Construction is to begin first quarter 2008. Route 191 will be redirected north of the Lamson and Sessions facility currently located near the railroad track northbound 191 between East Lawn and Stockertown.
The article notes:
Bowing Route 191 to the north on property owned by Hercules provides the company an opportunity to mine millions of tons of limestone that sit close to the surface.And:
Houtz said he was unaware of Hercules' intention to divert a portion of the creek and that any modifications to the creek would require extensive review by the agency's regional office.And in closing:
"It is an overall very complicated project," Nugent said.
5 comments:
Whoa! This is the first I have heard of this. Living off of Schoeneck Ave. this "diversion" will impact me among others daily.
What will lining the creek do? I know the jury is out on that. They lined the upper portion of the creek sometime ago, but didn't line the lower portion (after their discharge). I know this was a contentious issue amongst Hercules, DEP and homeowners downstream. (Look at the two houses that are no longer there off the side of Rt 33).
Lots of questions with this one. This will need to be watched VERY CLOSELY.
Oh, forgot to add... Perhaps it is just coincidence that the frequency of sinkholes in and around the creek area increased after Hercules applied for and was approved by DEP) a permit to dig deeper a couple years ago.... Or perhaps not.
The sinkholes have always been along the Bushkill Creek corridor from Upper Nazareth through Stockertown and Tatamy (long before Hercules came along and started mining). Yes, Hercules most likely exacerbated the problem, but the fact remains that this area has always been prone to sinkholes. Although I do think that increasing the size of the quarry will make things even worse, that decision is in the hands of the Army Corps and DEP.
Should be interesting with that road construction and the building of the new ms. And the sinkholes slowly continue in a northwest direction along the creek.
Anon 11:37-
I am sure that this area has "always" been prone to sinkholes. However, it just seems that ever since Hercules was allowed to go deeper, more and more sinkholes have formed. I would think that the quarry's cone of depression is even bigger now than it was before. More and more ground water has been pumped out since they went deeper and therefore, the incident rate of sinkhole formation has increased.
Does anyone know if the plans have been filed? How exactly they do they expect to:
1) reroute Hwy 191
2) alleviate a railroad crossing (especially if they push 191 further N)
3) Bigger question, reroute the creek.
These are things that I would be very interested in....
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