riders were killed at the site last week. Mittal Steel reported that it has had problems keeping people off the old refuse site, which is adjacent to the former Ellsworth Mine, and has taken repeated action to keep trespassers away. Following the accident, Mittal Steel erected a bright orange fence on its property near the vertical slope to Pigeon Creek in an effort to keep potential trespassers from going over the edge of the cliff.

Mittal Steel expects to submit the written reclamation plan, which will include a soil and erosion control component, to DEP within the next two weeks, and the department will expedite its review. Mittal Steel hopes to eliminate the dangerous land feature and complete re-grading and re-vegetation of the area this summer.

Reclamation costs could be around $1 million.