SCRANTON — Completion of reclamation of a former coal mining site dating to the 1870s in North Scranton will allow for commercial or industrial development on a vacant 8-acre segment, according to a public notice and the state Department of Environmental Protection.

For about a century, the Marvine colliery on Boulevard Avenue marked the landscape with breakers, culm banks and rails. Operations involved mining and processing of millions of tons anthracite coal at the site, which employed thousands during its heyday in the early 1900s.

The Marvine Colliery on Boulevard Avenue in Scranton in the mid-20th Century. (Lackawanna Historical Society)

Little of that bustling past remains, except for a few remnants of railroad and coal mining history along the Lackawanna River and Lackawanna River Heritage Trail, and near the Parker Street Landing.

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The Lackawanna River Heritage Trail’s Marvine Colliery section off the Parker Street Landing in North Scranton, on Thursday, June 29, 2023. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)

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A pair of youths bicycle past a pair of defunct bridges over the Lackawanna River along the Marvine section of the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail in Scranton. Photo taken May 11, 2022. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)

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Old culm banks of the former Marvine colliery as seen from the Marvine trail section of the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail in Scranton. on May 11, 2022. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)

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A pair of defunct bridges over the Lackawanna River, at left one used by miners to walk to and from the former Marvine colliery, and at right, a rail bridge for coal cars, along the Marvine section of the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail in Scranton. Photo taken May 11, 2022. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)

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A Google aerial view of the former Marvine colliery area in North Scranton. (SCREEN COPY OF GOOGLE IMAGE)

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The Lackawanna River Heritage Trail’s Marvine Colliery section off the Parker Street Landing in North Scranton, on Thursday, June 29, 2023. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)

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Over the past few decades, developments have cropped up on sections of the former Marvine site, including the Lackawanna Recycling Center and a cell tower; the Green Ridge Care Center nursing home and affiliated Gardens of Green Ridge assisted living center; and Mike’s Scrap Recycling facility, all on the western side of Boulevard Avenue; and on the eastern side of that road, the United States Armed Forces Reserve Center, fronting on Olyphant Avenue.

A few years ago, the heritage trail created a new 1-mile section routed through the Marvine site, where this new paved path between the Parker Street Landing and Boulevard Avenue hugs the river and wraps around the Lackawanna Recycling Center.

Now, a firm of Louis and Dominick DeNaples called APHC II that owns 8 acres of the former colliery land seeks from the state the release of $41,379 in reclamation bonds, because the firm has completed reclamation work on those acres, according to a public notice in The Times-Tribune on Aug. 16, Aug. 23, Aug. 30 and Sept. 6.

Completed in stages before May 15, reclamation activities consisted of removal of a coal refuse bank and regrading of the site to facilitate unspecified commercial or industrial land use, the public notice says.

Efforts were unsuccessful to reach the DeNaples firm about possible commercial or industrial development plans for the reclaimed acreage.

The public notice says the 8 acres is adjacent to the Lackawanna Recycling Center along Boulevard Avenue, and APHC II received a state permit in 1997 regarding the property under the Pennsylvania Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act. The bond release sought is for Stages 1, 2 and 3 of the reclaimed 8 acres.

“The operator is stating that they believe they have completed all required reclamation for this site,” according to information about the process provided via email to a Times-Tribune reporter from DEP Regional Communications Manager Patti Monahan.

Before the bond money can be released to the company, it was required to issue a public notice stating it is asking the DEP to release all bonds held regarding the acreage involved; and the DEP also inspects the site to ensure grading has been completed, mining equipment has been removed and there are no erosion or sediment issues, Monahan’s email said.

The public notice also opened a window that ends Monday for submission of public written comments, objections or requests for a public hearing or informal conference on the release of the bond money. Such comments may be submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection, District Mining Operations, 5 West Laurel Boulevard, Pottsville, PA 17901 by Oct. 6 and must include the person’s name, address, telephone number and a brief statement as to the nature of the objection.

When coal was king in NEPA, and what it left behind

For about 100 years the stark outline of a coal breaker loomed large over many city neighborhoods and towns throughout the area from the Marvine colliery on Boulevard Avenue in Scranton.

The Delaware and Hudson Coal Co. (later Hudson Coal Co.) formed in 1872 to operate the Marvine colliery.

The first breaker was built in 1875. Over the years, the colliery expanded. At its peak, it employed three shifts of 1,000 men each. In 1920, a new 100-foot-high steel and concrete breaker was erected.

The Marvine was considered one of the most modern collieries in Northeast Pennsylvania. In the 1930s tours of its facilities were conducted, and while it was in operation millions of tons of anthracite coal was mined and processed.

Its breaker was one of the last in operation. As industry turned to oil as its major power source, mining declined. The Marvine survived longer than most, but ceased operations in the 1970s. The breaker was demolished in 1976, according to research by the Lackawanna Historical Society.

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Boulevard Avenue in Scranton runs through land that was formerly the Marvine Colliery in Scranton Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. A portion of the Lackawanna Recycling Center is shown on the bottom. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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Surrounding the Lackwanna County Recycling Center and Boulevard Avenue is land that was formerly the Marvine Colliery in Scranton Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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Boulevard Avenue in Scranton runs through land that was formerly the Marvine Colliery Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. A portion of the Lackawanna County Recycling Center can be seen on the lower right. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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Interstate 81 runs along a section of land near the Lackawanna Recycling Center in Scranton Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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Boulevard Avenue in Scranton runs along the The Gardens of Green Ridge and Mike’s Scrap Recycling neighboring a portion of land, that was formerly used for the Marvine Colliery Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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Boulevard Avenue in Scranton runs through land that was formerly the Marvine Colliery in Scranton Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. A portion of the Lackawanna Recycling Center is shown on the bottom. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)

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