According to large regional newspaper the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Kiski Township supervisors voted 5:0 last Wednesday to permit Kittanning-based Rosebud Mining access to the acreage for a new strip mining operation on Clarks Hollow.

Rosebud official John Ochs told the paper the mine’s coal would be transported from Clarks Hollow to its Logansport facility in Bethel Township, where it would be loaded to rail or barge.

A Rosebud spokesperson did not respond to an ILN request for more information on Friday but Ochs said no timeframe for mining had been determined other than removal operations, which could take “a year or a little more”

He noted that not all of the 80 acres would be used for mining and the mine would not be a 24-hour operation.

In fact, Ochs said, a daytime shift would be formed with the potential for a second shift.

The Review said supervisors did place some conditions on Rosebud’s new mine, the first of which involved compliance with all Department of Environmental Protection and Armstrong County Soil Conservation District regulations, including noise.

Additionally, the paper said, coal trucks could not use “jake brakes” within Kiski Township and the road leading to the mine must be tar and chipped to standard once the operation ceased.

Finally, a 100-foot buffer zone must be maintained and sound coming from the mine’s existing air shaft must be buffered.