Alaska

Evan Jones Coal Mine

The abandoned Evan Jones Coal Mine site was once the home of several hundred people. The coal spoils from the mine’s washplant covered about fifty-seven acres and had been burning near the surface and down to the native ground level (up to 70 feet below the surface) for decades. Read More...

Colorado

Bond Release

Achieving a beneficial post mining land use is the ultimate goal for all coal mining operations permitted under the Colorado Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Act. Last year three Colorado coal mines completed final Phase III bond release. Read More...

Peanut Mine

The Peanut Mine, located at elevation 9,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies near the town of Crested Butte, presented many interesting and complex reclamation challenges. This abandoned coal mine contained both coal refuse and silver mill wastes. Read More...

Upper Cement Creek

The Colorado Inactive Mine Reclamation Program’s (CIMRP) Upper Cement Creek 3D Mine Modeling Project was nominated by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) for a 2013 Secretary of the Interior Partners in Conservation Award. Read More...

Utah

Steep Slope Reclamation

Reclamation in Utah presents some unique and difficult challenges. Many of the mines are located in extremely steep and mountainous terrain. Both the Star Point and Des Bee Dove mines were started many years before SMCRA, but the reclamation performed at these sites is nothing short of amazing. Read More...

Temple Mountain

In 2002, the Utah Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program (AMRP) sealed 141 uranium mines in a popular recreation area known as Temple Mountain in Emery County’s San Rafael Swell, about 20 miles north of Hanksville in southeast Utah. The Temple Mountain Project is a showcase example of how mine closures can be compatible with their surroundings. Read More...

Washington

Seattle Hiking Trail

Next to a hiking trail in a park near Seattle in King County, Washington, a large subsidence suddenly appeared. The 8-foot by 10-foot, 45 degree slope entry opened into abandoned coal mine workings and created a serious hazard for the public. Read More...

Wyoming

Glenrock Wind Farm

Something pretty amazing is going on in a little town called Glenrock, Wyoming. Glenrock only has a population of about 2,300 people and is located about half an hour’s drive east of Casper, Wyoming. Since the 1950’s, this small town has survived and prospered largely because of one thing: coal. Read More...