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Confluence: December 2001, Vol. 4, No. 1
Interesting Individuals

CONFLUENCE recently had the chance to speak to Max Luehrs of the United States Office of Surface Mining. Mr. Luehrs is an Abandoned Mine Lands Program Specialist and an expert on remining practices and provided us with answers to some important questions about remining.

CONFLUENCE: What is remining? Why is it an important tool for reclamation specialists?

LUEHRS: Remining is where old abandoned mine land (AML) is reaffected by current mining operations. In CONFLUENCE: What are its limitations?

LUEHRS: There are economic limitations and legal limitations. For example, if a mining cut is already a considerable depth into the hill, it may not be economical to mine further and reclaim the old cut. Likewise, if there are lots of old underground works, most of the coal is gone, so mining what's left is uneconomical. Also, if there is poor water quality coming from old mines, the operator will have to treat it while mining and reclaim the area so that water quality standards are achieved. This is not always possible and presents a serious liability to an operator. There are waivers for reduced water quality standards, but more intensive water quality monitoring before and after mining is required.

CONFLUENCE: What are the incentives for industry groups participating in remining?

LUEHRS: Remining is good for public relations as operators are reclaiming AML at no cost to the public. There are also some regulatory incentives such as reduced reclamation standards, reduced water quality standards, and reduced periods of liability (holding bonds for two years rather than five years). Another incentive, and perhaps the most valuable, is to pay the operator to reclaim problem areas on or adjacent to his mine site. This provides the needed economic incentive and reduces legal liabilities because the reclamation becomes part of publicly financed construction.

CONFLUENCE: How economically viable is remining?

LUEHRS: It depends on the amount and price of the coal, the cost to do the remining, and the value of the land after it is mined. There have been cases where entire deep mines were remined with little to no profit from the coal itself because the land was in an area with high development potential. After the subsidence and water problems were eliminated because of remining, the land increased in value several times over.

CONFLUENCE: What is the potential for remining in Appalachia (in terms of number of acres that must be reclaimed/tons of coal that can be extracted)?

LUEHRS: I can't give you that figure right off, but the amount of coal in Ohio would be in the millions of tons and AML in the thousands of acres.

CONFLUENCE: What is the environmental benefit of remining? Specifically, how does it translate into appropriate reclamation and clean water?

LUEHRS: Land is returned to a usable condition by grading to flatter, less rugged profiles, bringing in topsoil or an equivalent, and revegetating the site with desired species of plants that also control erosion. Water quality is improved by reducing infiltration into toxic materials, removing acid producing coal pillars from old mines, and sealing and flooding old mines that cannot be totally removed.

CONFLUENCE: What are some resources our readers can use to learn more about remining?

LUEHRS: Dr. Jeff Skousen at West Virginia University 304.293.6265 and Bob Baker of the ODNR - Division of Mineral Resources Management 614.265.1092 are two good contacts. Max Luehrs can be reached at 614-866-0578 ext. 110 or by email at mluehrs@cohgw.osmre.gov most cases it will be an old surface mining cut that a surface mine operator will use for spoil area as he mines further into the hill. The old cut and high wall is then reclaimed under current standards. An operator may also mine through old abandoned underground workings which eliminates any future subsidence or mine openings to the surface and often improves water quality by removing the coal pillars and voids responsible for acid mine drainage (AMD) production. Another form of remining is the reprocessing of old coal refuse piles.

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