Mine Reclamation
Imagine you are looking for something valuable in a crowded drawer or box. Maybe you are looking for a lost piece of jewelry or for enough coins to be able to get a snack from the vending machine. If your treasure is at the back of the drawer or under lots of stuff, you will have a hard time getting to it without removing everything on top of it first. And after you finally find what you are looking for, you have a pile of all the other stuff that you have to put back in the drawer.
Surface mining is a lot like the example above. Sometimes you have to remove tons of overburden to get to the valuable ore materials below. Is it possible to put the overburden back when mining operations cease, so that the land is put back to the way it was before? Can you reclaim the land, or take it back? Mine reclamation is the process where useful landscapes and productive ecosystems are re-created from mined land. It is a way of trying to put things back the way they were before mining began. Click through the tabs to learn more about mine reclamation.
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The Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) states that coal mining companies must restore most surface mined land by replanting it with vegetation. The law was amended in 1990 to fund the reclamation of abandoned mines as well. This funding comes from a tax of 35 cents per ton of surface mined coal. SMCRA is enforced by state and federal government agencies. It focuses on cleaning up old mine sites and keeping acid mine drainage out of streams.
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Under SMCRA, a mining company must show how they will reclaim the mine before mining activities begin, and they must obtain a permit for their activities. If they fail to reclaim the land, they may face a fine, be immediately stopped from mining, and be prohibited from getting future permits to mine. Many developing countries lack mining regulations and environmental problems associated with mining are still prevalent in those areas. However, thanks to SMCRA, surface mining problems in the U.S. are being treated better than ever before. Old mining areas can be turned into farmland, wildlife corridors, and recreation centers.
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