The state Department of Environmental Protection has scheduled a July meeting and a hearing regarding PennDOT’s plan to remove pyrite-laddened rock from a portion of the I-99 construction area located at Skytop, Centre County.
According to a DEP press release, the July 20 meeting and hearing has been scheduled so residents can ask questions and present testimony regarding the water quality permit application submitted by the PennDOT.
Earlier this month, PennDOT applied for a permit with the DEP to remove the pyritic material to a site in Worth Township located about three miles from the Skytop area. The Associated Press reported the plan is part of a $50 million cleanup of a water contamination source.
The permit application addresses PennDOT’s plan to remove and transport about 675,000 cubic yards of pyritic material to an engineered rock placement area in Worth Township. The ERPA would serve as a containment site or what PennDOT District 2 spokesperson Marla Fannin described as a “dry tomb” to house the material.
Before the most recent application for the permit, PennDOT had applied for a permit to complete work in the Skytop area, where the pyritic material cannot be moved and has to be treated where it is situated.
Fannin said a number of sites were looked at before Worth Township was selected. A previous application for a permit had been made to move the material to a site in Indiana County. That idea was tabled after public outcry over the choice.
AP reported Gary Byron, assistant regional director for DEP, said his agency would likely approve the permits for dealing with the moveable and immovable materials by early autumn. After a 13-month period to build the disposal site, it will take nine months to haul the rocks there. Construction of the road could resume during that period as the pyritic spoil piles are being hauled away.
AP said about two million tons of pyritic rocks were unearthed three years ago during I-99 construction and dumped in spoil piles and fill areas that leached into Buffalo Run and groundwater. Pyrite, or iron sulfide, reacts with water and oxygen to create sulfuric acid.
The DEP meeting/hearing will be held on July 20 in the Bald Eagle Area High School auditorium in Wingate, Centre County. The two sessions will address pyritic rock that must be moved from the Interstate 99 area at Skytop, Centre County.
The public meeting will start at 6:30 p.m., followed immediately by the public hearing at 8:30 p.m.
“PennDOT and DEP will make presentations during the public meeting, at which time residents can ask questions to better understand the proposal,” DEP Northcentral Regional Director Robert Yowell said in the press release. “During our review, we will carefully consider all the comments we receive from the public.”
The DEP press release noted that during the public hearing, residents will be able to present oral testimony for a maximum of five minutes. Written testimony also will be accepted and given equal consideration. The testimony will be recorded by a court reporter and transcribed into a written document. DEP will respond in writing to all relevant comments at the time it makes a final decision on the permit application. DEP will accept written testimony until the close of business on Aug. 3.
The PennDOT permit application is available for public review at the Willowbank County Office Building, 420 Holmes St., Bellefonte; the Patton Township Building, 100 Patton Plaza, State College; and the DEP Moshannon District Mining Office, 186 Enterprise Dr., Philipsburg.
In addition, the application can be reviewed at the DEP Northcentral Regional Office, 208 W. Third St., Suite 101, Williamsport. It can be viewed between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. An appointment must be made by calling Kathy Arndt at 570-327-3693.
For more information on the I-99 acid rock remediation, visit DEP’s web site at www.depweb.state.pa.us. Click on “DEP Keywords” and then “I-99 Information.”
