Corsa Coal subsidiary proposes another mine for Somerset County

Six months after the opening of the Acosta Deep Mine in Somerset County, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is accepting public comments on another proposed coal mine nearby.

The DEP has scheduled an informal public meeting for 1-3 p.m. Dec. 12 to receive feedback on an application by Wilson Creek Energy LLC for the Keyser Deep Mine in Conemaugh and Jenner townships, Somerset County.

The meeting will be held at the Jenner Township Municipal Building, 2058 Lincoln Highway (Route 30), Boswell.

Wilson Creek Energy, a subsidiary of Corsa Coal Corp., has applied for a Coal Mining Activity Permit and a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit from the state.

Representatives of DEP District Mining Operations will be available to answer general questions on the permit applications and receive written and oral testimony regarding the application. Testimony will be placed in the application's public record and considered in the review process.

Corsa Coal, which opened the Acosta mine in June, completed the purchase of the mining rights for the Keyser mine in December 2012.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began accepting public comment on the project in 2013. The mine would work the Lower Kittanning coal seam under about 2,300 acres in Jenner and Conemaugh townships, according to the company.

Copies of the application are on file for public review at the Somerset County Recorder of Deeds Office, 300 N. Center Ave., Suite 400, Somerset.

Stephen Huba is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-850-1280, shuba@tribweb.com or via Twitter @shuba_trib.