Members of Sharpsville council did a little digging around Thursday to get some answers about slag mining at SQP Industries Inc.

Borough officials met with SQP and state Department of Environmental Protection representatives to discuss the effect mining could have on the borough and its residents.

Last year, the Pittsburgh-based Snyder Group, which bought the bankrupt SQP in February 2001, discovered nearly $13 million worth of slag at the former Sharpsville plant. Slag, a by-product of steel, had been dumped at the site since the early 20th century by Shenango Inc., which was at the site before SQP. SQP plans to mine the slag and sell it.

Sharpsville council Vice President Gus Grandy, councilmen Guy Moderelli and Tom Lally and Borough Manager Mike Wilson questioned Don Lacey, chief operating officer of SQP, and representatives from DEP's Knox District Mining Office and Air Quality Program about noise and dust associated with mining.

"We're new at what's going to happen ... we're willing to work with you," Grandy said.

Noise levels from the generator at the site should be minimal, said Lacey and John Hiser, president of Hiser Engineering Inc. of Worthington, Pa., who is acting as consultant to SQP. The generator is not a large, industrial machine which blares out a lot of noise, they said. It is located at the back of the property, not near the street, they said.

The borough had no noise complaints about machinery running at the property over the past year, Wilson said.

While the slag is being mined, the machinery will probably run six hours out of a typical eight-hour work day, Lacey said.

As for dust, Lacey said the slag has been in the ground for about 33 years and has a degree of moisture to it, which reduces the likelihood of dust. Anything that creates dust must be sprayed with water and visible dust is not allowed outside the mining site, according to DEP.

After the mining is complete the ground should return to its natural state and the end result will be a terraced hillside, rather than a hole, Hiser said. DEP officials said the hill's grade can't be steeper than 33 percent.

Lacey said water runoff from the site shouldn't be a problem. All water collected at the site will be treated and a retention pond on the site should keep any water out of the Shenango River, Hiser said.

SQP currently has a a small non-coal mining permit, which limits how much slag can be excavated. The company is waiting to receive its large non-coal mining permit, which has no limitations. Lacey said he believes there is at least a 10-year supply of slag at the site.

Wilson asked DEP air quality officials to look into the dust created when the former SQP plant was torn down. Wilson said the demolition company, the Saber Corporation, New York, was given access to water to keep the dust down during demolition, but at one point the fire department mistook a dust plume for smoke. The dust also coated and got into some homes in the area, he said.