Congressman Paul Kanjorski has announced the Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement has finished two new boreholes to help control flooding in Hanover Township.
“I am pleased that there has been such a rapid response to the collapsed borehole in Hanover Township,” said Congressman Kanjorski. “I spoke with many of the people living in and around the Dundee Apartments and the flooding took a toll on many of them. OSM worked quickly and efficiently to rectify the flooding problems by drilling new replacement boreholes. These boreholes should provide a permanent solution to prevent future flooding in the area.”
OSM confirmed that they drilled a 22 inch borehole on Tuesday in Hanover Township off Dundee Road to alleviate flooding problems at the Dundee Apartments caused by excessively high mine pool water levels. OSM will complete a second similar borehole in the area by this afternoon in hopes of achieving a significant flow of mine water, thus accelerating the dewatering of the elevated mine pool. Since the completion of the first borehole on Tuesday afternoon, the overall mine pool has dropped a dramatic 5 feet, showing the immediate impact of the first borehole.
The new boreholes will rectify flooding that occurred from a collapsed borehole in early January, which caused the build up of mine water and triggered flooding in Hanover Township. Recent floods in the area due to weather conditions also contributed to the elevated mine pool water levels.
“We have been working diligently over the past two months designing and constructing a project that will correct this very unusual problem that has caused flooding in Hanover Township,” said Mick Kuhns, Wilkes-Barre Director of OSM. “The new boreholes will protect the land and homes around the Dundee Apartments and prevent more floods from occurring in the area.”
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