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Announcements

Following are Office of Surface Mining announcements for the week of October 24^th. Changes
are made to this page weekly, usually by mid week. You may need to click your browser "refresh"
button to see the most recent announcements.

Asst. Sec. Rebecca Watson issues decision on Mettiki mine. (Letter)

Federal agencies and West Virginia Release Final Mountaintop Mining Environmental Impact Statement:

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Office of Surface Mining, and West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection will announce the availability of the programmatic Mountaintop Mining/Valley Fill Environmental Impact Statement in a near future Federal Register. The final Environmental Impact Statement fulfills the commitment made by the agencies in a December 23, 1998 settlement agreement on Clean Water Act counts against the Corps of Engineers in the Bragg v. Robertson litigation filed in Federal District Court for Southern West Virginia. The final programmatic Environmental Impact Statement examines a broad range of potential federal and state actions to further prevent or reduce adverse environmental impacts, as well as to clarify lines of responsibility among the agencies designed to improve compliance with and enforcement of the Clean Water Act the Surface Mining Law, and The Endangered Species Act. The preferred alternative contains actions that consider such things as coordinated data collection and environmental analyses in a collaborative regulatory process that could result in better watershed-based permit decisions in Appalachian states where mountaintop mining occurs. The geographic focus of the final programmatic Environmental Impact Statement is about 12 million acres encompassing most of eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia, western Virginia and scattered areas of east Tennessee. During preparation of the programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, the agencies conducted or funded over 30 studies to compile existing data expand the current knowledge base about impacts of mountaintop mining and associated excess spoil disposal valley fills. By integrating Clean Water Act the Surface Mining Law requirements, the agencies are making a collective effort to provide a regulatory program that balances the nation's energy needs and the protection of environmental resources in areas where Mountaintop Mining/Valley Fill operations take place.

Office of Surface Mining Studying Options to Protect Sewer from Mine Fire in Pennsylvania:

On October 11^th, the Office of Surface Mining drilling operations at the Dolph Collieries project were completed in a remote area of Olyphant Borough, Pennsylvania. The drilling will indicate best options to protect a buried, 12-inch diameter plastic sewer line from the advance of the mine fire. Protective measures may include digging a cut-off trench just ahead of the fire, changing to a pipeline that will not be affected by high temperatures, and/or relocating a section of the sewer line. The specific threat to the sewer line by a portion of the combination coal refuse and coal seam fire is an Office of Surface Mining abandoned mine land project. However, due to the absence of any houses, overall abatement of the fire itself as an emergency is discretionary to the Office of Surface Mining and the project may be referred to the state, addressed by the Office of Surface Mining, or jointly abated by the Office of Surface Mining and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Olympia Office Holds Information Gathering Meeting:

On October 13^th, staff from the Olympia Area Office met with the Assistant State Geologist from the Washington Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geology and Earth Resources, to discuss the process and procedures involved in acquiring primacy under the Surface Mining Law. The Assistant State Geologist is also the Chief of Washington's Surface Mining Reclamation Program, a program that regulates mining and reclamation activities for all minerals other than coal in the State of Washington. The information gathering meeting was triggered by recent inquiries from Washington Senator Maria Cantwell's office regarding abandoned mine land reclamation expenditures in Washington State.

Missouri Permitting Workshop:

On October 19-20^th, the Office of Surface Mining Mid-Continent Regional office hosted a workshop on permitting for the Missouri Land Reclamation Program. This workshop consisted of presentations on permitting actions that have occurred since the Office of Surface Mining assumed the enforcement of the Missouri program in August of 2003. The Missouri participants had an opportunity to become familiar with the federal permitting actions. The workshop was part of a series of training activities the Office of Surface Mining is providing to state staff in preparation for the return of the Missouri program to state administration.

Find the trees and win a commemorative key chain

To help identify the value of planting trees on reclaimed active and abandoned coal mines the Office of Surface Mining is distributing a brochure titled, Market-Based Mine Land Reclamation. To highlight the value of reforestation, a tree hunt is underway on this web site. The first person to find all the trees wins a 25th Anniversary of the Surface Mining Law key chain. One of the trees is just to the right. Click on the tree to begin collecting your trees, or here for more information about the tree hunt.