Office of the Secretary 
For Immediate Release: August 24, 1999                           Contact:  John Wright  
                                                                 202/208-6416
                                                                 Jerry Childress
                                                                 202/208-2719 
                                                       
          Secretary Babbitt Announces Winners of 1999 
              Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Awards                    
                                   Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt today announced that abandoned mine land (AML)
reclamation projects in New Mexico, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and on the Navajo Indian
Reservation are winners of the 1999 National Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation awards.

     "These award winners have done a great job in setting new standards for the industry,"
said Babbitt.  "I commend their performance in restoring the landscape and improving the
environment for future generations to enjoy." 

     The annual awards program sponsored by the Interior Department's Office of Surface
Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), examines nominated projects and honors the best
examples of abandoned mine land reclamation. Winners were selected by a panel of judges from
OSM, state abandoned mine reclamation agencies, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Rural Abandoned Mine Program. 

     OSM Director Kathy Karpan will present the winning companies with the 1999 awards
during ceremonies at the National Association of  Abandoned Mine Land Programs annual
meeting in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania, August 24, 1999.   Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation
Award winners representing each of OSM's three regions, and one selected as best in the nation,
are:

     National Abandoned Mine Land Award    The Navajo Abandoned Mine Land
Reclamation Department's Monument Valley 2 AML Reclamation Project on the Navajo
reservation, near the Arizona/Utah border which reclaimed a highly toxic radioactive open pit
uranium mine site which endangered the local Navajos, and their livestock, and posed a general
threat to wildlife and water resources in the surrounding area.  Today, after reclamation, the site
is free of sources of water pollution, soil erosion, sedimentation and radiation emission and is
once again open to the community for livestock grazing.

     Appalachian Region   The West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection's
Blackwater River Limestone Drum Reclamation Project near the town of Davis in Tucker County,
which eliminated one of the major sources of acid mine drainage in the state, and reestablished the
Blackwater River as one of West Virginia's premier trout fishing areas.  The project also improved
water quality in other downstream rivers, including the Cheat, and the Ohio.    

     Mid-Continent Region   The Oklahoma Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program 
in partnership with the National Resources Conservation Service, Rural Abandoned Mine Program
for developing the Oklahoma Partnership Approach to Reclamation of Abandoned Mine Land.  The
two agencies pooled personnel and resources to complete a joint project to reclaim 26 acres of
abandoned mine land on five separate sites in Rogers County, including one site where acid mine
drainage was polluting the Claremore city water supply.     

     Western Region   The New Mexico Abandoned Mine Land Bureau's Socorro West Mine
Safeguard Project, in Socorro County, for reclaiming 24 underground mine shafts, adits, and other
dangerous openings at the abandoned Nancy and Black Canyon manganese mine sites.  
The reclamation included installing bat gates which help to preserve the habitat for one of the
country's largest populations of Townsend's big-eared bats. 

     "These national winners have established hallmarks of excellence for their outstanding
dedication and efforts to reclaim abandoned mine lands and safeguard the environment," Karpan 
said.  "We deeply appreciate their hard work and extraordinary performance." 

     The Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Awards Program was started in 1992, and is
designed to publicly recognize outstanding abandoned mine land reclamation and publicize
exemplary reclamation techniques.  A brochure announcing the year 2000 program, with complete
details about how to nominate a project is available from State reclamation agencies, OSM Regional
and Field Offices, OSM Headquarters and from the OSM web site at: www.osmre.gov/awards.htm 

                                        


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