|
Maryland Bureau of Mines
Who are we?
The Maryland Bureau of Mines is a Division of the Maryland Department of Environment, Land Management Administration, Mining Program. The mission of the Bureau is to protect the public and the environment from the potential impacts of active mining, and to promote the restoration and enhancement of active and abandoned mine lands and water resources. The Bureau of Mines is organized into four sections. Each section is responsible for differing aspects related to present and past coal mining. This agency is located in Frostburg, a small town in Western Maryland's Allegany County. The following is an overview of each section within this organization.
Coal Permitting Section
The Coal Permitting Section of the Bureau of Mines is responsible for technical review, approval, and issuance of permits for surface and deep mining operations and for coal loading and processing facilities. This section also maintains information on licensed mining companies, active coal mining permits, permit acreages, coal production, and reclamation process. Information on the application process and forms for the various permits are available from this section.
Abandoned Mine Lands Section
There are a reported 9500 acres of unstable and unreclaimed abandoned mine lands in the coal region of Western Maryland. It is the responsibility of the AML Section to prioritize these lands based upon health, safety, and environmental impacts as prescribed by the Federal guidelines. The AML section reclaims these lands based upon their assigned priority.
This picture is of a reclamation job recently completed in Vindex, Maryland, by the Bureau of Mines, AML Section.
Acid Mine Drainage Abatement Section
The mission of the AMDA Section is to improve the waters of the State that are impaired by Acid Mine Drainage from abandoned coal mines, develop partnerships with industry, government agancies, and citizens, and to utilize innovative technologies for AMD abatement and treatment.
Constructed wetlands for the treatmment of AMD at Amish Road in Garrett County, Maryland - Before and After.
Office of Surface Mining Wants to Hear from You
OSM‘s Field Offices and Regions, in collaboration with each state and tribe to the extent possible, develop a state-/tribe-specific Performance Agreement/Evaluation Plan tailored to the unique conditions of each state or tribal program. The three offices within the Pittsburgh Field Division of the Office of Surface Mining will soon begin drafting the annual Performance Agreement/Evaluation Plans for Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania for OSM Evaluation Year 2012 beginning July 1, 2011. As a part of that process, we would welcome input from interested parties to comment on oversight and provide suggestions for potential oversight evaluation topics, including the opportunity for discussions with our office. If you have comments or suggestions, please send them to our Pittsburgh office for Maryland, the Columbus office for Ohio, and the Harrisburg office for Pennsylvania. In order for us to consider your comments and suggestions, we must receive them by March 30, 2011.
Tom Cunningham
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Three Parkway Center
Pittsburgh, PA 15220-3630
tcunningham@osmre.gov
Phone 412-937-2107
Fax 412-937-2888 |
|