PennDOT has announced it will hold an informational meeting later this month regarding options on the disposal of pyrite (acid rock) from sections of Interstate 99 in Centre County.
\nIn early March, PennDOT secretary Allen D. Biehler announced the state\u2019s transportation agency would re-examine its plans for the disposal of the substance. The pyritic rock can cause acid drainage if it is exposed to air and precipitation.
\nThe postponement of plans to transport 675,000 cubic yards of the material from Centre County to Indiana County was put on hold a couple of weeks after a meeting in Pine Township, Indiana County on the proposal. A second meeting scheduled for March 7 was canceled.
\nPennDOT and Robindale Energy Services had applied for permits through the DEP to haul the pyrite on a 75-mile route that would include Blair County and dispose of it at a Robindale-owned site in Indiana County.
\nDistrict Two spokesperson Marla Fannin told The Daily Herald, \u201c We are going to an informational presentation on April 10 from 7 to 10 p.m. We are going to be at Park Forrest Middle School (in Patton Township, Centre County).\u201d
\nOriginally, PennDOT was looking at an April 12 meeting, but decided on April 10 when they learned Patton Township supervisors were scheduled to hold their regular meeting that evening.
\n\u201cWe will be showing both a formal powerpoint presentation,\u201d said Fannin. We will also have information stations available so people can learn and garner information in a couple different ways. We\u2019ll have an opportunity for folks to make public comment.\u201d
\nFannin said at the very least, there would be an opportunity for written public comment. She also said there would be an opportunity for questions and answers between the public and the officials in attendance. She said the meeting was not a DEP-required meeting.
\n\u201cThis is simply an informational meeting that PennDOT believes is best to have in order to allow folks to see where we have been, what our final remediation options look like and offer (the opportunity) to comment on those options,\u201d said Fannin.
\nThe Indiana Gazette reported in a Feb. 14, 2006 article that residents there don\u2019t want potential pollution and don\u2019t believe the acid rock can be trucked safely. The article also noted Indiana County residents didn\u2019t trust what PennDOT and DEP representatives were telling them.
\nPennDOT\u2019s previously announced final remediation plan also calls for the encasement of some of the rock that can\u2019 t be safely removed from the site at Skytop in Centre County.
\nFannin confirmed recent comments from Secretary Biehler indicating that sites around the Skytop are \u201cstill in mix\u201d as possible sites for disposal of the pyrite-ensnarled rock.
\nApril Hedrick, a project manager for Robindale Energy Services told The Daily Herald earlier this week that to her knowledge the Indiana County site was still an option for the removal of the material at Skytop.
\nIn other matters related to the I-99 project, Fannin told The Daily Herald on Friday that PennDOT has submitted a revised application to the state\u2019s Department of Environmental Protection regarding the cleanup at Skytop. She said the revision related to a water quality permit associated with rock that can\u2019t be safely moved from the site.
\nFannin said the agency is continuing to look at the possibility of concerns over acid rock drainage in a different area of the I-99 project located north of Port Matilda. However, she said officials have to wait for measurable rainfall in order to take necessary samples to make a further determination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PennDOT has announced it will hold an informational meeting later this month regarding options on the disposal of pyrite (acid rock) from sections of Interstate 99 in Centre County. In early March, PennDOT secretary Allen D. Biehler announced the state\u2019s transportation agency would re-examine its plans for the disposal of the substance. The pyritic rock […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41489\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}