|
Birmingham
Field Office |
|
State Links:
Alabama (AML)
Alabama
(Regulatory)
Louisiana
Mississippi
dsfdsfadsfdfssdafdfs |
 |
State Annual Reports,
Performance and Cooperative
Agreements |
|
Sherry Wilson
Field Office Director
Birmingham
Staff Contact Info
|
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of
1977 established the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) as the
Federal agency responsible for the protection of the
environment during coal mining (Title V) and for the
reclamation of abandoned coal mine lands (Title IV).
Through primacy, 24 states have the primary responsibility
for regulating active coal operations and reclaiming
abandoned mine sites in their states with OSM exercising
oversight over these state programs and providing
enhancement and assistance.
Primary functions of the Birmingham Field
Office include:
|
 |
|
OSM
Point-of-Contact and Outreach - We
serve as the principal OSM point-of-contact for the
state regulatory and abandoned mine land (AML)
programs, coal industry, public interest groups, and
citizens within the States of Alabama, Mississippi,
and Louisiana. We also seek and promote outreach
efforts to afford opportunities for stakeholder and
citizen participation in the development and
implementation of performance agreements, evaluation
topics, performance goals, and OSM program
priorities within the States of Alabama,
Mississippi, and Louisiana. Our office is the
Federal contact for the Appalachian Clean Streams
Initiative in these states and provides the
interface between watershed groups and OSM for the
Clean Streams Initiative internship program, the
OSM-VISTA Program, and the Watershed Cooperative
Agreement Program.
|
| |
|
|
Recent
Outreach
West Blocton's "Beehive
Coke Ovens"
|
|
|
|
Oversight, Programmatic
Support, and Programmatic Assistance - We
are responsible for oversight, programmatic support,
and programmatic assistance regarding the
implementation and enhancement of the approved state
regulatory and AML reclamation programs for Alabama,
Louisiana, and Mississippi. |
ALABAMA
Alabama has four coalfields that are part of the great
Appalachian coal basin - the Plateau field, the
Warrior field, the Cahaba field, and the Coosa field.
Alabama’s total coal
reserves have been estimated at 4.8 billion tons. A
total of 3.1 billion tons is estimated as recoverable
reserves (0.73 billion tons is recoverable by
underground mining, i.e., overburden of greater than 120
feet; and 2.4 billion tons are recoverable by present
strip mining techniques, i.e., overburden less than 120
feet). A total of 9,700 square miles of the State is
underlain by coal. On June 30, 2007, Alabama had 55
active coal mining operations. The
Alabama Surface Mining Commission administers the
state coal mine regulatory program.
State
Contact:
Randall
C. Johnson, Director
Alabama Surface Mining Commission
1811 Second Avenue, 2nd Floor
P.O. Box 2390
Jasper, AL 35502-2390
Phone:
(205) 221-4130
Fax: (205) 221-5077
E-mail: randall@asmc.alabama.gov
The
Abandoned Mine Land Program is administered by the
Alabama
Department of Industrial Relations (ADIR). The
AML Program completed 14 projects (including eight
emergency projects) during evaluation year 2007. As of
June 30, 2007, reclamation achieved by non-emergency
activities included eliminating 9,376 linear feet of
dangerous highwall, 105.4 acres of spoil, one portal,
one subsidence event, and two vertical openings. A
total of 117.4 acres were affected by the reclamation.
State
Contact: Michael R. Skates, Director
Mining and Reclamation Division
Alabama Dept. of Industrial Relations
649 Monroe Street
Montgomery, Alabama 36131
Phone: (334) 242-8265
Fax:
(334) 242-8403
Email:
mskates@dir.state.al.us
LOUISIANA
Louisiana’s estimated 1.0 billion tons of identified
coal reserves consist entirely of lignite. The lignite
deposits are located in the northwest part of the
State. In September 1985, one surface coal mine, which
is operated by the Dolet
Hills Lignite Company, began production and is still in
operation. A second surface mine, operated by the Red
River Mining Company, began producing lignite in 1989;
both mines provide lignite to the
Dolet Hills Power Plant. During Evaluation Year
2007, the two surface mines produced 3.371 million tons
of lignite.
The Louisiana Office of Conservation (LOC) is the
approved state coal mine regulatory authority. The LOC
also administers the state AML program.
State Contact: Dale Berquist, Geologist Supervisor
Department of Natural Resources
Surface Mining Section
Office of Conservation
P.O. Box 94275
Baton Rouge, LA 70804
Phone:
(225) 342-5586
Fax: (225) 342-3094
E-mail:
daleb@dnt.stae.la.us
MISSISSIPPI
Coal mining in
Mississippi is centered in the band of lignite that
extends from south Texas through Louisiana, Arkansas,
Tennessee, Mississippi, and into central Alabama. One
permit, MS-002, has been in operation in the state since
1998. The mine, the Red Hills Lignite Mine, provides
approximately 3.5 million tons of lignite annually to a
mine-mouth power plant, and is the mining component of
the Red Hills Power Project. Of the 5,809 acres
permitted, 3,625 acres are bonded. As of June 30, 2007,
2,175.4 acres of the Red Hills Lignite Mine had been
disturbed. Lignite is being mined from six seams.
The
Mississippi Office of Geology administers the state
coal mine regulatory program.
State
Contact: Michael B. E. Bograd, Director
Office of Geology
Department of Environmental Quality
700 N State Street
Jackson, MS 39202
P. O. Box 2279
Jackson, MS 39225
(601) 961-5500
Fax: 601-961-5521
E-mail:
Michael_Bograd@deq.state.ms.us
|
|
Birmingham
Field Office Address:
Office of Surface Mining
Birmingham Field Office
Barber Business Park
135 Gemini Circle,
Suite 215
Homewood, AL 35209
Phone
(205) 290-7282
Fax
(205) 290-7280
|
Return to top of page
![arrow_grn_up_clr[1].gif (1088 bytes)](../_borders/arrow_grn_up_clr1.gif)
|
Accessibility