HARRISBURG – State Rep. Camille “Bud” George, D-74 of Clearfield County said a coal mine in Bradford Township abandoned more than 60 years ago will be reclaimed by a Clearfield company at no cost to taxpayers.
“The 18.8-acre Woolridge Coal Company site was last mined in the 1940s and was left with mine spoil and 2,500 feet of dangerous highwall,” George said. “Swisher Contracting will reclaim the site – work valued at $112,800 – and regrade it to original contours.”
As part of the contract awarded by the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Moshannon District Office, Swisher Contracting will recover 18,500 tons of coal from the site, located about a half mile southeast of the Woodland Interchange of Interstate 80.
Blasting is permitted, but reprocessing of coal at the site is not. Swisher Contracting also will apply more than 9,800 tons of lime to the 5.4-acre extraction site, which is in the Upper West Branch watershed.