Commissioners Lake also known as "The Crater" is a pit lake and abandoned mine land site in Mount Carmel Township, Pennsylvania. Formed within a former anthracite strip mine, the site contains a hazardous water body, an approximately mining highwall, and more than of disturbed land. It is the subject of an ongoing state reclamation project administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
History and formation Commissioners Lake formed within a former anthracite strip mine that was later abandoned and filled with water. The resulting water body occupies a deep portion of the former stripping pit, with water depths exceeding .
Site description and hazards The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation (BAMR) classifies the location as an active Abandoned Mine Land (AML) problem area under project number OSM 49(1591)101.1. The total project footprint encompasses over of disturbed land. Official state program tracking identifies multiple safety and environmental hazards at the site using standardized AML problem codes: Dangerous Impoundments (DI), Dangerous Highwall (DH), Surface Burning (SA), and Hazardous Water Body (HWB). The unbackfilled mining highwall exposed at the site features near-vertical slopes and extends approximately in length. The site is situated within an extensively mined anthracite region that contains abandoned underground coal workings.
Industrial use and water management In 2026, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) and BAMR approved emergency groundwater and surface water withdrawals from Commissioners Lake. The water body served as a primary water source for high-volume hauling and pumping operations used to suppress an emergency burning coal refuse bank fire located approximately south of the lake within Mount Carmel Township.
Reclamation Engineering design planning for a comprehensive reclamation of the site was initiated by BAMR under the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding frameworks. The proposed mitigation plan involves using adjacent spoil material to backfill portions of the water body, stabilizing the hazardous water impoundment, grading the highwall, and restoring stable topographic conditions across the project area.
See also Acid mine drainage Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977
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