Mar 2, 2013 4 min read

A look at some of the headlines gracing the pages of the Observer-Reporter and Waynesburg Republican this week in Greene County history:

Residents seek aid addressing impacts from coal mining

WAYNESBURG – A small group of western Greene County residents asked the Greene County Planning Commission Monday to take a leadership role to address impacts associated with mine expansions and increased oil and natural gas drilling.

“The county is at a turning point,” Center Township resident James Butler said. “If things go as they have been going, there will be irreparable damage to our viewscapes and to our quality of living.”

Butler spoke of the increase in mining activity in western Greene County and the effects on the “quiet and scenic” landscape most people in those areas enjoy. The way mining is accelerating, with some mines now planning to add second longwall machines, the area soon will be “blanketed” with mining installations and their accompanying light, noise and traffic.

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House speaker, DeWeese discuss prison reform

WAYNESBURG – Overcrowding in the state prison system is a perpetual problem, and two high-ranking state lawmakers discussed with local officials Tuesday their short- and long-term plans to deal with it.

State Rep. Bill DeWeese, the House majority leader, and House Speaker Dennis O’Brien joined representatives from the corrections officers’ union and others on a tour of State Correctional Institution at Greene, the maximum security prison in Franklin Township.

The legislation aims to address overcrowding by encouraging rehabilitation as opposed to lengthy prison stays for nonviolent offenders. The four bills, which were introduced last year, are now being debated in the House appropriations committee.

DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, has been lobbying for a new prison to be built in German Township, near Masontown, Fayette County. DeWeese said that project has about a 60 to 70 percent chance of materializing.

Residents hear details on proposed water line project

WIND RIDGE – More than 85 people crowded into the Richhill Township fire hall Tuesday to hear about plans to extend a water line 14 miles from Rogersville to Wind Ridge.

And though several residents expressed concerns about how much “city” water will cost them, when asked to raise their hands if they didn’t want public water, only one person’s hand went up.

Construction of a water line to Wind Ridge has been discussed for a number of years. Richhill Township Supervisor Tom Chess said following the meeting that public water is needed in the area.

A recent problem with water quality at Graysville Elementary School also speaks to the need for public water. During the Christmas break, E. coli bacteria was found in the water supply.

The problem was corrected before students returned to class, but West Greene Superintendent Ron Fortney, who attended the meeting, said the school should have public water. “For the safety of the kids, I think it’s essential,” he said.

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Spring cleanup should please Jefferson residents tiring of junkyard

WAYNESBURG – Nearly all visible evidence of a once sprawling Jefferson Township salvage yard should disappear this spring, Greene County’s director of planning and development told commissioners Thursday.

“I don’t want people to think they’re going to see a pristine field there. But yes, 99 percent of the waste will be gone once the tires are eliminated,” said Ann Bargerstock, referring to the estimated 15,000 waste tires at the Ruschel Auto Salvage Yard along Route 188.

Environmental Restoration Inc., a recycling business based in Courtdale, near Wilkes-Barre, will dispose of about 214 tons of tires by a May 1 deadline.

Last year, the county paid $45,600 to remove scrap metal from the site, leaving the piles of tires as the only remnants of surface waste on the 1.5-acre property.

Soil tests conducted at the site by DEP indicated contamination from hazardous materials that leaked from batteries and automobile gas tanks that had been stored there.

Supervisors may adopt ordinance to prevent landfill

WAYNESBURG – The Washington Township supervisors may soon consider the adoption of a township zoning ordinance that could prevent the development of a landfill or dump in the township against residents’ wishes.

The supervisors have been considering a zoning ordinance, which would regulate the use of land in order to prevent someone from possibly turning property into a landfill or dump.

“We’re scared of what could happen here,” said Supervisor CharlesTanner. “We are afraid of this New Jersey trash thing” possibly also occurring in the township.

Liquor sales in Greene County rise

Liquor and wine sales in Greene County last year went on the upswing, according to the State Liquor Control Board.

Sales in the county’s two stores totaled $581,005 last year – an increase of 4.31 percent as compared with 1966 sales by the stores in the county of $557,013.

Greene County is ranked 50th of the 67 counties in the volume of alcoholic beverages sold, with .150 percent of total sales in the state coming from the Greene County stores.