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 Post subject: Clearing Path to Memorialize Mine Disaster
PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:32 pm 
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Location: Anthracite Region of PA
Clearing path to memorialize mine disaster
Published: March 28, 2011

PLYMOUTH TWP. - A partially decapitated baby doll, smashed televisions, spilled household cleaning supplies and muddy shoes and clothes lead the way to the Avondale Colliery in Plymouth Township - and the piles and piles of refuse frustrate locals trying to clean up and establish a memorial for the 110 men killed in the 1869 mine fire.

"There's already a site down there that has been landscaped, with a memorial stone, and we need to clean the access because you can't get down there without stepping over garbage. It looks like contractor-type refuse. Someone has been cleaning out houses and dumping everything down there," said Amy Walsh, part of an informal group of residents interested in the memorial.

That's exactly what she's discovered is happening. After finding a Social Security card in the trash, an Internet search led her to a real estate agent connected to a Jim Thorpe home that had been foreclosed on. That led to a St. Louis-based bank, then to a Ohio-based company that subcontracts cleaning out homes.

Walsh is continuing to search for the local company, but wants a more permanent solution than stopping one dumping culprit. The access road needs to be blocked off to large vehicles. She's attempting to work with UGI Utilities, is one of three, soon to be four, owners of the right-of-way.

"We don't want dumping on our land. If it was as simple as putting up a gate, we would," spokesman Don Brominski said. "We as UGI cannot unilaterally block off the roadway. We would have to talk to the other owners to do that. We are going to talk to people and see if we can work out an arrangement.

UGI Penn Natural Gas, UGI Electric and Sun Pipeline Co. currently share ownership, and Susquehanna Warrior Trails will be added.

A solution for limiting large-vehicle access would let the Avondale memorial group move forward with cleanup plans, Walsh said, as right now she feels it would be futile.

"We have to get them to do it because we don't have any rights to the site. At this point it's just a group of concerned citizens who want to get this cleaned up and done right," Walsh said. "We could go down there in the middle of April (for the Great Pennsylvania Cleanup) and clean everything up, but a week after, someone could go down there and dump things again."

Bridge Road, a dirt path that runs relatively parallel to state Route 11, is a popular area for four-wheeling and the only access to the Avondale Colliery. Future plans, pending funding, are to renovate the path into a trail that can connect with the biking/walking trails along the Susquehanna River.

emoody@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2051

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 5:56 pm 
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Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2008 9:04 pm
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Location: WILKES-BARRE PA
well were workin on it ! ALHG and Warrior trail is trying to get a gate put on each end of the trail

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PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:46 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jul 08, 2005 12:41 pm
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Location: Hard coal region, PA
dude im dumpin my trash there next week

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