The Huber Colliery yard was like a family. The workers committed themselves when a tragedy would befall a person who was in need of expert help when a tragedy was at stake. Most of the people at the Huber over the years had gone through various tests and instructions for above and underground safety to resolve problems.

The Huber had a history of underground mining, and de-watering was then resolved by the use of large and small pumps. The area of the Huber was saturated with large and small pumps with high and low pressure that were useful in and outside mines and trenches, and were used to rescue and repair abandoned mine work.

The Huber was the home of six large pumps and four small pumps. There were large and small generators including all types of piping, and hundreds of feet of small and large electrical cables. There were 60-foot-long search-and-rescue trailers that were loaded with search-and-rescue equipment. Generator sets were large enough to run the 200- and 300-horsepower pumps.

We tried to utilize the trailers for the Wilkes-Barre flood but could not get them to release them. We were unable to get any releases from Huber, even under public court. Before this happened, the pump trailers and equipment were loaned to the DEP and DCNR at no cost.

There were dozens of times the state would need various types of equipment. It was given to them and in 15 years never charged any usage. There were six of the largest electric- or gas-powered concrete saws made and they were all crushed, loaded on one truck and taken to the scrap yard. All the equipment that could be used to construct various contracts and used in rescue work have been crushed, cut up or sold for scrap.

The main body of the land was used as a repair area for the equipment and to store any scrap left over from the equipment. The site was kept up to par and workers were always ready. The Huber yard had any type of equipment needed for contracts and rescue work, such as bulldozers, backhoes, dump trucks, fire trucks and air compressors,

The condition and what has happened to this site is certainly not the American way of life.

Al Roman,

No. 1 Contracting,