Latest news with #ColleenConnolly
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
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. * A historic photo depicting an area anthracite mine. (Wikimedia Commons / Submitted) * A historic photo depicting an area anthracite mine. (Wikimedia Commons / Submitted) * A historic photo depicting an area anthracite mine. (Wikimedia Commons / Submitted) Show Caption 1 of 3 A historic photo depicting an area anthracite mine. (Wikimedia Commons / Submitted) Expand '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.'
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Renewable natural gas plant at Keystone Sanitary Landfill seeks expansion
A renewable natural gas plant at the Keystone Sanitary Landfill will go before Throop Borough Council on Thursday night as it looks to expand by 25%. The Assai Energy facility at 1150 Marshwood Road, situated inside the Keystone Sanitary Landfill, pipes in gas from decomposing garbage produced at both the Keystone Sanitary Landfill in Dunmore and Throop and the Alliance Landfill in Taylor and Ransom Twp., purifying the landfill gas into pipeline-quality natural gas. Representatives from Assai Energy, a subsidiary of Houston, Texas-based Archaea Energy, will address Throop officials Thursday seeking a conditional use permit to expand their renewable natural gas facility, according to public notices published March 5 and 12 in The Times-Tribune. London-based BP acquired Archaea in December 2022. Assai's request comes less than two years after it received approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection to increase its landfill gas processing by 25%. In August 2023, the DEP allowed Assai to expand its landfill gas processing from 20,000 standard cubic feet per minute to 25,000 — enough to inflate a nearly 298,000-cubic-foot Goodyear Blimp in just under 12 minutes. The company indicated they are now looking to increase the size of their facility by 25%, Throop zoning and code enforcement officer Andy Hegedus said. The Assai plant operates by piping in landfill gas from both the Keystone and Alliance landfills, which use networks of pipes extending down into their waste piles to draw the gas out of the ground. Landfill gas is composed of about 50% methane, 50% carbon dioxide and water vapor; small amounts of nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen; less than 1% hazardous air pollutants and volatile organic compounds, which can react with sunlight to form smog; and traces of inorganic compounds, including pungent-smelling hydrogen sulfide, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Hydrogen sulfide produces a rotten egg smell often associated with landfills. As a condition of Assai's air quality plan, the facility cannot allow malodors to escape its property. Assai purifies the landfill gas until it contains more than 94% methane and then injects it into UGI's distribution system. The DEP received a permit application for expansion from Assai in December, but the agency sent the application back 'for lack of necessary information such as land approval letters regarding expansion,' DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said in an email. The DEP has not yet received another application, she said. The department did not have a copy of the rejected application. The same month Assai applied with DEP, Throop council voted 7-0 to rezone two parcels near the existing Assai plant on Marshwood Road from light industrial to heavy industrial, Hegedus said. All of the surrounding properties, including the landfill, were zoned for heavy industrial uses, he said. According to Dec. 1 and 8 public notices in The Times-Tribune, the borough rezoned about 11.15 acres across two parcels at 1201 Marshwood Road at the request of Quaker Terra LLC of Dunmore. Quaker Terra purchased the land from Marshwood Enterprises LLC of Throop for $3 million, according to a property transaction recorded July 29. A subsequent 30-year lease agreement between Quaker Terra and Assai Energy that went into effect Aug. 30, which was recorded with the Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds on Sept. 26, lists Louis DeNaples, who co-owns the landfill with his brother, Dominick DeNaples, as the sole and managing member of Quaker Terra. That land is currently used by XTRA Lease, a trailer rental and leasing company, whose address is also 1201 Marshwood Road. An employee who answered the phone declined to comment on how their operations would be affected. While the new heavy industrial zoning would allow Assai's plant as a permitted use, Throop's zoning ordinance requires conditional use approval, which is granted by council, for structures that exceed 30,000 square feet, or that disturb more than 80,000 square feet of earth, Hegedus said. Conditional use approval is recommended by planning, and council has the final say, Hegedus said. In addition to operating a renewable natural gas plant, Assai received approval from the DEP last month to drill a nearly 3-mile-deep well in Throop to determine whether it would be feasible to permanently store carbon dioxide deep underground. Assai currently burns off the excess carbon dioxide that it removes from landfill gas into the atmosphere, but in 2023, the renewable natural gas producer announced its intent to explore drilling deep underground and injecting the greenhouse gas into the rock formations for permanent storage. The public hearing for Assai's conditional use permit will begin at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Throop Borough Municipal Building, 436 Sanderson St. Council will hold a special meeting at 6:30 to then vote on the conditional use.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Renewable natural gas plant operator at Keystone Landfill begins test drilling for underground carbon dioxide storage
