News Release

COLUMBUS, OH -- The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) will conduct subsurface drilling tests beginning January 25 to determine the extent and condition of abandoned underground mines in a residential neighborhood of North Canton and Plain Township in northwest Stark County. Initially, drilling will be conducted on streets and other public rights of way, however ODNR officials may later ask permission to evaluate some private properties as well. Work is expected to be completed by mid-February.

The affected area covers several blocks within a larger area bounded by Applegrove Street on the south, Cleveland Avenue on the east, Orion Street on the north and Pittsburgh Road on the west. Owners of approximately three dozen adjacent properties have been notified by ODNR.

ODNR Field Project Manager Jim Gue, with the ODNR Division of Mines & Reclamation's district office in Salem, said the program — called the Forney Mine Subsidence Exploratory Drilling Project — will define the limits of mapped and possibly unmapped abandoned underground coal mines in the area and will help develop recommendations to reduce the risk of damage or property loss caused by mine subsidence activity.

In recent years, the neighborhood has experienced several subsidence incidents due to the collapse of abandoned mines dating from the late 1920s and early 1930s. Mines from that era were often not mapped or the existing maps are incomplete, Gue said.

Persons having questions or comments regarding the exploratory drilling project may contact Jim Gue, ODNR Division of Mines & Reclamation in Salem, at (330) 222-1527 or Derek Collins, geologist with the division's Abandoned Mine Lands Program in Columbus, at (614) 265-1038.