Federal department invests $20 million to rehab abandoned Alabama coal mines

VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. ( WIAT ) — A grant of over $20 million from the U.S. Department of the Interior will help rehabilitate hazardous mine sites around Alabama to their natural state, according to the Alabama Department of Labor.

With the money, the state hopes to create more opportunities for abandoned coal mines to be turned into economic developments.

“We have over 1,000 problems. A problem area can be a pinpoint location, or it can be 500 acres,” said Dustin Morin of the Alabama Department of Labor.

The Alabama Department of Labor defines a problem area as land that has been identified as having hazardous features associated with pre-1977 coal mining. Officials say the investment will be spent removing hazards from those areas.

“Our overall goal in our engineering design and our construction is to return the properties back to the contours that they were when they were extracted,” Morin added.

The Department of Labor says all of the mines the grant will impact were abandoned before environmental regulations were put in place.

“Prior to any federal legislation requiring the coal companies to go back and repair what they damaged through coal extraction,” said Morin. “Eliminating safety hazards and improving the natural environment, I think everyone can agree, is a tremendous benefit to our citizens.”

Dr. Steve Feldgus of the U.S. Department of the Interior said the investment will create more jobs in Alabama.

“It’s providing resources to help communities go through this energy transition, clean up environmental hazards, and put people back to work,” Feldgus said.

One of the largest projects the investment will be used for is the Jess Branch mine reclamation project outside of Birmingham. The project is expected to take a year to complete. When it is done, the state hopes the area can be used as timberland.

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