Maryland Department of the Environment (for pda/handhelds)

ABANDONED MINE LAND RECLAMATION PROGRAM
General Historical Perspective

Coal mining in Western Maryland began in the early 1800's with small deep mines which operated to accommodate local fuel needs. By 1820, mining became commercially important with several mines operating in the Eckhart, Frostburg, and Vale Summit (Allegany County) area (see map). The coal was transported by wagon to Cumberland. There it was loaded onto barges and shipped to various points along the Potomac River.

During the peak production years between 1900 and 1918, deep mines in the two-county region produced between 
four and five million tons annually. Most of these mines were developed in a manner which utilized gravity drainage, to avoid excessive water accumulation in the mines. Consequently, the water - frequently polluted by acid, iron, sulfur, aluminum, and other toxic ions drained away from the mines and into streams.

Acid Mine Drainage is Maryland's most serious problem attributable to abandoned coal mines, and Western Maryland's most severe water pollution problem. A large number of deep mines used the up-dip method of mining. And the extent of many underground workings in Western Maryland made Acid Mine Drainage remediation exceedingly difficult to accomplish.

Some subsidence problems exist in areas of the Georges Creek Basin where the Pittsburgh coal seam was extensively deep mined in the early 1900's.

After World War II, deep mining activity declined and surface coal mining increased in Western Maryland. Surface mines operated without any reclamation laws until 1955, when minimal requirements, far from satisfactory by today's standards, were enacted. As surface mining increased, new types of abandoned mine problems emerged. Highwalls, pits with standing water, spoil piles, landslide areas, erosion, and acid drainage are prevalent remnants of the abandoned surface mine problems in the coal basin of Western Maryland.

In 1967 and 1969 major changes in the Maryland Strip Mining Law were enacted. Further amendments were enacted in 1972, and annually since 1974, as reclamation requirements began to resemble current regulatory program standards.