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Pennsylvania officials are allowing dredged river mud to be treated and placed in the abandoned mines - using one problem to help solve an other. Vast quantities of muck are dredged each year from the busy shipping channels in Philadelphia, New York, and New Jersey while acid runoff from empty coal mines are contaminating water in parts of Pennsylvania. The concept of reusing the dredged material to plug the abandoned mines is hailed not only as an environmental two-for-one, but as a tool for economic development, giving a boost to older communities where the economic engine of coal mining has long since sputtered to a halt. But, so far, the promise has not materialized, amid questions about how to pay to ship the dredged material up to northeastern anthracite mining region, as well as concerns that small amounts of toxic contaminants in the material may pose dangers. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/12920689.htm Philadelphia Inquirer, October 17,
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