A renewable natural gas plant operator at the Keystone Sanitary Landfill has the green light to drill a nearly 3-mile-deep well in Throop this week as it looks to permanently store carbon dioxide deep underground. The state Department of Environmental Protection gave Archaea Energy permission to start work on an exploratory drilling operation in Throop to determine the feasibility of carbon sequestration, DEP spokeswoman Colleen Connolly said in an email. Drilling for the well, which is permitted to be about 15,000 feet deep, was set to begin Tuesday, Connolly said. The exploratory well will be across the Casey Highway from the Keystone Sanitary Landfill, roughly 2,100 feet east of the highway and about half a mile south of Marshwood Road, according to GPS coordinates posted on a project sign at the entrance of an access road along Marshwood Road. Theta Land Corp. owns the property; landfill owner Louis DeNaples owns Theta Land Corp. through the defunct Pennsylvania Gas and Water Co., according to the landfill's April 2024 operating permit renewal application with the DEP. PGW owns Theta, and DeNaples is the president of PGW with a 100% ownership stake, according to the permit application. The entrance to Archaea Energy's exploratory well site off of Marshwood Road in Throop on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (Jim Lockwood / Staff Photo) In a statement late Wednesday afternoon, Archaea Energy said it is in the early stages of evaluating the potential of implementing a carbon capture and sequestration project in conjunction with its renewable natural gas project aiming to capture and permanently store carbon dioxide emissions. 'To thoroughly assess the viability of this project, it is essential for us to drill a site characterization well to gather data, perform analysis, and conduct modeling,' the Houston-based company said. 'That process commenced this week. These steps are critical in determining whether the appropriate conditions exist to ensure the secure, long-term storage of CO2. Prior to and throughout the drilling, we have been working with state regulators, Throop Borough officials, residents, project neighbors and stakeholders to inform them of the project and obtain the necessary permits and approvals required to proceed with the project.' The drilling of the well is regulated by DEP's Oil and Gas Program, which has already been monitoring the construction of access roads and well pads, Connolly said. Archaea Energy, owned by London-based BP, is the parent company of the Assai Energy renewable natural gas plant in the Throop section of the landfill near Marshwood Road. The Assai plant became fully operational in December 2021 and pipes in gas produced by decomposing garbage at the Keystone Sanitary Landfill in Dunmore and Throop and the Alliance Landfill in Taylor and Ransom Twp., processing the landfill gas into pipeline-quality natural gas. The renewable natural gas process involves removing carbon dioxide and other contaminants from the landfill gas until it is more than 94% methane. Assai currently burns off the excess carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, but in 2023, the renewable natural gas producer announced its intent to explore drilling deep underground and injecting the greenhouse gas into the rock formations for permanent storage. Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities, accounting for 80% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the country from human activities in 2022, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The U.S. Department of Energy calls the storage of carbon dioxide 'increasingly important because these emissions are warming the Earth's climate in ways not seen in millions of years.' Geologic carbon sequestration — the type Archaea is looking to do — entails compressing the carbon dioxide gas so much that it behaves like a liquid, and then injecting it into porous rock formations deep underground where it becomes physically trapped in the pore spaces, dissolves in the liquid within the rock formations and eventually reacts to form stable minerals, according to the DOE. Archaea Energy hosted a public information session about the project in December 2023 at the Throop Civic Center. An Archaea official at the time touted the project as making a 'significant improvement to air quality.' Retired DEP geologist John Mellow, an Archbald resident and member of the environmental nonprofit Sierra Club's Northeastern Pennsylvania Group, noted potential concerns depending on the depth of the injections. If there was coal mining in the area, which would've been about 400 feet at its deepest, Mellow raised concerns about the possibility of carbon dioxide escaping into the voids, which could lead it to homes or businesses, though he believes the coal outcrops likely ended before the work area, lowering that concern. 'Can they seal off the fractured and coal voids that are still existing?' Mellow said. If the the injections were closer to 15,000 feet, he questioned whether the bedrock formation would be too tight to contain the carbon dioxide, or if it would have to be fracked to open it up. Mellow encouraged Archaea to hold another public information session. During its first session more than a year ago, company representatives estimated spending two to three months drilling and taking samples and measurements. Drilling the exploratory well would allow them to determine how porous and permeable the underground rock formation is, and if the results were not favorable and Archaea could not safely inject the carbon dioxide, they would not do it, the company said at the time. If the project moves forward, the carbon sequestration will be regulated by the EPA, Connolly said.
