Cows on Mill TailingsComment: The Virginia Coal & Energy Commission’s Uranium Mining Subcommittee has reclamation on list, look at this, mines for 30-50 years ago, still here!!!!
By EVE BYRON - Independent Record - 05/19/09
Montana stands to lose up to $120 million in federal funding that pays for cleaning up abandoned mines under a provision in President Barack Obama’s 2010 budget.
The Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) payments to three states and three tribes is slated to be terminated, which would save $142 million in 2010 and $1.5 billion in 10 years, according to the federal Office of Management and Budget.
But killing that program will result in the inability for Montana to clean up scores of abandoned mines that litter the Treasure State.
“Our program is 100 percent federally funded,” said John Koerth, supervisor of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s Mine Waste Cleanup bureau. “If we don’t get the money coming in, it’s questionable whether we’ll be able to proceed with mine cleanups.”
Koerth noted that in the next four years alone, Montana was budgeted to receive $50 million to remove mine wastes that contaminate water and soils.
This summer’s to-do list includes removal of mine wastes on Bald Butte near the Great Divide Ski Area and at the McLaren Project near Cooke City, where a stream contaminated with mine waste runs into Yellowstone Park. Koerth said they’re also trying to get moving on the Frohner Project near Park Lake in Jefferson County, as well as do a handful of other projects.
The DEQ originally had a list of about 300 abandoned mine sites without owners that needed cleaning. Koerth said they’ve successfully remediated about 35 so far, took some off the list that still had active permits and moved others to Superfund status, which leaves 138 sites still in need of work.
In a letter to Montana’s Congressional delegation, DEQ Director Richard Opper notes that they have numerous projects “shovel-ready” that would employ more than 200 people during multiple construction seasons, and without assurance of funding, the projects will not even be bid out.
“If the President’s budget proposals in fact mirror the information reported and are enacted, Montana would potentially lose up to $120 million in abandoned mine funding through 2022,” Opper wrote. “If AML funding for Montana is eliminated, the pollution and damage will go on for another generation to fix.”
Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester have sent letters to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag asking that the federal funding be continued, and Baucus also wrote to members of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee urging reinstatement of the money.
The senators note that Obama’s cuts are only a proposal at this time, and that Congress will ultimately decide the funding for the AML. They added that mine cleanup is a public health and safety issue.
“I’ll go to the mat fighting for adequate funding for AML on the (Interior) Appropriations Committee,” Tester said. “Working together, we’ll hammer out a real budget that protects taxpayer dollars and works for Montana.”
Baucus noted how the elimination of Montana’s AML payments in the president’s budget is unacceptable, by using this money to restore the state’s outdoor heritage.
“I met with Secretary Salazar today (Monday) and I’ve made it clear I will strongly oppose any effort to deny Montana its share of AML payments,” Baucus said. “I’ll continue to fight to make sure folks across the state are getting the resources they need and deserve.”
Money for the program mainly comes from fees collected from coal mining companies, and a tussle for the funds has been ongoing between eastern and western states for years. The current proposal only affects “certified” states — Montana, Wyoming and New Mexico — and the Crow, Navaho and Hopi tribes, which have said they are finished cleaning up their high-priority coal mining sites. Once certified, the money can be used elsewhere.
Coal production in recent years has shifted from mainly eastern to western states and the budget office notes that most of the abandoned coal mines are in the east.
“The original objective of Abandoned Mine Lands fees was for the coal industry to pay for cleaning up mines that cannot be attributed to a particular producer,” the budget document states, adding that giving the funds to certified states and tribes to be used in any manner they like is not the original intent of the program.
Montana became certified in 1990, even though it’s still working on some coal sites, Koerth said. The money only is used for reclamation here.
But in Wyoming, which gets hundreds of millions of dollars because of the large coal companies operating there, the money has been spent on other items like infrastructure, a university building and clean coal technology.
“Those are the things people back East are saying shouldn’t be a part of this,” Koerth said.
But while the future of the program is in doubt, Koerth said they’re still moving forward for this work season.
“It’s discouraging, but we keep on going,” Koerth said. “This year, we have slightly more than $10 million — but if this proposal passes, next year we have nothing. It makes it kind of difficult to bid on multi-year projects when you don’t know if you’re going to have any money next year.”
Click here to see a list of abandoned mine sites in Montana.
