OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION & ENFORCEMENT

For Release  April 16, 1996
Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719
jchildre@osmre.gov

OSM PITTSBURGH MINE MAP REPOSITORY ACQUIRES USBM MAPS FROM
DENVER, SPOKANE CENTERS

The Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation
and Enforcement (OSM) today announced that its Mine Map
Repository in Pittsburgh, PA, has acquired all the mine maps and
related material from recently closed U.S. Bureau of Mines
offices in Denver, Colorado, and Spokane, Washington.

Allen D. Klein, Director of OSM's Appalachian Regional
Coordinating Center in Pittsburgh said OSM's mine map repository
"is now recognized as a nationwide archival facility for the
preservation of abandoned mine maps."

"The acquisition of these coal and non-coal mine maps will enable
the repository to expand customer service to clients through the
U.S.," Klein added.

"When budgetary decisions forced the Bureau of Mines to close,
OSM was the natural beneficiary of the mine maps and information
from the Bureau's Denver and Spokane repository facilities,"
Klein said.  "Placing the Bureau's mine map information in OSM
insures its availability both to government agencies and the
general public."

Information available from maps in the repository is used by a
wide variety of customers, including mining companies, local
developers, real estates companies, federal and state agencies,
utilities, consultants and engineering firms, energy interests,
law enforcement officials, public safety agencies, and private
citizens.

The maps contain information such as:  mine and company names;
nearby roads and railroads; creeks, streams, rivers, ponds, and
lakes; districts, townships, and municipalities; longitudes and
latitudes; coal and other mineral information; mine exits and
openings; power and gas line information, plus a multitude of
other data which can be used to help solve a wide variety of
engineering, environmental, and mining problems.

Requests for mine map-related information and data from the
repository may be made in writing, telephone, or by appointment. 
Contact:  U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Appalachian Regional
Coordinating Center Map Repository, Ten Parkway Center,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15220.  Telephone:  (412) 937-3001.

                              -DOI-