PCA awards mining companies for safety, reclamation
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The Pennsylvania Coal Alliance recognized eight Pennsylvania coal companies with 14 different awards for their exemplary efforts in the field.
According to a news release from PCA, seven current sites, including Consol Energy in Washington County, were awarded the Keystone Mine Safety Award and seven former sites were recognized with the Surface Coal Mine Reclamation Award at PCA’s annual Seven Springs Banquet Wednesday.
Gov. Tom Corbett presented the awards.
The reclamation awards went to the companies who performed above and beyond the federal and state regulations which require returning coal mining sites to environmentally sound condition with productive uses.
PCA said Pennsylvania continues to be a leader in reclamation efforts. Completed at no cost to the commonwealth or its taxpayers, the award sites cover more than 500 acres of previously abandoned mine lands.
PCA’s award-winning sites were chosen in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Active and Abandoned Mine Operations using an evaluation process based on pre-mining condition, reclamation quality, landowner satisfaction and compliance with the commonwealth’s stringent environmental regulations. The fully restored sites return the land to natural habitats, forests and waterways.
Surface Coal Mine Reclamation Awards went to former Amerikohl Mining sites in Indiana, Beaver and Armstrong counties; Amfire Mining Co. sites in Clearfield and Armstrong counties; Coal Loaders, Inc. in Somerset County; and Robindale Energy Services Inc., also in Somerset County.
The Keystone Mine Safety Award recognizes companies that achieved outstanding safety records in 2013. The recipients represented a variety of mine sizes and types and achieved a nonfatal day lost rate below the national average, meaning there were no work days lost because of an accident. Many mine sites clocked in more than 100,000 man hours worked and one with 3,015,722 hours.
Recipients were Amfire Mining Co. in Clearfield County; Britt Energies Inc., Indiana County; Coal Loaders Inc., Westmoreland County; Consol Energy Corp., Washington County; PBS Coals Inc., Westmoreland County; and Rosebud Mining Co., Somerset and Beaver counties.