From The Hazelton Standard Speaker

By KENT JACKSON (Staff Writer)
Published: August 16, 2009Pennsylvanians can hunt, hike, fish, camp and watch wildlife on more than 2,200 acres in the northeast that became public land through two transactions.The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources paid more than $2 million for 1,175 acres in Lackawanna and Monroe counties. The sale was recorded on Aug. 5 for the land in Thornhurst, Lackawanna County and Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, which will become part of the Lackawanna State Forest.

Meanwhile about 35 miles away, the Pennsylvania Game Commission will obtain 1,100 acres in Monroe County as part of a consent decree lodged on Aug. 3 as compensation for damage done to game lands by the former New Jersey Zinc plant in Palmerton.

That land in Ross and Eldred townships along the Monroe-Carbon border is called the King's Manor Tract. It will be added to State Game Land No. 168 if a federal judge approves the settlement after a 60-day review. The land includes habitat for birds, a one-mile stretch of the Aquashicola Creek, and ridges on the Blue Mountain where a ski resort and golf course were proposed five years ago. Keeping the land undeveloped protects a path for migratory birds along the Kittatinny Ridge and keeps a view from the Appalachian Trail unspoiled.

The game commission will receive title to the land because it owns thousands of acres on the Blue Mountain that the zinc operations polluted.James "Jay" Delaney, the commission's representative from northeastern Pennsylvania, called King's Manor prime property.

"We voted to take it. We thought it was good for the game commission, good for sportsmen, good for the wildlife," Delaney said.CBS Operations, which became owner of the defunct zinc plant through mergers, negotiated the $21.4 million settlement.In addition to giving the land, valued at $8.72 million, CBS will make a cash payment of $9.875 million, pay $2.5 million to assess damage costs and forgive a $330,000 mortgage for the Lehigh Gap Nature Center.Dan Kunkle of the nature center said CBS's predecessor, Viacom, made the $330,000 gift to help start the center six years ago but listed the gift as a mortgage so it would count toward the settlement.

The nature center monitors efforts to replant and conserve land defoliated by zinc operations.Kunkle said the King's Manor land will provide tremendous benefit to Pennsylvanians."The Appalachian Trail runs along it. I can't tell you how many good reasons there are to have that in the public domain," Kunkle said.

Zinc smelting that began in 1891 released dust containing metals that defoliated 2,000 acres along the Blue Mountain, according to allegations that state and federal agencies make in the consent decree. The decree, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, alleged that zinc operations contaminated soil in Palmerton and nearby communities and that a 2.5-mile-long cinder bank continues to pollute groundwater at the site.

CBS's predecessor companies, including the bankrupt Horseheads Industries, agreed in previous consent decrees to clean up the zinc site under provisions of the Superfund law.Superfund also requires responsible parties to pay compensation for damage done to resources such as land, plants and animals, and for lost opportunities for activities such as hunting, fishing and watching wildlife. Government agencies including the U.S. Department of Interior, the National Park Service, and the state's Game Commission, Department of Environmental Protection and Fish and Boat Commission studied those losses while acting as trustees and negotiating the settlement.

While CBS will give the King's Manor land to Pennsylvania as part of the settlement, the state paid Blue Mountain Realty for land added to the Lackawanna State Forest.Money came from the Growing Greener II grant program, Terry Brady, spokesman for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said."Now that it's state forest, it is open to the public. It is so new that we have no public maps," Nicholas Lylo, the state's district forester in Scranton, said.

Lylo said the only signs on the property are laminated cardboard placed to give visitors a rough idea of the land's location. His staff will start mapping the land, identifying boundaries and installing signs at public access points.The foresters next will categorize the types of tree and vegetative cover and evaluate the land for natural, cultural and social resources before adding it to a resource management plan that is updated every five years with public comment.As on all state forests, people are welcome to hike, backpack, hunt and fish on the land provided they follow forest rules and state laws. Backpackers can camp in tents without a permit if they don't stay more than one night in the same spot.

Lylo said the land includes 4,000 feet of abandoned rail line. "Someday that could be included in a rails-to-trails project," he said.A 2.5-mile section along the Lehigh River has special value."We're going to evaluate the potential for canoeing, kayaking and angling," Lylo said.

Several groups including the Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy, the Wildlands Conservancy and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council helped with the deal.Vanessa Vaughan, spokeswoman for the Conservation Fund in Arlington, Va., said her group purchased the property for $2.2 million and held it for the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The state agency got the grant and repaid the Conservation Fund so the property could be transferred in June.

Ellen Ferretti of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council said the purchase adds to the network of state parks, forests, game land and conserved land in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Monroe counties."That connectivity is important (as) public access and a natural resource," said Ferretti, who added that preserving land along the river help protect various species and public drinking water."This is additional land for the public to enjoy ... spectacular land in the headwaters of the Lehigh River," she said.