Conservation, mining and labor groups along with officials from the Rendell Administration joined U.S. Senator Rick Santorum to announce their support for federal legislation that would restore federal funding for abandoned mine reclamation.

Sen. Santorum’s bill will deliver an unprecedented $1 billion to Pennsylvania alone over sixteen years to clean up abandoned mine land sites-- abandoned strip mines; spoil piles, mine entries; and mine shafts.

“I cannot emphasize the importance of this legislation to Pennsylvania. Today we stand on the North Shore and look out at Point State Park and we can see the progress that has been made due to cleanup and land reclamation funding. This is just a sample of what we hope to see in the hundred of communities and thousands of acres across our state,” said Sen. Santorum. “This bill will bring an unprecedented amount of funding to Pennsylvania and will sustain multi-year planning for abandoned mine land cleanup. It will also help to create local jobs that will stay in Pennsylvania.”

Statewide there are a total of more than 184,000 acres of abandoned mine lands and 4,000 miles of biologically dead rivers and streams due to mine pollution. It is estimated that 1.4 million Pennsylvanians live within one mile of an AML site.

Scott Roberts of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection; John Dawes, Chairman of the Pennsylvania AML Campaign; Dennis McGrath, President/CEO of Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and Matt Miller, United Mine Workers Special Asst. to Vice President Ed Yankovich all offered remarks at the press conference in support of the legislation.

“Pennsylvania, more than any state in America, urgently needs Congress to enact the AML Program reauthorization bill that Senators Santorum and Specter are sponsoring,” said John Dawes, Chairman of the Pennsylvania Abandoned Mine Lands Campaign. “On behalf of hundreds of coalfield communities and watershed groups, I'd like to thank our Senators, because at a time when Congress was on a fast track to pass a bill that would have really hurt Pennsylvania, Senators Santorum and Specter persuaded Senate leadership to support a much better approach that will deliver more than a billion dollars in guaranteed minimum funding to Pennsylvania, so we can really get the worst of the abandoned mine damage cleaned up.”

This bill will also pay for healthcare costs of orphan mine workers. Due to a decline in the number of employers contributing to the healthcare plans of orphan beneficiaries (employees from mine companies that have folded or declared bankruptcy), the current structure for financing these benefits is no longer sustainable.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Senator Santorum and Senator Specter, and Senators Rockefeller and Byrd from West Virginia for their diligent effort in supporting and leading the charge in introducing S. 2616,” said Matt Miller, Special Assistant to the International Vice President of District II United Mine Workers of America, Ed Yankovich. “The Congress of these United States needs to pass this legislation as soon as possible and honor its commitment made by President Harry S. Truman in 1946, which guarantees lifetime health benefits to the retirees of the United Mine Workers of America.”

The following organizations have also expressed support for S.2616: Western PA Watershed Program; Western PA Conservancy; Pennsylvania Environmental Council; Alleghenies Watershed Network; The Community Foundation; Western PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation; Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned; Mine Reclamation; Audubon Society; Watershed Assistance Center; Mountain Watershed Association; Bio-Most; PA Association for Conservation Districts; Stream Restoration Inc.; Independence Marsh Foundation; Federation of PA Sportsmen; Allegheny Land Trust; The Stream Team; Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation; Department of Environmental Protection; United Mine Workers; PA Trout Unlimited; POWR--Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers; and Hedin Environmental.

S.2616 has the support of bipartisan cosponsors including Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Robert Byrd (D-WV), John Rockefeller (D-WV), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) and Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Thad Cochran (R-MS).

Sen. Santorum is hopeful that bringing attention to this legislation now will help bolster more bipartisan support from other states.

NewsClip: Senator Pushes Bill for Mine Reclamation

Santorum Seeking $1 Billion for Mine Cleanup

Santorum Stresses Importance of Mine Reclamation Legislation

6/23/2006