OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING

For Release September 29, 1998                    Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719
                                        Jchildre@osmre.gov

             INTERIOR SECRETARY BABBITT ANNOUNCES   
          ABANDONED MINE LAND RECLAMATION AWARD WINNERS

     Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt today announced that abandoned mine land (AML)
reclamation projects in Iowa, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wyoming are winners of the 1998
Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation awards.

     "These national winners have established hallmarks of excellence for their outstanding
dedication and efforts to reclaim abandoned mine lands and safeguard the environment," Babbitt
said. "I commend their efforts to help preserve the environment for future generations."

     Each year the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining (OSM), sponsor of the
competition, examines nominated projects and honors the best examples of abandoned mine land
reclamation.  Winners are 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 1998 awards during ceremonies at the
National Association of  Abandoned Mine Land Programs annual meeting in Albuquerque, New
Mexico, on September 29, 1998.

     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 Virginia Division of Mined Land
Reclamation's Long Fork Sedimentation Project near Clintwood in Dickenson County which
reclaimed a two-acre land slide and three-acre refuse pile and 9,500 feet of clogged stream along
the Long Fork's Crabtree Creek tributary.  Today, after reclamation, flooding in the narrow
valley has been eliminated and it is once again a productive fish and wildlife habitat.

                                 
     Appalachian Region   The Pennsylvania Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation's
Muddy Creek East Reclamation Project in Clay Township, Butler County which reclaimed
dangerous highwalls, hazardous water pits, and a large area of mine spoil.  Before reclamation
the abandoned mine attracted large numbers of visitors and with 10 deaths reported at the site, it
was one of the most dangerous abandoned coal mine sites in the country.  With the hazards
eliminated, the site is now a productive wildlife habitat that includes extensive wetlands.

     Mid-Continent Region   The Iowa Division of Soil Conservation's Poffenbarger
Reclamation Project near Red Rock Reservoir in Marion County, has reclaimed a 96-acre site
with dangerous highwalls, acid spoil material and a creek bottom polluted with acidic sediment
into an area of viable wetland habitat and productive grazing land.          

     Western Region   The Wyoming Abandoned Mine Land Division's Sunrise District
Reclamation Project near Guernsey in Platte and Goshen Counties for reclaiming an area of more
than 200 acres of hazardous waste and spoil, including one of the world's largest abandoned
open-pit iron mines into an area of productive farmland and an historic, educational site
depicting the area's early mining activity.

     The OSM awards program was started in 1986, and is designed to publicly recognize
outstanding abandoned mine land reclamation and publicize exemplary reclamation techniques. 
A brochure announcing the 1999 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 homepage at: (www.osmre.gov)  

                              -DOI-