West Virginia granted more than $50 million
The U.S. Department of the Interior is releasing $395 million to states and tribes for cleaning up abandoned coal mines across the nation. West Virginia, the nation’s No. 2 coal producing state, will get $51.3 million and Kentucky will receive approximately $38 million.
The grants are funded in part by a per-ton reclamation fee levied on all coal produced in the United States, allow state and tribal programs to correct environmental damage from past mining, reclaim steep and unstable slopes, improve water quality by treating acid mine drainage, and restore water supplies damaged by mining.
A 2009 Department of the Interior economic study showed that when state and tribal programs invested the $298 million available during that fiscal year, the cumulative economic impact in the communities where projects were completed was an estimated $733 million.
"These grants have significant economic and environmental impacts in coalfield communities across the country," Salazar said. "In the past three years alone, OSM has distributed more than a billion dollars in these funds to states and tribes, enabling them to undertake projects that benefit the environment while employing people living in affected areas."