Good News for Duke Lake
State orders coal firm to pay for damaging state park dam
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The state Department of Environmental Protection today announced it has ordered Consol Pennsylvania Coal Co. to repair a dam that was damaged by longwall mining in Richhill Township, Greene County.
An initial report, released in February, faulted Consol for ground movements associated with operations at the company's Bailey Mine, which damaged Ryerson Station Dam and Duke Lake in the spring and summer of 2005.
The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, which oversees the dam as part of Ryerson Station State Park, filed the initial complaint.
According to a news release, the DEP ordered Consol to pay the DCNR $1,042,625 for the cost of repairing the dam and for future expenses related to completing the repair plans.
The release said Consol conducted longwall mining in two areas closest to Ryerson Station Dam that had been mined at that time. "By summer 2005, the 515-foot concrete structure sustained damage that jeopardized its integrity. Shortly thereafter, DEP determined that it was necessary to breach the dam, so DCNR removed a portion of the dam spillway in August 2005 to prevent the reservoir from refilling after heavy rains and runoff, which could have further stressed it."
Breaching the dam also drained the 62-acre Duke Lake, which the dam created.