Abandoned Mine Posts

By Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator

During the coldest part of the year, I’m especially grateful for warmth, glorious warmth. But, even as I adjust my thermostat and take inventory of various snacks residing in the cupboard to prepare for the impending Super Bowl (Go Steelers!), I think of how our ancestors lived and how they kept warm on those brutal, three dog nights.

Back in our grandparents’ and great grandparents’ days, coal was the fuel of choice when heating your home. For some folks, wood was more available but for many, coal meant warmth…and life. The radiant heat coming from their coal stove was like manna from heaven. No doubt about it, the work of our coal communities touched many in this country. Coal filled an important niche in the home heating market throughout the 19th and 20th centuries–even in places very far removed from Pennsylvania’s coal regions.

One such place was the city of Albert Lea in southermost Minnesota near the Iowa border. This week we offer an article from the December 8, 2008 edition of the Albert Lea Tribune, an article that reminisces about the town’s history when coal was king.

Click here to view the article.

By Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator

Somerset County, Pennsylvania has a long history of coal mining and numerous environmental problems stemming from the unregulated mining practices of the past. In this edition of “WPCAMR Video Diaries“, we visit the Somerset Watershed Summit and go on a tour of the Casselman River watershed in southern Somerset County to learn about water quality projects going on there.

Click on the player below to watch. (Note: If the player is not viewable on your work computer,contact your IT department to see if embedded videos are blocked.)