A national program to remediate safety and environmental hazards from past coal mining was created by the passage of federal law -- The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA).
SMCRA, Title 4, Abandoned Mined Land Reclamation [ Ссылка ]
The administering agency is the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE or OSM) within the U.S. Department of the Interior.
See: [ Ссылка ]
More about SMCRA and OSMRE: [ Ссылка ]
Abandoned Mines: Stay out, stay alive: [ Ссылка ]
(I was with OSM from April 1978 to May 1995; this helped get me to leave):
On the night of March 4, 1995, an entire eastbound lane of Interstate 70 in Guernsey County, Ohio suddenly collapsed into a 10-foot crater swallowing a car and nearly several others plus a semi-truck --- the entire interstate being closed for six months until $4.4 million in repairs were made. On September 15, 1994, Robert Mooney, an acting field director for the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, had sent the state a letter expressing concern for a worsening situation. The state ignored his request for an investigation of voids in the abandoned coal mines beneath the highway. More: [ Ссылка ]
1/13/2011 - Interstate-72 bridge damaged by mine subsidence [ Ссылка ] (Excerpts)
A routine bridge inspection last fall showed damage from mine subsidence under the bridge on the east side of the river, said Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Josh Kauffman. He said the subsidence has had "a very slight impact" on the bridge, which was built in 1974. "It is still able to carry the loads it was built for," Kauffman said. "It is a very small dip." IDOT is coordinating efforts with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources' Office of Mines and Minerals. "We have devised a plan to stabilize the structure by drilling a series of bore holes to the depth of the abandoned mine and injecting a concrete grout mixture to fill any voids left from coal mining operations," Kauffman said. Department of Natural Resources spokesman Chris McCloud said the agency's Abandoned Mined Land Reclamation Division said a DNR contractor will be at the bridge Monday, weather permitting, to begin filling the area east of the river with concrete.
Underground coal mine fires: [ Ссылка ]
This clip is from A Page in Time (1996): [ Ссылка ]
