Abandoned Mine Posts

It’s that time of the year when many of us are in the process of preparing Growing Greener grant applications for the April 13th submission deadline. If that’s you and your project has a construction component, please pay particular attention to the application instructions on page 42 regarding “Prevailing Wage.” This is taking on increasing importance, and we wouldn’t want you to underestimate construction costs for your applications. The page 42 application guidance is repeated here for your convenience:

Prevailing Wage
Please note that, if the grant project includes construction work where the cost of the total project is greater than $25,000, the Act of August 15, 1961 (P.L. 987), as amended, known as the Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act (43 P.S. 165-1 et seq.) may apply. You should contact the PA Department of Labor and Industry, Bureau of Labor Law Compliance at 1-800-932-0665 for guidance, or call Alfred R. (Bob) Risaliti, Prevailing Wage Section, at 717-705-7256.

And here’s a link to the PA Department of Labor and Industry website for requesting the appropriate Prevailing Wage Application form that you may need.

Good luck with your proposal!

by Jeffrey Gerard, AmeriCorps OSM/VISTA

Twenty-six states throughout the U.S. produce coal in three general regions: Appalachian, Interior, and Western. To some degree, the geography and geology of these regions also differentiate the types of coal mined in these areas.

Stretching from Pennsylvania to Alabama, the Appalachian coal region contains vast beds of high-quality bituminous coal. Because bituminous coal has the greatest heating value, it is preferred in the steel industry. An exception to the bituminous deposits, northeastern Pennsylvania holds the only anthracite coal reserves in the United States. Anthracite is a hard coal once preferred for home furnaces because it burns cleanly with little smoke.

Today, about 35% of the nation’s coal comes from Appalachia. However, the Appalachian coalfields were mined much more heavily during the 19th century to fuel the country’s industrial revolution. It is because of this intensive, unregulated mining history that the Appalachian region has the most abandoned mine lands in the country.

Composing the Interior coal region, the coal of Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Oklahoma is also almost exclusively bituminous. However, the reserves are not as extensive as the Appalachian reserves, and the Interior region produces 13% of the nation’s coal, most of which is surface-mined. These states also have abandoned mine problems, though their extent mirrors the smaller level of coal production.

In the West, sub-bituminous coal lies within the Rocky Mountains. Containing around 40% carbon, sub-bituminous coal is geologically “younger” than bituminous coal and has less heating value. Still, surface mines in the Western coal region extract just over half of the nation’s coal production, especially in the Powder River Basin along the Montana-Wyoming border, which has the largest surface mines in the world.

Outside these three regions, lignite, a fuel that falls between coal and peat, is mined in North Dakota and in the Gulf States, especially Texas. Furthermore, mining for metals or various rocks is widespread across the United States, and often creates its own acid mine drainage recipe, containing pollutants such as copper or zinc.

Map of U.S. Coal Fields
from the U.S. Geological Survey

Coal Energy, for kids
from the DOE Energy Information Administration

Every PA DEP Growing Greener application for funding that has as its focus Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) or Abandoned Mine Reclamation (AMR), is required to include a Letter of Acknowledgement from either

• the Western PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (for projects in the bituminous coal region of Western Pennsylvania) or
• the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (for projects in the anthracite coal region of Eastern Pennsylvania).

You can request such letters using forms on the web:
[request a letter from EPCAMR]
[request a letter from WPCAMR]

Requests need to be received by April 6, 2007. Application packages are due to DEP by April 13, 2007.

Grab your calendar! Today you’ll find a substantial listing of upcoming conferences, forums, and grant deadlines related to watershed stewardship and abandoned mine reclamation. (All dates are in 2007)

Coal Bed Methane Forum (March 15, 7-9pm)

Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, PA (Science Center Amphitheater) — This informational forum will focus on the rights and responsibilities of surface property owners and residents with regard to coal bed methane extraction. Speakers will include representatives from the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection and Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, an independent attorney and an independent hydrogeologist. Find directions online or call 724-455-4200.

Governor’s Outdoors Conference (March 18-20)

State College, PA — Dialogue to maintain and strengthen Pennsylvanians’ connection with the outdoors, encompassing areas as diverse as public health, the economy, childhood and family development, and environmental conservation and stewardship. Visit connectoutdoors.state.pa.us or call 1-877-240-2245.

Water Resources Education Network Grant Applications Due (April 2)

Grants up to $5000 for community-based educational projects that protect and improve watersheds. Read the grant annoucement or call 724-465-4978.

Stormwater Solutions for PA Communities Conference (April 5-6)

State College, PA (Penn Stater Conference Center) — Technical workshop focused on implementation of Pennsylvania’s new Stormwater BMP Manual. See the conference website or call 717-234-5550.

Growing Greener Grant Applications Due (April 13)

Pennsylvania state grants for watershed and flood protection. Visit the Growing Greener website.

West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Symposium (April 27-28)

Williamsport, PA (Genetti Hotel) — This event brings together policy-makers, technical experts, volunteers and other interested parties to exchange ideas regarding abandoned mine drainage cleanup in the region. Includes watershed tours and information on AMD remediation and Abandoned Mine Lands legislation. [More info]

Penn. 4th Statewide Volunteer Monitoring Summit (May 4-5)

Gettysburg, PA (Eisenhower Conference Center) — Four concurrent tracks designed for volunteer watershed monitors and those who work with them: Restoration, Volunteer Program Management and Sustainability, Technical, and Government 101. See www.easi.org/summit or call 717-244-6248.

Penn. 9th Conference on Abandoned Mine Reclamation (July 20-21)

State College, PA (Ramada Hotel) — Highlights of SMCRA reauthorization, OM&R funding track, and vendor presentations. More details are in the works.