CNX has awarded a $5,000 grant to reclaim the “burgundy discharge” and boney pile along the Roaring Run Trail in Kiski Township.
There is a hint of purple around the boney pile, a major eyesore and a source of pollution for years midway on the 5-mile Roaring Run trail. The boney pile, where little grows, is one of the most visible remnants of the dregs of coal mining.
The large hillside along the trail has a long history of coal mines, which have been closed for decades. According to local legend, the abandoned mine drainage that still seeps from the hillside was colored burgundy, hence its name.
“It looks terrible,” said Ken Kaminski, board president of Roaring Run Watershed Association.
“We’ve been trying to get it cleaned up for years,” he said. The association had been talking with CNX officials who asked if there was anything they needed, and “we said, ‘Yeah, the burgundy discharge.’ ”
CNX took a look at the site, about 10 acres of which half is near the trail and visible to the public.
CNX presented the association with the check last week.
“Roaring Run Trail is an important community asset, and we are pleased to partner with the association on this and other future projects that directly benefit the residents of the local area,” said Brian Aiello, CNX vice president of external relations and human resources.
Two area tree-cutting companies will donate mulch. Asplundh Tree Expert LLC and M&M Tree Service will deposit tree mulch to help build an organic base on top of the boney pile, which eventually will support plants, Kaminski said.
The project, still in the planning phase, includes digging a ditch and filling it with limestone for the metals to drop out of the mine water before it hits the Kiski River. The Armstrong Conservation District will consult on the project, he said.
“This will be good for the environment,” Kaminski said. “It will slow the mine water runoff that causes the pollution in the Kiski. This helps everybody.”
