Monday, February 16, 2009
Kentucky Abandoned Mine Lands Receives Funding For Stream Cleanup.
The Department for Natural Resources’ Division of Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) announced today receipt of $3,499,764 in federal funding from the United States Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining for acid mine drainage (AMD) abatement in Kentucky.
The funding will be placed into the division’s AMD account and used for development and construction of projects for the abatement of acidic water in the coalfield streams of Kentucky.
Acidic water clogs the natural habitat of aquatic wildlife with iron and aluminum sediments, often resulting in the death of fish, frogs and insects. If the acid in the stream is extremely strong, it may even kill streamside plant life. Additionally, the yellow-orange iron deposits are unsightly to the human eye. The division, working along a watershed-based approach, will use this funding for projects that will provide major benefits to entire severely impacted streams.
“This is the second year AML has received federal funding for AMD and this funding is expected to continue well into the future,” said Steve Hohmann, director of the Division of the Abandoned Mine Lands. “The division currently has at least eight AMD projects under development or construction. This continued funding will certainly allow for more projects to be funded in the future.”
The funding will be placed into the division’s AMD account and used for development and construction of projects for the abatement of acidic water in the coalfield streams of Kentucky.
Acidic water clogs the natural habitat of aquatic wildlife with iron and aluminum sediments, often resulting in the death of fish, frogs and insects. If the acid in the stream is extremely strong, it may even kill streamside plant life. Additionally, the yellow-orange iron deposits are unsightly to the human eye. The division, working along a watershed-based approach, will use this funding for projects that will provide major benefits to entire severely impacted streams.
“This is the second year AML has received federal funding for AMD and this funding is expected to continue well into the future,” said Steve Hohmann, director of the Division of the Abandoned Mine Lands. “The division currently has at least eight AMD projects under development or construction. This continued funding will certainly allow for more projects to be funded in the future.”
# posted by Joe Kinzer @ 9:43 PM 
