Grindstone Run Remediation

The PA DEP Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation (BAMR) contracted Larson Design Group (LDG) to produce a design to eliminate public health and safety hazards associated with abandoned mine land in Problem Area 6904, otherwise known as Grindstone Run. The project is located within the bituminous coal region and was surface mined prior to 1967 by the Kerry Coal Company. The site contains four hazardous abandoned mine land features, consisting of two dangerous highwalls and two spoil areas, that need to be remediated. To address these hazards, BAMR hired LDG for engineering and related services to plan, design, and permit the project for bidding and eventual construction. The project will include clearing the site of vegetation, dewatering and backfilling the water-filled depressions and dangerous highwalls with materials from the spoil areas, redirecting the stream channel and filling in the current stream channel, regrading the remaining spoil, and revegetating the site.

To ensure the project goals and schedule are met, LDG has organized their tasks into five major milestones: design memorandum, preliminary design submission, pre-final design submission, final design submission, and construction procurement. The goal of the design memorandum task is to demonstrate an understanding of the project’s scope of work and BAMR’s goals, along with determining key components of the professional design services that will be required to execute this project. Once the design memorandum is accepted by BAMR, LDG will develop preliminary design plans defining the work limits, proposed contours, details, erosion and sediment control measures, and a construction sequence. Upon approval of the preliminary design, LDG will proceed with the pre-final design submission to the level of detail required to obtain the identified permits. All field reports will also be completed during this task. The final design submission will be completed once the pre-final design submission deliverable receives approval, at which time LDG will proceed to assist BAMR with construction procurement. LDG estimates project design completion by December 2025.