OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

Embargoed until 4:00 p.m. June 21, 1991
Steve Goldstein (202) 208-6416 (0) (202) 887-5248 (h)

INTERIOR SECRETARY LUJAN ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF OSM'S NATIONAL
SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AWARDS

Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan today announced that coal
mine operators in Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Montana, Ohio,
Washington, and Wyoming won top honors in the fifth annual
Excellence in Surface Mining and Reclamation Awards competition.

"The national reclamation program is a top priority for the
Department of the Interior," Lujan said.  "By leaving the land in
better condition after reclamation than it was in before they
started mining, these winners exemplify the true meaning of
resource stewardship."

The Centralia Mining Company of Centralia, Washington, won the
prestigious Office of Surface Mining Director's Award for exemplary
reforestation efforts designed to reestablish the reclaimed site's
pre-mining forestry land use.

Other top honor winners in the 1990 national competition, sponsored
by Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
(OSM), a~-e:

--Trapper Mining, Inc., Trapper Mine, Craig, Colorado, submitted by
the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Division, for a reclamation and
sedimentation control project which re-created a habitat for deer
and elk on the mine's 10,000-acre permit area.

--Solar Sources, Inc., Sky-Point Mine, Lynnville, Indiana,
submitted by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources
Reclamation Division, for exemplary soil replacement, and for
restoring the site to farmland, which is now producing a variety of
crops, including hay, soybeans, and wheat.

--Fowler Excavating, Inc., A&P Pit, U.S. 50 Mine, and Bullock Mine,
Montgomery, Indiana, nominated by the Indiana Coal Association, for
exceptional mining and reclamation by a small coal operator (under
100,000 tons per year) while returning the mine site to its
pre-mining usage for row crops, pasture, and forestry, after
skipping just one growing season during mining.

--Martiki Coal Corporation, Martin County Mine, Inez, Kentucky,
submitted by the Kentucky Department for Surface Mining Reclamation
and Enforcement, for reclaiming a mountaintop mining site and
developing, in cooperation with Morehead State University's
Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Pocahontas
Development Corporation, a long-term agricultural enterprise on the
land.

--Saarcar Coal, Inc., an operating subsidiary of Ashland Coal,
Inc., and Saarcar's contract operator, the Rifle Coal Company,
Meally, Kentucky, submitted by the Kentucky Department for Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, commended for demonstrating
special innovation and creativity in handling overburden and
developing an effective drainage system for the site in the
mountainous terrain of eastern Kentucky.

--Western Energy Company, Rosebud Mine, Colstrip, Montana,
submitted by the Montana Department of State Lands Reclamation
Division, for its successful native rangeland reclamation program
in the Powder River Basin area of southeastern Montana.

--R&F Coal Company, Cheslock-Hendershot Mine, St. Clairsville,
Ohio, submitted by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources
Division of Reclamation, for reclaiming abandoned mine land
adjacent to a residential area, turning it into sports fields for
St. Clairsville Junior Sports, reclaiming prime farmland, and
creating permanent ponds that are integral parts of the post-mining
land use.

--The Carter Mining Company, Rawhide and Caballo Mines, Gillette,
Wyoming, submitted by the Wyoming Department of Environmental
Quality, Land Quality Division, for developing an innovative
overburden management program at the two mines that prevents
environmental damage, ensures optimum hydrologic conditions for the
reclaimed land, and creates a zone of high-quality soil for new
plant growth.

--Bridger Coal Company, Jim Bridger Mine, Rock Springs, Wyoming,
submitted by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Land
Quality Division, for its outstanding native revegetation program
at the mine in arid southwest Wyoming.

"The winners of the national competition have properly set the
highest of standards for the American coal industry's efforts to
safeguard the environment and reclaim the land after mining," Lujan
said.  "These conservation-minded coal mine operators have shown
that they do, indeed, take pride in America."

Lujan will present the national awards this evening at the annual
convention of the National Coal Association at The Greenbrier,
White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

The winners were selected by a panel of judges from OSM, the Bureau
of Mines, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

-DOI-