Canada-based Corsa did not issue a public statement on the decision but the state Department of Environmental Protection told local newspaper the Tribune-Democrat that the subsidiary, Wilson Creek Energy, would no longer seek to extract from the McAndrew mine near Hastings, Elder Township in northern Cambria County.

DEP spokesman John Poister told the paper that Somerset County-based Wilson Creek was apparently shelving its plans for the 70-acre tract on concerns over the unknown potential impact the mine could have on water sources.

“Wilson Creek came to us and asked that we return their permit application for that strip mine proposal,” Poister told the T-D.

During DEP’s review of the application, locals told the paper that blasting could make wells, some as shallow as 22 feet deep, unusable.

The company warned in 2012 that it might reconsider its plan if the public had too much pushback.

“The big question was, how were they going to manage the water,” Poister told the paper.

Corsa Coal, which owns three surface mines and an underground operation, also owns Maryland Energy Resources.

The T-D said Wilson Creek still held a strip permit for McAndrew’s neighboring tract Semelsberger, though the property’s status was unclear.