08-04-2025
Anthracite coal mine jobs offering $107K in Lackawanna, Luzerne counties
In the mid-1700s, the earliest area anthracite mines offered secure employment for local residents.
Nearly 250 years later, regional mines still provide jobs.
The Department of Environmental Protection has a listing posted seeking anthracite underground mine inspectors and anthracite underground mine electrical inspectors to work 'in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania' in Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, as well as in Schuylkill, Carbon, Dauphin, Northumberland and Columbia counties. The job listings were posted in early October with an end date of 'continuous.'
Colleen Connolly, DEP's regional communications manager, said the positions have been filled, but that because they are 'historically difficult to fill due to the specialized skills that are required, DEP maintains a continuously open position description to accept applications.' She added the two positions cover the Northeast counties listed in the posting, known as the 'Anthracite Field.'
'Mining in the anthracite region of northeastern Pennsylvania can be a dangerous job, and DEP's Bureau of Mine Safety's role is to ensure that the workers have the safest conditions possible,' Connolly said. 'There is a lot of heavy-duty electrical equipment underground — conveyor belts, mining equipment, lighting and other machinery use a lot of electricity, and any unsafe electrical systems could be deadly if they fail and catch fire.'
She described the underground mine electrical inspector's role as one that would include inspecting that equipment to 'verify that is safe to operate.'
The permanent full-time employees' salaries range from $86,189 to $107,345 annually, and are dependent on an exam based on the Anthracite Coal Mine Act No. 346. The test — expected to be completed within two and a half hours — presents 100 total questions, with 50 on Pennsylvania anthracite mining law, 35 on the principles of electricity and 15 on effective working relationships, the listings state.
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A historic photo depicting an area anthracite mine. (Wikimedia Commons / Submitted)
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A historic photo depicting an area anthracite mine. (Wikimedia Commons / Submitted)
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A historic photo depicting an area anthracite mine. (Wikimedia Commons / Submitted)
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A historic photo depicting an area anthracite mine. (Wikimedia Commons / Submitted)
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'It will be to your advantage to study the Anthracite Coal Mine Act,' the listings advise interested candidates, linking to the 92-page document. Those who fail may retest one month after the date of their last exam, and must submit a new application. Test results will be provided by email, with only the most recent exam's score being considered.
The mine inspector line of work first started in the 1870s, said Robert Wolensky, an adjunct professor of history at King's College and mine historian.
'The first mine inspectors were brought in after the infamous Avondale disaster, which occurred down in Plymouth Twp.,' Wolensky said, detailing a fire at Avondale Colliery in Luzerne County in 1869, resulting in the deaths of 110 men and boys. 'It was so bad, the state did a number of investigations,' he added, noting that a law was established requiring at least two openings in a mine.
Avondale Colliery had only one entrance and exit, which trapped the miners who perished.
'So they created mine inspector jobs,' Wolensky said, explaining that Pennsylvania was an early state adopter of mining inspectors and mining law. Those helped to set a precedent for the creation of federal laws, such as an 1891 law demanding minimum ventilation requirements for coal mines and a minimum employment age of 12, as well as the Federal Mines Safety Act of 1910, extending standards for all mines; 1910 was also the year the Federal Bureau of Mines was created.
'They all required mine inspectors because companies will often play fast and loose, like with the Knox Mine disaster of 1959,' Wolensky said, when mining under the Susquehanna River in Jenkins Twp. paired with the neglect of certain safety protocols resulted in flooding and the tragic deaths of a dozen workers. 'Companies will cheat, so you do need inspectors,' Wolensky said, adding that as far as he knows, there are 'no operating coal mines in Lackawanna or Luzerne counties.'
It wasn't until 1977, said Michael Hewitt, the program director at the nonprofit Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, when the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act gave states the right to decide how they manage their mines.
'The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act basically drew a line in the sand between abandoned mines and active mining,' Hewitt said. 'It put new laws on the books as to how mining would go forward.'
Hewitt explained that the law gives each state the choice as to whether they want to let the federal government control active and abandoned mines — a right called primacy.
'In PA, we have primacy,' Hewitt said. 'That gives the state the right to go in and inspect mines themselves, and lets the federal government take an oversight position.'
Robert Hughes, the executive director at the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, said he wasn't sure what to make of the hirings in the anthracite region.
'I heard that they were shutting down offices and rental agreements and leases in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh for areas that were affiliated with the mining offices that did a lot of the regulatory stuff,' Hughes said. 'I didn't know they were hiring more … unless they're predicting some sort of influx of mine permits going in, that's news to me.'
The commonwealth's inspector job listings are described as seeking employees who will 'guarantee adherence to the Anthracite Coal Mining Laws,' and state the positions encompass 'offering support to the public and delivering safety recommendations to the mining sector.'
It further explains that the information gathered 'will be entered into the Department of Environmental Protection's electronic data system to maintain the integrity and precision of the data.'
Further responsibilities include 'upholding safety standards and enforcing regulations related to the installation and functioning of electrical equipment,' including 'thorough inspections of electrical apparatus … conducted across anthracite deep coal mines, preparation facilities, and storage areas,' which it explains are essential for 'mitigating the risks associated with accidents and ensuring the reliability of electrical equipment.'
' ]The workdays run from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and include a 30-minute lunch break; applicants are warned that they may be 'on call 24/7.'
