October 15, 2007

ODNR TO HOLD MEETING IN ATHENS TO DISCUSS ABANDONED MINE PROJECTS IN SOUTHEASTERN OHIO

COLUMBUS, OH – The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) will hold a public meeting in Athens on Tuesday, October 23 to discuss proposed abandoned mine projects being considered in six southeastern Ohio counties. The meeting is set for 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the conference room of the ODNR Division of Wildlife district office at 360 E. State Street.

Staffers from ODNR’s Division of Mineral Resources Management will be on hand to discuss environmental and public health and safety issues associated with Ohio mines that were abandoned prior to August 3, 1977, when legislation addressing the problem went into effect.

They will discuss the policies and procedures of Ohio’s Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Program and present a list of proposed projects for Belmont, Gallia, Lawrence, Meigs, Perry and Washington counties. Meeting attendees are encouraged to present details of their own abandoned mine problems in these counties as well as Athens, Guernsey, Hocking, Jackson, Licking, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble and Vinton counties and to check on eligibility for funding.

In November, ODNR will apply for federal grant money from the U.S. Department of the Interior to fund abandoned mine clean-ups during the next year throughout the northeastern and southeastern Ohio coal mining region. Part of that money is earmarked for 17 non-emergency projects in southeastern Ohio. ODNR proposes to spend about $481,000 on construction for these projects. Also included in the grant is $366,200 to improve streams impacted by acid mine drainage, and $1.8 million to address emergency abandoned mine land problems in the coal region.

Projects proposed for the southeastern Ohio mining district will accomplish the following:

• Close 10 mine entries
• Stabilize three mine-related landslides
• Remove 3,000 cu. yd. of coal refuse from a stream channel and floodplain
• Reclaim five acres of eroding mine spoil
• Install or upgrade seven mine drainage diversion systems
• Clear and remove mine waste debris from an abandoned coal load-out facility

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