Pennsylvania state Sen. John Yudichak (I-Luzerne/Carbon), chair of the Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee, held a hearing on the environmental and economic impact of the anthracite industry on northeastern Pennsylvania and the state’s Coal Refuse Energy and Reclamation Tax Credit.
The hearing focused on how current mine reclamation efforts and environmentally sensitive coal production is building on northeastern Pennsylvania’s economic success and may contribute to a stronger statewide economy in the future.
“In northeastern Pennsylvania, much of the commercial and industrial success you see in the I-81 corridor where nearly 25,000 jobs have been created in the last decade has occurred because thousands of acres of abandon mine land that had littered the landscapes of cities from Hazleton to Nanticoke and Wilkes-Barre to Pittston have been reclaimed by the coal refuse industry,” Yudichak said. “The work done by private coal refuse companies and non-profit environmental organizations, like the Earth Conservancy, have given new life to the economy of northeastern Pennsylvania.”
Those testifying included experts from the mining, reclamation, power-producing, and economic development industries.
“The coal refuse reclamation energy industry is proud to partner with the state and federal government and local environmental groups to clean up abandoned [mine] land sites that pollute the air and waterways throughout the Commonwealth,” said Jaret Gibbons, Executive Director, Appalachian Region Independent Power Producers. “This industry produces economic and environmental benefits that extend from rural Pennsylvania throughout the Commonwealth. The industry provides more than $600 million in economic impact largely in distressed rural communities throughout the northeast anthracite and western bituminous coal regions of the state.”
In 2019, Yudichak, along with state Sen. David Argall (R-Schuylkill/Berks), advanced expansion of the $20 million PA Coal Refuse Energy and Reclamation Tax Credit that protected more than 3,000 energy jobs, reclaimed more than 7,000 acres of abandoned mine land and restored more than 1,2000 miles of polluted streams.
“Reclamation is so much more than just aesthetics,” said Jason Kelso, general counsel for Reading Anthracite. “Our reclamation projects provide ongoing economic growth through tourism, future alternative energy projects, commercial development, and agriculture.”