COLUMBUS, OH - Abandoned mine projects in seven northeastern Ohio counties will be the focus of a public meeting in Salem on April 14, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR). The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Room 119 of the Kent State University-Salem Regional Campus at 2491 State Route 45.
Staff members from the ODNR Division of Mineral Resources Management will be on hand to discuss environmental and public health and safety issues associated with area mines that were abandoned prior to August 3, 1977, when legislation addressing the problem went into effect.
They will discuss the policies and procedures of Ohio's Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Program and present a list of proposed projects for Columbiana, Coshocton, Harrison, Jefferson, Mahoning, Stark and Tuscarawas counties. Meeting attendees are encouraged to present details of their own abandoned mine problems in these counties as well as Carroll, Holmes, Medina, Portage, Summit, Trumbull, and Wayne counties and to check on eligibility for funding.
In April, ODNR will apply for approximately $5.1 million in federal grant money from the U.S. Department of the Interior to fund abandoned mine clean-ups during the next year throughout the northeastern and southeastern Ohio coal mining region. Part of that money is earmarked for 22 non-emergency projects in northeastern Ohio. ODNR proposes to spend about $1.48 million on design and construction for these projects. Also included in the $5.1 million grant is $492,000 to improve streams impacted by acid mine drainage and $1.8 million to address emergency abandoned mine land problems in the coal region.
Non-emergency projects proposed for the northeastern Ohio mining district include:
- Stabilizing an area with a history of multiple subsidences due to underground mining
- Removing two dangerous tipple structures and closing associated mine entries
- Extending a water line to replace water wells impacted by past coal mining activities
- Backfilling and/or fencing 11 dangerous highwalls and associated impoundments
- Upgrading or installing seven mine drainage diversion systems
- Stabilizing two mine drainage related landslides
- Reclaiming two eroding coal refuse piles to prevent local stream sedimentation