MINE PROJECT PLANNED

MINE PROJECT PLANNED

E.P. Bender Coal Co. hopes to begin next month a five-year project to clean out an abandoned Cresson Township mine.

The state’s Department of Environmental Protection has issued an operating permit for the 198-acre Lilly Mine 3A, says Tom Rathbun, a department spokesman. Bender plans to cover its clean-up costs with coal taken from the abandoned mine.

Rathbun says Bender will essentially be finishing up a job that was begun years ago, and at no cost to taxpayers. The state estimates the value of the project at $650,000, Rathbun says.

The work will include reclaiming waste-coal piles that have been in the mine since it was last operated 50 years ago.

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