DEP to close mine opening and demolish old fan building at Roaring Run Trail

The once polluted and blighted Roaring Run Trail area in Kiski Township has greened over much of its past and has become a destination for walking, biking and kayaking.

But the history of coal mining still haunts the area.

A visitor to Roaring Run a few years ago found a coal mine opening off the trail and reported it to the state Department of Environmental Protection. Since then, the DEP and members from the Roaring Run Watershed Association investigated and found other openings, which the agency will seal.

“It’s basically a safety issue,” said Ken Kaminski, president of the watershed association. “We don’t want to see anyone get stuck, hurt or lost.”

They found six openings and a “fan building” that was used to blow fresh air into the mines to make them hospitable to workers.

There were other mine openings in the past that the DEP sealed, Kaminski said. The mine was operated by the Leechburg Mining Co. and closed before 1977, said Tom Decker, a DEP spokesman.

“A person could venture into the mine, exposing themselves to dangerous mine gases and the potential to be trapped or crushed by a mine roof collapse,” he said.

There have been no incidents so far at the mine openings, which are off the trail and out of sight to trail visitors, Kaminski said.

The DEP will begin sealing the mine openings and demolish the fan building within the next month and will complete the work within six months, he said.