Abandoned mine lands in Northeast Pennsylvania are being surveyed as potential sites for solar energy projects. The Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation is working under a $7,000 mini grant to identify sites that could host massive solar panels. âWe have to look at slopes. The land cannot be too steep. Another factor is the proximity to electrical power transmission substations,ââ said Bobby Hughes, executive director of EPCAMR. No sites have been selected yet, Hughes said, but EPCAMR hopes to identify acreage âvery soon.ââ Northeast Pennsylvania remains dotted with mining-related land sites, most often scarred by more than one century of anthracite mining and production. Thousands of acres have been reclaimed, but culm banks and sloping acreage remain.