On March 21, 2019, Rose Damron called the Kentucky Division of Abandoned Mine Lands to report a landslide that damaged her home located on Henry Clay Hill in the community of Lookout in Pike County, Kentucky. A portion of the slope behind her home had failed and impacted the house, breaking through the back wall and inundating a portion of the structure with mud and other debris. AML drafted a small purchase project plan to protect the home while a larger, more in depth project was developed to address the slide and prevent future damage.
Hall and Son Excavating of Louisa, Kentucky was awarded the small purchase project.
Work began on May 20, 2019 and consisted of:
• Removal and transport of earthen slide materials to an approved waste area located a short distance away.
• Domestic debris was properly disposed at the county landfill.
• Installation of 20 L.F. of 18 inch HDPE pipe for access to the back yard.
• Installation of ten concrete barrier blocks to serve as a temporary protection for the home until the more extensive project could be designed and approved.
Smith Brothers Excavating of Manchester, Kentucky was awarded the high priority project. This project proved much more extensive and aimed to correct the slide area behind the Damron home and control the mine-related drainage issues that had plagued the entire neighborhood for over 60 years.
Work consisted of constructing a 10.5’ high Non-Reinforced Concrete Block wall as a permanent barrier behind the Damron residence. The wall was constructed on a concrete footer with a sub-drain to carry water out, and away. Class II (riprap) crushed limestone rock was used to backfill the wall and support the slope while allowing water to freely drain through and exit via the sub-surface drain system. A safety fence was also installed atop the wall to mitigate possible fall hazards.
From there, the mine drainage was controlled through a series of culverts and a concrete ditch with grated top, to allow surface water to drain. It was a welcome improvement for the community. An aged, makeshift retaining wall constructed of used tires was removed and the tires properly disposed.
A concrete wall was constructed along the front edge of Ms. Damron’s lawn. This wall supported the lawn while providing the backdrop for the concrete ditch that runs along Henry Clay Hill Street. From the end of the concrete ditch, newly installed culvert pipe carried the drainage to the project extents where it enters the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet highway drainage system and eventually outlets into a local stream.
The project continued through the fall and winter of 2019 with most site work completing in early 2020. The final construction inspection was held on February 6, 2020. The final cost for the project as constructed was $350,045.16.
This project marked the second reclamation effort relating to the Henry Clay Mine. In 2007, The Federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement carried out a high priority project to extinguish a refuse fire left behind from the mine’s production. No matter what issues might arise in the future from the old mine works, the residents of Lookout, KY know that The Kentucky Division of Abandoned Mine Lands stands ready to help in any way possible to mitigate health and safety issues from our past mining history.
AREA HISTORY
The nearby Lower Elkhorn coal seam was deep mined by Henry Clay Coal Company, prior to 1956. The Henry Clay Mine’s history extends back to the early 1900s when the Semet-Solvay Corporation began buying land in the Marrowbone Creek Region and opening mines. The first mine at the Lookout location opened in 1908 and operated until 1936, reopening in 1942 and finally ceasing operation in the early 1950s. The mine supplied the Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation, one of the county’s largest companies at the time. The mine was first called the Marrowbone Mine but came to be known as the Henry Clay mine, named for the operator Henry Clay Frick.
The miners that worked there lived and worked through turbulent times as poor and unsafe conditions lead to many deaths during the years of operation. Attempts to unionize the miners caused strikes and retaliation from the local company supporters and the town Sheriff.
All aspects of life for the residents in the area were related to production at the Henry Clay Mine with miners coming from as far away as Pikeville, KY to work there. When the mine first closed in 1936, the miners traveled overland to work at the Harewood Mine in Longacre, West Virginia which had been bought by Semet-Solvay. When work restarted, a petition was drafted by the UMWA to support the canalization of the Tug and Levisa River stating that without an effective means of transporting coal to Ironton, OH and Huntington, WV coal plants, the mine could not hope to compete and remain in operation.