Export Historical Society moves ahead with plans to stabilize old mine entrance

What began as a teenage Eagle Scout’s effort to clean up an overgrown hillside has become a full-scale mining operation for the Export Historical Society.

That’s an exaggeration, but not by much.

In 2018, Troy Florian’s Eagle project was clearing brush, vegetation and dirt atop an old Westmoreland Coal Co. mining entrance that was nearly buried in the hillside behind the district magistrate’s office at the upper end of Washington Avenue. When the project required some adult labor and construction equipment, they discovered that the mine entrance wasn’t exactly made safe when the coal company stopped using it.

That put a hard stop to the Export Historical Society’s original plan of stabilizing the entrance and adding a walking path and some historical signage.

“The whole face of the mine portal was open,” said society member and borough council member Melanie Litz. “It became a much bigger project and that’s when the (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection) and the Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation got involved, and of course we wanted to do it the right way.”

After a few years of working with mining consultants, the society was awarded a $139,000 DEP grant for the design engineering necessary to close the mine portal and shore up the surrounding area.

“It encompasses the full closure of the mine, stabilization of the embankment area behind the portals and defined access to the site,” Litz said. “They’re also going to design an underground storm drain to allow for controlled drainage. There’s not a lot of water in there, but it does accumulate.”

Millions of Pennsylvania homes are built atop old, abandoned mines, owing to the state’s history of coal mining.

“Pennsylvania has a nearly $5 billion need when it comes to rehabilitating abandoned mine lands and restoring streams affected by abandoned mine discharge,” said DEP Press Secretary Neil Shader. “The (DEP) offers mine subsidence insurance to cover damage caused by mine subsidence.”

The grants are part of a $5.7 million package in the DEP’s Abandoned Mine Lands and Acid Mine Drainage Grant Program.

“The bipartisan Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act will provide funds for projects like the Export mine project design so that we can ensure that homes, businesses, and waterways are protected,” Shader said.

The best part about the grant, Litz said, is that it is 100% funded and doesn’t require a match from the historical society. The grant only covers the design phase, but the historical society is hoping to keep the momentum going.

“The second phase will be submitted under a second grant application,” Litz said. “It’s consistent with the historical society’s efforts to increase historical tourism. We want to be able to preserve it and share it.”