Abandoned Mine Posts

By Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator 

The SMCRA Title IV Public Roundtables continue this week with three meetings scheduled in PA’s Bituminous Region. The attendance at the previous roundtables has been great and the opinions expressed will provide the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and their Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation (BAMR) with plenty of food for thought.

Educational component

The meeting format includes an an educational component consisting of a video produced specifically to show how the amended federal legislation will provide new flexibility and allow Pennsylvania to greatly increase the amount of abandoned mine reclamation done. 

Also included in the educational section is a demonstration of the Abandoned Mine Land Inventory System (AMLIS) GIS/database presented by Mike Hewitt of the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR). This presentation has been of particular interest to watershed groups and local landowners throughout both of our coal regions. The system allows the generation of on-the-fly maps depicting abandoned mine problems along with information about those problems. Even better, a CD containing the information is available free of charge that can run on most PCs. During the upcoming roundtables, Mike will show how the database works and will zoom in on areas of interest in your hometown. You can catch Mike’s AMLIS presentation during the educational session which runs from 4:00 until 5:30 pm. Also, the county abandoned mine land inventory maps produced by BAMR and presented at all of the Title IV roundtables are now available online.

Public Input

While many of the concerns and opinions that have surfaced during the roundtables reflect some of the common ground shared among the communities in both coal regions, opinions on some topics may differ. An example of this may be seen in the comments about taking the 30% Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) set aside. While most participants in the Bituminous roundtables appear to be in favor of taking the full 30% set aside, the opinions in the Anthracite region appear to be a little more mixed. Understandable. The Anthracite region has an incredible legacy of health and safety, land-based hazards that have been plaguing them for well over 100 years while at the same time the Bituminous Region is the place where you can find the majority of the State’s AMD-impacted streams.

Curious about the other meetings?

Check out DEPs official announcement of the roundtables and some of the unofficial meeting notes from previous 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.

Remember, this is your opportunity to help shape the future of Abandoned Mine Reclamation in Pennsylvania!

Mark your calendar for the meeting nearest you:

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)

Light refreshments will be served.

(click here to view them all on a map and get driving directions)

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.

For more information about Title IV, click here.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 4th, 2007 at 1:55 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.