Wednesday, August 20, 2014

State awards contract to extinguish underground mine fire near Pittsburgh International Airport (KPIT) runway

To extinguish the fire and eliminate the smoke on the left side of this image, the DEP's contractor will pour several million gallons of water and 200 gallons of firefighting foam.
 Courtesy of the DEP


The state Department of Environmental Protection today announced plans to extinguish a fire burning for several years in a coal waste pile in Findlay, just 1,000 feet from a runway at Pittsburgh International Airport.

The state agency awarded a $1.4 million contract to Earthmovers Unlimited of Kylertown, Clearfield County. Work is scheduled to begin in September and take a year to complete.

The 10-acre coal waste pile was left by an unnamed deep mine that operated from 1906 through 1939, when it was abandoned, said John Poister, a DEP spokesman. To extinguish the fire, which occasionally sends plumes of smoke into the air, the contractor will dig out the fire and use several million gallons of water and 200 gallons of firefighting foam.

The agency’s news release said the fire smoke has threatened visibility for aircraft, poses a threat to a nearby radar facility and puts at risk an underground gas pipeline in the area. The site is bounded on three sides by Route 30, Route 576 and I-376.

“It’s not a curtain of smoke or a raging fire but our biggest concern is that it continues to smolder and then jumps to a larger coal waste pile next to it,” said Mr. Poister.

Approximately 429,000 cubic yards of coal waste will be excavated and used to backfill highwall cliffs left from the mining operation. The site will be graded and planted to prevent erosion and a gravel roadway through the site will be built, the news release said.

Story and Comments: http://www.post-gazette.com

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