The Altoona Water Authority Monday posted a notice of condemnation in the Mirror against 125 acres of former strip-mined land that includes reservoir watershed above the Horseshoe Curve, after convoluted ownership issues proved impractical to untangle.

A rectangular tract about half a mile south of the bottom of the dip in Route 36 between Buckhorn and the Coupon-Gallitzin Road, the property is surrounded by the former Cooney Bros. Coal Co. land the authority purchased in 2020 — and would have been part of that purchase except for the ownership issues, according to authority general manager Mark Perry.

“Time dragged on, and the ownership matters were not becoming clearer,” said authority solicitor David Gaines. “Condemnation (is) an expedited way of taking care of (it).”

The notice lists 31 parties, most of them members of the McNelis family — everyone the authority believes may have an ownership interest — who are advised, along with anyone else who may have such an interest, that they can “challenge the power or right of the Altoona Water Authority to appropriate the condemned property, the sufficiency of the security, the procedure followed or the First Amended Declaration of taking,” as long as they do it within 30 days.

The research the authority conducted involved reading deeds that went back several generations.

One man’s interest amounted to 1/81 of the property, Gaines said.

He died in 1939.

It’s unclear how many heirs he might have, and what percentage of the property they might be entitled to, Gaines said.

“It was a nightmare to (try to) find out,” he said, speaking of the research overall. “It was a quagmire.”

It’s questionable what incentive the heirs to tiny percentages would have to pursue their claims, especially given that ground is probably not worth all that much, Gaines said.

After the 30 days expire, the authority board will “evaluate things” before deciding what to do, Gaines said.

Ownership of the land could go to the authority, he said.

But if challenges are filed, there would be delays until those challenges are resolved, he explained.

The condemnation was not intended to be “adversarial in any way,” Perry said. “We just exhausted the avenues (of inquiry).”

If the authority takes over ownership, it would probably begin reforestation of at least part of the tract, with the rest perhaps remaining as grassland, Perry said.

“There are no hard plans,” he said.

Part of the property drains to Kittanning Run, which, in turn, could feed the three-reservoir system below the Curve, Perry said.

Kittanning Run actually bypasses those reservoirs in a channel that runs along the road because it’s polluted by acid mine drainage — although by turning valves, workers can send the Kittanning water into the reservoir closest to the Curve.

It can also treat the Kittanning water successfully, although doing so would be costly and impractical, Perry said.

To eliminate that cost barrier and to make the Kittanning water available for use, the authority could treat the water that comes from the seeps that pollute Kittanning Run, Perry said.

The authority already uses several passive treatment ponds for the waters of Glen White Run, which feeds the Curve reservoirs.

Treating the seeps above Kittanning Run would require an active treatment facility that wouldn’t be “completely unmanned,” Perry said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.