 Don Newton, Administrator for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality AML Division receives the OSMRE Western Reclamation Award (L) from Jeff Fleischman,OSMRE (R). Others present in the photo are those that worked on the award-winning project ? DEQ staff, and contractors Brierley Associates and BRS Engineering.
? ? ? ? ? OSMRE presents Wyoming with?Western States and Tribes? ? ? ? ? ??Region?Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation?Award?
WASHINGTON ? The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement honored the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality?Abandoned Mine Land Division?during the National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs conference in Grand Junction, Colorado, on October 17. Wyoming won the award?for reclamation work at Hanna Elementary School and the adjacent high school football field and track in Carbon County, Wyoming.?
?The Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Awards showcase exceptional?reclamation projects done by?our state and Tribal partners,? said David Berry, director of OSMRE?s Western Region.??
The football field and track and the adjacent elementary school building and parking lot are located atop mine workings of the Hanna No. 4 Mine. Subsidence?sinking of the ground because of underground material movement?would routinely appear in the football field and around the school.??
In 2020, the Wyoming AML undertook the task of mitigating the subsidence risk in this area via voidfill grouting. Approximately 42,500 cubic yards of voidfill grout was injected into mine voids under the Hanna Elementary School, football field/track and surrounding areas, enough to fill 13 Olympic swimming pools. Upon completion of the mitigation, the football field, track, school parking lot?and school playground were restored.??
?This was a very difficult project due primarily to the strict, but necessary, time commitments made to the school district for completion prior to football season,? said Wyoming AML Administrator Don Newton. ?The coordinated efforts between the Town of Hanna, Carbon County School District #2, Howard Concrete Pumping Co., Inc. and its subcontractors, and Brierley Associates resulted in an excellent outcome for this small community.??
To learn more about the Hanna project, visit the Hanna AML Story.? ??
The?Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Awards, established in 1992, recognize exemplary state and Tribal reclamation projects that reclaim coal mine sites that were abandoned prior to the signing of the?Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.??
Wyoming is among five recipients of the 2022 Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Awards recognizing reclamation excellence. A National Award is presented to the state or Tribe with the best overall reclamation project. A Small Project Award is presented to the state or Tribe that receives less than $6 million annually in AML funding and completes a project costing less than $1 million. Regional awards are presented to the state or Tribe with the best project within each of the following regions: Appalachian States, Interior States, and Western States and Tribes.?
Other Award-Winning Reclamation Projects??
NATIONAL AWARD?
Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Area???Bear Valley?
Pennsylvania?Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation?
SMALL PROJECT?
AML Project TX000056?
Texas?Abandoned Mine Lands Program?
REGIONAL AWARDS?
Appalachian States Award?
Big South Fork Slide Repair?
Kentucky?Division of Abandoned Mine Lands?
Interior States Award?
Sugar Ridge Fish & Wildlife Area?
Indiana Abandoned Mine Land Program?
OSMRE carries out the requirements of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 in cooperation with states and Tribes. OSMRE?s objectives are to ensure that coal mining activities are conducted in a manner that protects citizens and the environment during mining, to ensure that the land is restored to beneficial use after mining, and to mitigate the effects of past mining by aggressively pursuing reclamation of abandoned coal mines.?
|
