(WASHINGTON) - Interior Secretary Gale Norton today announced that the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining has granted Oklahoma $152,613 in funding for the Clean Streams program.

Combined with grants awarded earlier this year, the new money brings Okalahoma's total 2004 funding for abandoned mine land (AML) reclamation to $1.752, 613.

"The grant we've just awarded will give Oklahoma's reclamation program some of what it needs to continue working on this enormous problem," said Norton. "But we aren't yet doing the best we can do." The Office of Surface Mining estimated last year that 55,611 Oklahomans are living less than a mile from a dangerous abandoned mine site. Oklahoma has about $95.5 million worth of unreclaimed high-priority Abandoned Mine Land problems. The state has recorded at least 11 deaths in 10 years due to accidents at AML sites.

High-priority AML problems threaten public health and safety and could cause substantial physical harm to persons or property. They include clogged streams and stream lands, dangerous highwalls, impoundments, piles, embankments and slides, hazardous or explosive gases, hazardous water bodies, underground mine fires, surface burning, portals and vertical openings, subsidence and polluted drinking water.

"The Abandoned Mine Land program has made thousands of Americans living in the coalfields safer, but the job is not finished," said Norton. "Even after 25 years of extraordinary national effort, we still have almost $3 billion worth of high-priority hazards to health and safety waiting to be cleaned up. The President has proposed legislation that will let us get more Americans out of danger and do so more quickly."

The Office of Surface Mining (OSM) collects fees on current coal mining to fund reclamation of coal mine sites abandoned before 1977. However, OSM's authority to collect the fee is scheduled to expire on September 30. The Bush Administration has proposed legislation that would continue the program and accelerate the rate of reclamation for the most dangerous sites.

Today only 52 percent of the funds the Department of the Interior disburses under the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) program actually goes to high-priority coal mine reclamations. The Administration's proposal would direct more funds to where problems remain and eliminate all significant health and safety problems within 25 years. The same job would take 50-100 years in some states if the current system were continued.

"By targeting more of our money and speeding up the rate at which we can remove hazards, we will be able to remove 142,000 Americans per year from danger nationwide-- or 66,000 more people every year," said Norton. "The President's legislation will give Oklahoma another $500,000 in grants per year and enable us to get 1,733 more Oklahoman's out of danger each year than we can under the current law."

Sen. Arlen Specter (PA) has introduced the Administration's proposal as S. 2049 and Rep. John Peterson (PA) has introduced the legislation in the House as H.R. 3778.

With the President's proposed legislation, we can get serious about this cleanup," said Norton. "We'll be able to put our money where the problems are, reduce spending by $3.2 billion, better protect the people of Oklahoma and eliminate these unnecessary dangers to life and limb decades sooner."

High resolution photos of AML problems are available online at www.osmre.gov.