The Department of Environmental Protection Tuesday announced its Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation has received the 2013 Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative Pennsylvania State Award for an abandoned mine project in Farmington Township, Clarion County.

The project consisted of grading material into a pit in order to return the surface to its original contour, draining and removing two water impoundments and eliminating 3,500 linear feet of hazardous high walls. The reclamation will provide cover and habitat for wildlife and a safe place of for local residents to visit while enjoying the outdoors.

The total project covered 25.3 acres, with 5,381 newly planted trees covering 12.3 acres. Federally funded through the Office of Surface Mine Reclamation and Enforcement, the total cost of the project was $367,480. Reclamation was completed May 13, 2013.

ARRI is a coalition of citizens, members of the coal industry and government agencies dedicated to restoring forests on coal mined lands in the Eastern United States.

ARRI Excellence in Reforestation Awards are presented each year to honor active and abandoned coal mine reclamation operations from every state in the Appalachian Region that best exemplify the use of the Forestry Reclamation Approach in conducting reclamation operations. Highly productive forestland can be created using FRA by planting trees on reclaimed coal mined lands.

The project was designed and inspected by DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation staff in Cambria. The area was reclaimed by Gralan Corporation of West Port Ann, New York.

5/19/2014