Abandoned Mine Posts

by Bruce Golden, Regional Coordinator and Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator

Although Watershed Awareness Month with the theme “Reclaiming Abandoned Mines to Reclaim our Waterways” is winding down, watershed groups and others are energized about reclamation opportunities and are preparing to attend the SMCRA Title IV Roundtables in the Bituminous Region. This is your friendly reminder to bring yourselves, your friends, fellow watershed group members, and your ideas and comments to the roundtable nearest you. Now is the time to ask your questions and make your comments regarding how the State should use the $1.4 Billion in Title IV funds. WPCAMR staff will be on hand to provide the educational session along with their Title IV video and EPCAMR will present a GIS database to locate priority reclamation sites in your neighborhood. Look for an Abandoned Mine Post announcement in the near future for more information on two more roundtables that may be added.

Remember, these roundtables are OUR chance to voice our opinions as to how to further reclamation work in the coal regions.

Some important questions to consider when attending these roundtables are:

1. How should the funds be used? (ie. for land reclamation, water supplies, AMD remediation).
2. Should we take advantage of the set aside provision? If so, what percentage should be set aside and how should those set aside funds be used?
3. How can we maximize our efforts?
4. Are there other related topics and/or consequences that need to be considered?

The dates and locations of the roundtables in the Bituminous Region are:

May 30 – Robertsdale (Robertsdale Fire Hall)
May 31 – Ebensburg (Dept. of Environmental Protection Cambria Office)
June 5 – Slippery Rock (Jennings Environmental Center)
June 6 – California (California University of PA, Morgan Hall)
June 7 – Dubois (Penn State University, Dubois Campus, Hiller Auditorium)
(click here to view them all on a map and get driving directions)

(click here for DEP’s official notice)

All meetings will follow the agenda below:
4:00 to 5:30 pm – Educational videos and overview of SMCRA Title IV Reauthorization.
5:30 to 6:30 pm – Public review of PA’s Abandoned Mine Land inventory and maps.
6:30 to 8:30 pm – Public input session.

  The Anthracite Region informal meeting notes were developed through the collaboration of the Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation and the DEP. They are provided here to facilitate further discussion at upcoming roundtables. The notes are believed to reflect the sense of the discussions at the respective meetings but have not been comprehensively reviewed for accuracy. A formal record of each meeting will be made available once DEP is provided with the transcript.
 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 29th, 2007 at 4:48 pm and is filed under AML Fund Reauthorization, Legislation, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.