The federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Thursday announced it is honoring the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation with its highest national award for abandoned mine reclamation.

DEP won the Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation National Award for its project in the Sproul State Forest in Clinton County.

The Huling Branch Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation/ATV Recreation and Watershed Improvement Project eliminated dangerous highwalls by backfilling with existing spoil while incorporating an alkaline addition to reduce acid mine drainage impacts on surface and groundwater.

The project also reestablished and expanded access for all-terrain vehicles in the Sproul State Forest, a popular outdoor recreation destination. The team also used the Forestry Reclamation Approach to reforest the land.

Click Here to watch a short DEP video on the project.  Click Here for a fact sheet on the project from the company that did the project.

"Pennsylvania faces the largest AML inventory in the nation. This 2017 National award shows once again that the Commonwealth is doing excellent work to address threats stemming from more than two hundred years of pre-law mining," said OSMRE Appalachian Regional Director Thomas Shope.

Pennsylvania, one of the nation’s top historical coal producers, is also among the most affected by abandoned mine lands. In FY 2017, Pennsylvania received $33.5 million in AML funding from OSMRE.

OSMRE will present its Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Awards during the 39th annual conference of the National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs in Lexington, Kentucky on September 25.

For more information, visit DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation webpage.

Related Stories:

DEP Awards $12.2 Million Mine Reclamation Contract In Sproul State Forest

ATV Trail In Clinton County Reopened After Mine Reclamation Project Completed

[Posted: August 31, 2017]

9/4/2017