Eve Byron: 447-4076 or eve.byron@helenair.com
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2009/05/19/top/55st_090519_mines.txt
Montana stands to lose up to $120 million in federal funding that pays for cleaning up abandoned mines under a provision in President Barack Obama’s 2010 budget.
The Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) payments to three states and three tribes is slated to be terminated, which would save $142 million in 2010 and $1.5 billion in 10 years, according to the federal Office of Management and Budget.
But killing that program will result in the inability for Montana to clean up scores of abandoned mines that litter the Treasure State.
“Our program is 100 percent federally funded,” said John Koerth, supervisor of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s Mine Waste Cleanup bureau. “If we don’t get the money coming in, it’s questionable whether we’ll be able to proceed with mine cleanups.”
Koerth noted that in the next four years alone, Montana was budgeted to receive $50 million to remove mine wastes that contaminate water and soils.
This summer’s to-do list includes removal of mine wastes on Bald Butte near the Great Divide Ski Area and at the McLaren Project near Cooke City, where a stream contaminated with mine waste runs into Yellowstone Park. Koerth said they’re also trying to get moving on the Frohner Project near Park Lake in Jefferson County, as well as do a handful of other projects.
The DEQ originally had a list of about 300 abandoned mine sites without owners that needed cleaning. Koerth said they’ve successfully remediated about 35 so far, took some off the list that still had active permits and moved others to Superfund status, which leaves 138 sites still in need of work.
In a letter to Montana’s Congressional delegation, DEQ Director Richard Opper notes that they have numerous projects “shovel-ready” that would employ more than 200 people during multiple construction seasons, and without assurance of funding, the projects will not even be bid out.
“If the President’s budget proposals in fact mirror the information reported and are enacted, Montana would potentially lose up to $120 million in abandoned mine funding through 2022,” Opper wrote. “If AML funding for Montana is eliminated, the pollution and damage will go on for another generation to fix.”
Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester have sent letters to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag asking that the federal funding be continued, and Baucus also wrote to members of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee urging reinstatement of the money.
The senators note that Obama’s cuts are only a proposal at this time, and that Congress will ultimately decide the funding for the AML. They added that mine cleanup is a public health and safety issue.
“I’ll go to the mat fighting for adequate funding for AML on the (Interior) Appropriations Committee,” Tester said. “Working together, we’ll hammer out a real budget that protects taxpayer dollars and works for Montana.”
Baucus noted how the elimination of Montana’s AML payments in the president’s budget is unacceptable, by using this money to restore the state’s outdoor heritage.
“I met with Secretary Salazar today (Monday) and I’ve made it clear I will strongly oppose any effort to deny Montana its share of AML payments,” Baucus said. “I’ll continue to fight to make sure folks across the state are getting the resources they need and deserve.”
Money for the program mainly comes from fees collected from coal mining companies, and a tussle for the funds has been ongoing between eastern and western states for years. The current proposal only affects “certified” states — Montana, Wyoming and New Mexico — and the Crow, Navaho and Hopi tribes, which have said they are finished cleaning up their high-priority coal mining sites. Once certified, the money can be used elsewhere.
Coal production in recent years has shifted from mainly eastern to western states and the budget office notes that most of the abandoned coal mines are in the east.
“The original objective of Abandoned Mine Lands fees was for the coal industry to pay for cleaning up mines that cannot be attributed to a particular producer,” the budget document states, adding that giving the funds to certified states and tribes to be used in any manner they like is not the original intent of the program.
Montana became certified in 1990, even though it’s still working on some coal sites, Koerth said. The money only is used for reclamation here.
But in Wyoming, which gets hundreds of millions of dollars because of the large coal companies operating there, the money has been spent on other items like infrastructure, a university building and clean coal technology.
“Those are the things people back East are saying shouldn’t be a part of this,” Koerth said.
But while the future of the program is in doubt, Koerth said they’re still moving forward for this work season.
“It’s discouraging, but we keep on going,” Koerth said. “This year, we have slightly more than $10 million — but if this proposal passes, next year we have nothing. It makes it kind of difficult to bid on multi-year projects when you don’t know if you’re going to have any money next year.”
Click here to see a list of abandoned mine sites in Montana.
Eve Byron: 447-4076 or eve.byron@helenair.com
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2009/05/19/top/55st_090519_mines.txt
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