Reclaiming Surface-Mined Land with Award-Winning Results

摘要

Surface coal mining is often criticized for the land disfigurement that is necessary for resource extraction. What gets less attention is the reclamation to restore the land to usefulness and productivity. Although coal mine reclamation is a required part of mining, it can yield great benefits over and above mere regulatory compliance. Such is the case with the Patriot Mine in Henderson County, Kentucky. A number of mine reclamation activities have been ongoing in Kentucky since the 1960s, but significant changes occurred following the Federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act ("SMCRA") in 1977. Some of the more notable changes involved highwall elimination, topsoil protection, prime farmland reconstruction, and establishing legitimate postmining land uses.