SAINT CLAIR — Recently, trees bordering state Route 61 across from Coal Creek Commerce Center were cut down.
The sight of the clear-cut hillside concerned local municipal officials, including Roland Price, the borough manager of Saint Clair, and Kimberly Lutzkanin, secretary for New Castle Township.
“We don’t know what that was all about. That’s the biggest question. Everybody’s asking ‘What’s going on?’ People who are going to Dunkin’ Donuts there and look across the street and see what’s going on, they’re asking us. And we don’t know. Some people say it’s near an access road to a quarry up there,” Price said Tuesday.
“It’s kind of a mystery,” Lutzkanin said Wednesday.
She’s been making numerous phone calls to determine if any part of the area in question is located in New Castle Township and if any permits were required.
Their questions have inspired state and county officials to conduct an investigation by the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Schuylkill Conservation District.
“Both the DEP and the SCCD are aware of this tree-cutting incident and both offices are in touch with Reading Anthracite to get some answers. We are conducting an investigation. Reading Anthracite has not applied for any permits from DEP or the SCCD for the tree-cutting activities,” Colleen Connolly, community relations coordinator with DEP’s Northeast Regional Office, Wilkes-Barre, said Wednesday.
“If a land owner wants to disturb land over an acre they would need an NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permit from DEP. Determining how many acres have been cut is part of the investigation,” Connolly said.
The area which was clear cut appears to be in Saint Clair, according to the online Schuylkill Parcel Locator.
“We believe that’s true,” Price said Wednesday.
The 104.6 acre tract in Saint Clair is owned by Reading Anthracite, Pottsville, Beth A. Hess, Bernville, and Mark R. Reeser, Sinking Spring, according to the parcel locator.
Contacted for comment on Tuesday and Wednesday, Deborah A. Fehr, executive secretary at Reading Anthracite Co., 200 Mahantongo St., Pottsville, referred all questions on the matter to Brian R. Rich, president of Reading Anthracite.
Rich could not be reached for comment on either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Lutzkanin called Reading Anthracite on Wednesday, spoke with Donna B. Kemfort in its accounting and administration office, and learned the company had in fact cut down those trees.
“She confirmed that these parcels were not in the township. But she was really vague about the project. I asked her ‘Can you share with me what is going on?’ And the gist that she gave me was that they were cutting down some trees,” Lutzkanin said.
Lutzkanin and Price were glad to hear the state and the county conservation district were looking into the matter.
“Nobody filed anything with us. We will see what happens when the state finishes its investigation,” Price said.
The area which was clear-cut is in a highly-visible area.
It borders state Route 61, one of the main corridors in Schuylkill County. This section of state Route 61 receives 10,327 in the southbound lane and 8,982 in the northbound lane on an average day, Sean Brown, safety press officer at the state Department of Transportation, District 5, said Tuesday.
The area is also near the intersection of Terry Rich Boulevard, the entrance to the Coal Creek Commerce Center in Saint Clair, home of a Wal-Mart Supercenter, a Home Depot, a Dunkin’ Donuts and other stores and restaurants.
Brown had no information on the project.
Steven Ziegler, fire forester with Weiser Forest District who is based out of the Locust Valley Fire Control Station in Barnesville, hadn’t heard anything about it when contacted Tuesday.