Published May 5, 2005 Observer Reporter

Group tours newly reclaimed Mather Coal Refuse Pile
A committee working to find a new use for the reclaimed Mather coal refuse pile toured the site Wednesday.  From left are Glenn Miller and Orlando "Chick" Virgili, members of the committee, and Andy Brozik of Mather Recovery Inc., which is reclaiming the site.

(Bob Niedbala/O-R)
MATHER - To tour the Mather coal refuse pile several years back, prior to the start of reclamation work at the site, a person would almost have needed climbing gear to tackle the pile's many large cliffs and crevasses. But a group formed recently to find a new use for the property, now that the reclamation project is nearing completion, was able to walk the more than 60-acre site Wednesday morning with ease.  The mountainous pile of coal waste that for years towered over Mather now appears as a large grass-covered plateau.

"I think it's great," said Orlando "Chick" Virgili of Mather, a member of the committee, as he walked the site with a dozen others under a steady breeze and blue sky.  "It's alot bigger than I thought," he said, speaking of the level field that forms the top of the plateau.  Virgili said that he used to play on the slate dump as a child and always believed it could never be reclaimed.  "I just didn't think anybody would have enough money to do it," he said.

For the last three years, Mather Recovery Systems LLC has been busy reshaping the coal refuse pile that was created during the 46-year life of Pickand-Mather Collieries Mine.  The mine closed in 1964.  The reclamation work is expected to be complete by June 30, said Stanley Sears of Mather Recovery.  The company now has only to build terraces and plant grass at the southern end of the site.  To create the plateau, that when completed will include about 60 acres of level field, the company has had to move more than 2 million tons of materials, Sears said.   In some locations, the elevation of the pile was reduced by almost 100 feet. 

A committee of 15 to 20 people was formed several months ago to determine a new use for the site.  The commitee includes members of Jefferson-Morgan Council of Governments, Greene County Industrial Development Authority, local municipaities and the community, said county planner Darlene Urban Garrett, who is coordinating the effort.

One proposed use the committee has discussed is recreation.  This could include development of ball fields and soccer fields, picnic areas and walking trails.   Members also discussed using part of the site for a historic area, which could include a coal mining museum or a replica of a company town, for retail and commercial development and for various educational activities.  "We have a lot of ideas for the site," Garrett said.

The reclamation project has been funded with a $4.6 million grant from the state's Growing Greener program.  GCIDA also recently received a $50,000 state grant to prepare an environmental assessment for the property.  "We have to avail ourselves of as much information as possible to come to a solution (regarding the property's use) that is viable," said Martin Niverth, Greene County conservation district manager.  The assessment will tell the committee what can be done with the site.  Because the coal waste remains, some areas of the property might not, for instance, be suitable for building constuction, he said.

Another committee member who made the tour, Glenn Miller, 73, of Mather, said he was happy with how the project turned out.  He, too, never thought the pile would be reclaimed.  "For all my life and longer they were dumping here," he said.  "It was difficult to imagine how the work could be done.  Where were you going to put it?" he asked.

Miller spoke of the committee's many plans for the site.  "Maybe we have our heads in the clouds," he said, after speaking of several of the projects the committee has in mind.  "Maybe our generation won't be able to do it all, but then maybe the next one can," he added.

www.observer-reporter.com
(Bob Niedbala/O-R)
Glenn Miller, Chick Virgili, and Andy Brozik atop plateau
Mather Homepage
Additional Pics
MORE PICS
Waynesburg College - Service Learning DVD -
"Remembering Mather" - A 10 Minute Oral History