OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION & ENFORCEMENT EMBARGOED UNTIL MAY 4, 1992 Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719 INTERIOR SECRETARY LUJAN ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF OSM'S NATIONAL SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AWARDS Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced that coal mine operators tn seven states are winners in the sixth annual Excellence in Surface Mining Reclamation Awards competition. The prize-winning operations are in Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Central Ohio Coal Company's Muskingum Mine, near Cumberland, Ohio, won the prestigious Office of Surface Mining Director's Award for exemplary reclamation with recreation as a post-mining land use. Central Ohio donated more than 9,000 acres of reclaimed coal mine land to the International Center for the Preservation of Wild Animals for creation of "The Wilds," a planned international breeding center for rare and endangered animals. "The Wilds" will also serve as a wild animal research and education facility with a visitor center and a network of tramways to allow visitors to view animals at satellite exploration facilities. Other winners in the 1991 national competition, sponsored by Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), are: --Drummond Company, Inc., North Morris and South Morris Mines, Morris, Alabama, nominated by the Alabama Surface Mining Commission, for a reclamation project at the 293-acre site which included rerouting and improving county roads, enriching soil at the site with municipal sludge, and providing successful post-mining land use, including the right-of-way for a section of Interstate 65 and a recreational area where the Birmingham Remote Control Club flies model aircraft. --Foertsch Construction Company, Inc., Little Sandy No. 1 Mine, Montgomery, Indiana, nominated by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Reclamation Division, for restoring more than 99 percent of the site to prime farmland standards. Sixteen permanent impoundments have been landscaped into the site, including two ponds which are used for raising catfish. --Solar Sources, Inc., Elberfeld and Perry Mines, Lynnville, Indiana, nominated by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Reclamation Division, for exemplary reclamation of pre-existing abandoned mine problems. Solar Sources retained the site, then reclaimed it, restoring it to productive farmland which supports agricultural crops and three acres of newly planted walnut trees. --KEM Coal Company, Shop Hollow Mine, Engle, Kentucky, nominated by the Kentucky Department for Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, for reclaiming a 600-acre mountaintop removal operation in Eastern Kentucky's steep, mountainous terrain into a regional airport, complete with terminal and 3,500-foot runway. --Coal-Mac, Inc., and its contract operator, the Rifle Coal Company, Debord, Kentucky, nominated by the Kentucky Department for Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, commended for reclaiming a mountaintop removal site in the steep terrain of eastern Kentucky in a series of terraces, eliminating the flat-top landscape typical of this type of operation. --Patriot Mining Company, Steyer, Maryland, nominated by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, for exemplary reclamation in mountainous Garrett County,. Maryland, devising a drainage control system which includes six sedimentation ponds, reclaimed natural springs, and diversion ditches that drain into ponds. One pond discharges cold water to protect native trout in adjacent Steyer Run. --R & F Coal Company, Phillips Mine area, Barnesville, Ohio, nominated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Reclamation, for its outstanding cooperative efforts with local landowners, government regulators, and the public in reclaiming abandoned mine land into productive agricultural land and natural environments for wildlife. --Boich Mining Company, Betsy Mine, Bloomingdale, Ohio, nominated by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Reclamation, for reclaiming the 850-acre surface mine site owned by the Mingo Sportmen's Association into a hunting and fishing recreation area. The reclaimed site includes five permanent ponds and grasslands that attract deer and other small game populations. --Savitski Brothers Coal Sales, Atlas, Pennsylvania, nominated by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, for exemplary reclamation by a small coal mine operator. Savitski the first anthracite ("hard coal") operator to win an OSM reclamation award, retained an abandoned site that now supports a variety of vegetation. --Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA), Sandow Mine, Rockdale, Texas, nominated by the Railroad Commission of Texas, for reclamation efforts at ALCOA's lignite mining operation, 50 miles north of Austin, which resulted in new pasturelands and wildlife habitat on the reclaimed site. "These national reclamation awards represent the accomplishment of key goals for the Department of the Interior,' Lujan said. 'The winners underscore the true meaning of resource stewardship. They not only upgrade the quality of the land left behind after reclamation, they actually leave it in better condition than it was before they mined it. By their example, they lead the way." "These national reclamation winners have established hallmarks of excellence for the American coal industry to follow in safeguarding the environment and reclaiming the land after mining," Lujan continued. "I extend heartiest congratulations to these conservation-minded coal mine operators, and commend them for what they have accomplished to take pride in America.' Deputy Secretary of the Interior Frank A. Bracken and OSM Director Harry M. Snyder presented the national awards at the welcoming luncheon of the American Mining Congress Coal Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 4, 1992. The winners were selected by a panel of judges from OSM, the Bureau of Mines, and the U.S. Geological Survey.