10/21/04 NEWS RELEASE

	Office of Surface Mining Media Advisory

October 21, 2004
For immediate release
U.S. Department of the Interior Media Advisory

Contact: Mike Gauldin
(202) 208-2565
mgauldin@osmre.gov

Allegheny, Washington County Editors Note

Assistant Secretary of the Interior Rebecca Watson Will tour abandoned mine land sites in Southwest Pennsylvania

Washington- Rebecca Watson, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management, will visit Southwest Pennsylvania on Tuesday, October 26, to tour abandoned mine land (AML) sites. One site is an abandoned mine that contains safety hazards and environmental impacts affecting a small community. The other site is a declared AML emergency landslide abatement project. The sites are in Allegheny and Washington Counties.

News reporters are invited to join Watson at two locations where she will be briefed on abandoned mine lands problems.

Who: Rebecca Watson, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Interior
What: Pennsylvania Reclamation Media Availability and Tour

Availability 1

When: Tuesday, October 26, 2004, 9 a.m.
Where: Gladden Heights AML Site

Meeting Place - Parking lot at Heritage Park in McDonald, Pennsylvania. Heritage Park is located on the west end of McDonald along Route 980. Park is identified by a sign. Entire group will then travel a short distance to the AML site.

Availability 2

When: Tuesday, October 26, 2004, 10:30 a.m.
Where: Dindak Landslide

Federal Abandoned Mine Land Project
Oakdale, Allegheny County, PA
Directions to the site: From Pittsburgh, take I-279 South to US-22/30 toward the Airport. Take the exit for US-22/30 West (Weirton). Travel approximately 1 mile to the Oakdale exit. After exiting, turn right onto McKee Road. Travel about 0.1 miles to Steubenville Pike and turn left. Turn right onto Farmcrest Drive, which is the second street on the right (about 0.5 miles). At the third stop sign, turn right onto Harvester Drive. Continue on Harvester Drive to Brooketree Court. Turn right onto Brooketree Court. The home is located at 705 Brooketree Court which is on the left.

GLADDEN HEIGHTS AML SITE
NOBLESTOWN ROAD, WASHINGTON COUNTY, PA

Remnants of past underground mining are located adjacent to the small community of Gladden Heights in Washington County, Pennsylvania. Present at the site are dilapidated mine structures and coal waste. It appears that a partially filled abandoned air shaft may also be located at the site. Gladden Heights is a typical example of how abandoned mine features degrade many small communities throughout the coalfields of the United States.

Inventory efforts in the mid 1980's by the Pennsylvania Department of the Environmental Protection (PADEP) placed the coal waste in Gladden Heights on the National Abandoned Mine Lands Inventory System. The site was placed into the Inventory because community residents complained of injuries to children playing on the steep unstable slopes of the coal waste. In addition, the dust and drainage from the abandoned mine areas in Gladden Heights degrade community living conditions. Assessments by PADEP identified four acres of abandoned coal waste that meet the criteria for a Priority 2 Health and Safety condition. In the mid-1980's, PADEP estimated that approximately $480,000 may be needed to address the problem. Additional funds may be needed when an updated inventory is completed on other AML features located in and around the community.

DINDAK LANDSLIDE
OAKDALE, ALLEGHENY COUNTY, PA

Torrential precipitation occurred in and around Allegheny County on September 17, 2004. Late that afternoon a buried pit mouth entry to an abandoned underground mine suddenly discharged large amounts of water from below the base of a steep hillside behind a residential area near Oakdale, Pennsylvania. The homeowner fled her house with her infant daughter as the slope failed and the landslide material slammed into the back of the home crushing the outside deck, breaking through the back wall of the partially below grade garage and impacting the structural integrity of the home. The family is now living with their neighbors.

The Office of Surface Mining's Federal Emergency Program will be starting abatement measures the last week in October. The slide material will be excavated and a reinforced concrete wall will be constructed behind the home to stabilize the hillside. Abatement activities will be coordinated with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection whose Mine Subsidence Insurance program will address the structural integrity of the home.

Rebecca W. Watson Rebecca W. Watson is the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management at the U.S. Department of the Interior.

She provides policy, priorities and oversight to the Bureau of Land Management, Minerals Management Service, and Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. These three bureaus have responsibility for the production of about 35 percent of our domestic oil, natural gas and coal that heat and cool our homes, fuel our cars and trucks, and power our high-tech economy.

During her tenure as Assistant Secretary, Ms. Watson has established providing the American people with the energy they need in an environmentally sound manner and the preservation of rural western communities and their values as her highest priorities. She has been an active spokesperson for administration initiatives to involve local communities in public-land decisions affecting them and protecting communities from the threat of wildland fires.

Ms. Watson is an attorney licensed to practice in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado and Washington, D.C. She is admitted to the State and Federal district courts of those states, the 9th, 10th and D.C. Circuit Courts and the U.S. Supreme Court. She received her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, and two graduate degrees from the University of Denver. Ms. Watson is a published author on natural resource law and policy issues.

Office of Surface Mining
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