Keystone seeks abandonment of Upper Brownsville street

SHENANDOAH HEIGHTS – They bought and razed the houses and now, Keystone Anthracite is asking West Mahanoy Township to give up a road in Upper Brownsville to expand an ever-growing strip mine.

West Mahanoy Township supervisors tabled a vote on abandoning West Penn Street in Upper Brownsville at Tuesday night’s regular meeting.

Keystone Anthracite is mining land owned by the Girard Estate, administered by the City of Philadelphia, and sought approval to expand the mine last year through a major permit revision. That permit was approved in January.

In preparation, Keystone bought and razed much of Lost Creek #2 as well as multiple homes in Upper Brownsville along West Penn Street.

Three homes in the 1300 block were demolished.

Keystone sent a letter to West Mahanoy Township requesting they abandon West Penn Street.

The matter was briefly approved with no discussion.

The board then voted to rescind approval and table the matter, saying there are issues they need to discuss with Keystone first.

In other business, there will be a clean-up on Schuylkill Avenue. Residents are asked to sweep their sidewalks and the township road crew will handle the rest on May 1 and May 2.

In other business, township supervisors approved:

• the firing of an employee effective April 11;
• the addition of a street light at 105 Morea Road;
• advertising for a full-time road crew member with a valid CDL;
• the hiring of Marvin Livergood as a part-time police officer at a rate of $20.50 an hour for 30 days.

The Shenandoah Sentinel was the ONLY local news source at this meeting, and has been the ONLY local news source covering West Mahanoy Township supervisors for well over a year. If you find value in our reporting and in knowing what YOUR local elected leaders are doing, PLEASE consider contributing to our efforts via Patreon or Buy Me A Coffee.

The post Keystone seeks abandonment of Upper Brownsville street first appeared on The Shenandoah Sentinel.