Earth Conservancy is seeking funding for an environmental cleanup project that could bring a solar energy farm to power the campus of Luzerne County Community College.
The Ashley-based nonprofit is submitting three applications totaling $600,000 to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields and Land Revitalization Program for Cleanup Grants to clear and grade a plot of mine-scarred land in Newport Township across Middle Road from the LCCC campus.
Once remediation is complete, the land, formerly property of the Blue Coal Corporation, could make space for housing and businesses serving LCCC’s student body.
And though no solid plans exist, the college and Earth Conservancy have expressed mutual interest in developing a solar farm at the site, which would power the campus and provide opportunities for hands-on learning to LCCC students.
“Because we did not have enough land to support it here we talked to Earth Conservancy, because they have the adjacent land, and said this is something we’re considering,” said Mark Rutkowski, a professor of engineering technology at LCCC. “It turned out they had a similar interest.”
The 100-acre tract where Earth Conservancy hopes to begin cleanup is a section of a contiguous stretch of land totaling about 1,000 acres that was purchased by the nonprofit following the conclusion of Blue Coal’s bankruptcy proceedings in 1994.
The land, a former culm depository, was left covered in pits and large piles of coal waste, or culm banks, after Blue Coal declared bankruptcy in the mid-1970s, and now attracts illegal all-terrain vehicle riding, according to Earth Conservancy.
Resurface scarred land
Earth Conservancy would use the EPA grants to re-grade and resurface the property and lay down a layer of topsoil and grass sufficient to stabilize the land. Doing so would stop iron and sulfur from seeping from the culm banks and contaminating nearby waterways as acid mine drainage.It could also make way for a third-party developer to build a solar power plant, with room for expansion on the surrounding Earth Conservancy property, conservancy Director Mike Dziak said.
Rutkowski said LCCC officials have had preliminary discussions about the idea but no decisions have been made.
“It would, to me, be an ideal use to take a brownfield and convert it to be a source of renewable energy,” Rutkowski said. “That would to me be the best possible outcome. Whether the college will be involved or not it’s too early to tell.
Besides saving utility costs and thereby enabling the college to keep tuition as low as possible, the solar plant could also provide opportunities for students to learn in the field, Rutkowski said.
The college currently offers a one-year program in sustainable energy technology and plans to add a program in solar-systems installation soon.
Rutkowski said any contracts signed with a developer to build a plant would include a provision that the college be allowed to use the solar farm for classes and field trips.
Earth Conservancy is applying for three $200,000 EPA cleanup grants, which require a 20 percent local match, because $200,000 is the maximum grant available and groups may apply for a maximum of three grants per cycle. The EPA will notify the group of the grant application’s approval or denial sometime in the spring.
Competition for grants
Dziak said competition for the grants is generally fierce and may be even more so this cycle given the present economic conditions, but added that Earth Conservancy has been successful in obtaining EPA grants in the past and that is he confident about the group’s chances.The group is self-funded, owns the land to be cleaned and has a clear focus, all points the EPA will view favorably, Dziak said.
“We could never find anyone who’s involved in just doing mine-scarred land in our travels over 17 years, so that’s sort of what makes us unique,” he said.
The land would not be the first Earth Conservancy property to become a part of LCCC.
The college’s Public Safety Training Institute, which broke ground in 2007, is built on a 45-acre tract of cleared mine land the college purchased from Earth Conservancy for $1 million in 1998.
Source: http://www.timesleader.com/news/Culm_site_may_get_used_for_solar_farm_11-12-2011.html
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