About 7,000 miles of Pennsylvania’s streams, 8% of the state total, are polluted by drainage from abandoned coal mines, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.

That is by far the most of any state.

The most obvious example of the problem is the orange, mineral-laden plume that spews from abandoned mine works into rivers like the Lackawanna at Duryea, near the confluence with the Susquehanna River.

Pennsylvania will get more money this year than any other state from the new federal infrastructure program, $245 million, to clean up land and waterways damaged by the state’s long coal-mining era. That will provide an enormous boost for cleanup efforts, which normally rely on much smaller allocations from a fund fueled by a tax on current coal production.

The amount this year is about three times the amount of the state’s annual federal grant. Of $11.5 billion for mine pollution cleanup projects that the infrastructure program has authorized over the next 15 years, Pennsylvania will receive about $4 billion.

Mine drainage into waterways poses a problem far different than land-based pollution. Typically, a project to repair damaged land can be conducted within a defined period. And once it is complete, further work generally isn’t necessary.

The problem with mine drainage is that it requires ongoing, open-ended water treatment.

Grants to deal with mine drainage usually are structured to recognize the need for continuing treatment. The infrastructure law that authorized the new $245 million, however, does not provide for ongoing treatment.

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Scranton has introduced the Safeguarding Treatment for the Restoration of Ecosystems from Abandoned Mines Act, or STREAM Act, along with Republican Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana. Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright of Moosic and Republican Rep. David McKinley of West Virginia have sponsored the same bill in the House. It would alter the infrastructure law’s rules to match those of the annual grant program. States would be able to invest 30% of the money to earn interest that would fund ongoing water treatment far into the future.

The bills propose the best use of the infrastructure funds because they ensure an ongoing effort rather than a one-time project. Congress should pass the bills.

— Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice via AP