Published: June 27, 2025 |

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The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has approved the expansion of an underground coal mine in Westmoreland County. 

Johnstown-based LCT Energy LP operates the 2,800-acre Rustic Ridge #1 Coal Mine in Donegal Township, just south of the Pennsylvania Turnpike exit there. It produces around 500,000 tons per year of metallurgical coal, used in steelmaking, according to the company.

The DEP approved the company’s plan for a 1,400-acre expansion of the mine underneath the Turnpike to the northern side of the roadway.

The company plans to mine the Lower Kittanning coal seam, which lies between 200 and 690 feet below ground. The average depth of the mine would be 300 and 500 feet, LCT Energy president Mark Tercek said, in an email.

The company is permitted to treat waste mine water and then discharge the treated waste water into Indian Creek, a tributary of the Youghiogheny River, which flows into the Monongahela River.

In its permit application, the company said it will conduct “room-and-pillar” mining, in which pillars of coal are left in place for support to prevent cave-ins, and will not practice retreat mining, where the pillars are removed to extract more coal. The company estimates that it will extract between 42.9 percent to 79 percent of the coal where it is digging, depending on how deep the mine will go.

The company said that “(s)ome subsidence has occurred in an isolated area” of the current mine, resulting in “some damage to structures on the surface.”

Tercek said in an email that the company would test geologic conditions and adjust its mining plan to avoid conditions that could lead to subsidence in the future.

Tercek said all water discharged from the site would meet the DEP’s water quality standards. He said the company “was able to specifically design a project that will not impact existing” mine discharges. In addition, the company would limit the amount of coal it digs out beneath existing homes.

In an email, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission press secretary Marissa Orbanek said the commission has an agreement with LCT to mine beneath the roadway.

The agreement “allow[s] for a limited amount of coal removal beneath the Turnpike near Donegal to allow the coal company to cross beneath the highway and mine their coal reserves located north of the Turnpike,” Orbanek said.  She added that the Turnpike has a team of employees “that continuously monitors all 565+ miles of the roadway daily.”

Source: The Allegheny Front

LCT Energy was established in 2009 and is headquartered in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The LCT team produces some of the highest quality metallurgical coal in the industry. Its coal is valued by both domestic and international customers as a key component in the production of steel. Safety and compliance are core to all its operations. LCT’s priority is providing a safe work environment for its 177+ employees; going above and beyond to achieve its goal of exceeding expectations and to comply with all laws and regulations. LCT currently operates two Pennsylvania underground coal mines: Rustic Ridge in Donegal and Maple Springs in Jerome.

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