Coal Strip Mine Reclamation

MONTANA STRIP MINING MULTIMEDIA:

• A first and second aerial photo of the Colstrip, Montana coal strip mines and power plant (courtesy D. Hanson)
  
• Satellite LANDSAT images of Colstrip and Decker (Courtesty SkyTruth)
• Google Earth multimedia (Courtesty SkyTruth):
• A flyover image and an KMZ placemark layer of Colstrip (right-click to download)
  
• A flyover image and an KMZ placemark layer of Decker (right-click to download)
  
• Get Google Earth if you don't have it
  

33 YEARS SINCE MONTANA PASSED ITS STRIP MINE LAW:
62,000 ACRES PERMITTED... 216 ACRES FULLY RECLAIMED.

Both state and federal law require that lands strip mined for coal have to be reclaimed. In actual practice, coal companies have skirted this legal requirement. In Montana, big coal companies continue to delay reclaiming the land that has been impacted by strip mining.

Strip mining in Montana is regulated by the Montana Surface and Underground Mine Reclamation Act and the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. Northern Plains was a leading advocate for both of these laws, and we have monitored their implementation and enforcement over the past three decades.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the federal strip mine law in 1997, Northern Plains received the Western Regional Award for Exemplary Contribution to the Success of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act through Advocacy and Public Participation from the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining (OSM).

Both the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the OSM have published reports on the status of coal mine reclamation and compliance with environmental laws in our state.

From recent reports, the following is of note:

• According to the OSM, as of October 2005, over 62,000 acres have been permitted for strip mining. Over 31,000 acres have been mined. According to the DEQ's 2006 Annual Report, only 216 acres have been released from their surety bonds because they had completed all four phases of land reclamation. 1,514 acres have completed three of the four phases of reclamation, all that is required in many other states.
• In a report prepared for the 20th anniversary of the strip mining law, OSM found that in Montana, where there are only 12 active major coal mines, 250 violations of the law had occurred, at a rate of at least 8 per year since monitoring began.
• Montana still has serious pollution problems associated with abandoned, pre-1977 coal mine sites. The OSM 20th anniversary report found that, "Acid mine drainage continues to be a major problem from both abandoned coal and non-coal mines in Montana."
• It has been 33 years since Montana passed its strip mine reclamation law, and 29 years since the federal law was passed. 216 acres have been deemed fully reclaimed.
• In 2001, the federal government found that "[T]he Montana program is not effective in having all disturbed lands reclaimed to the approved postmining land use contemporaneously."

At the current rate of reclamation, its unlikely that the 62,000 acres permitted to be mined in Montana will be reclaimed in our lifetimes. Reclamation creates good paying jobs and restores the land to productive use. It works when it is done. We can do better.

IMPORTANT LINKS:

Read Montana DEQ's 2006 Coal Bureau Annual Report:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Read the SMCRA 20th Anniversary Report
Download the 2001 OSM Montana Oversight Report
Download the 2005 OSM Abandoned Mine Lands Report