COLUMBUS, OH -- The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) will hold a public meeting in New Philadelphia on June 5 to discuss proposed abandoned mine projects in 13 northeastern Ohio counties. The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Room C-105 of the Kent State University Tuscarawas Campus, 330 University Drive N.E.
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 Aug. 3, 1977 when legislation addressing the problem went into effect. They will also discuss the policies and procedures of Ohio's Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Program and present a list of proposed projects for Carroll, Columbiana, Coshocton, Harrison, Holmes, Jefferson, Mahoning, Portage, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties. Meeting attendees are encouraged to present details of their own abandoned mine problems and check on eligibility for funding.
ODNR has secured more than $9.5 million in federal grant money from the U.S. Department of the Interior to fund abandoned mine clean-ups during the next year throughout eastern and southern Ohio. Part of that money was earmarked for 16 non-emergency projects and one acid mine drainage project in the 13-county area.
ODNR proposes to spend more than $2.5 million on design and construction for these 17 projects. An additional $300,000 is available to Ohio's entire coal region to replace domestic water supplies affected by abandoned mines. Another $50,000 is available for reforestation.
This grant money includes $1.5 million for emergency projects such as mine subsidence affecting occupied structures. Emergency projects are handled as they occur.
- Non-emergency projects proposed for the 13-county New Philadelphia/Salem District include:
- Backfilling eight dangerous highwalls near occupied structures or highways
- Stabilizing two landslides impacting a house and a road, three deep mine shafts and one deep mine entry
- Intercepting and conveying mine drainage away from two houses
- Reclaiming a coal refuse pile
- Reclaiming two dangerous water impoundments
- Preventing future mine subsidence in a neighborhood that has experienced numerous incidents in the past
- Reclaiming a large abandoned strip mine to improve water quality in a stream
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For Further Information Contact:
Jane Beathard, ODNR Media Relations
(614) 265-6860
-or-
Terry VanOfferen, ODNR Mineral Resources Management
(614) 265-1094