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Prioritizing Abandoned Coal Mine Reclamation Projects Within the Contiguous United States Using Geographic Information System Extrapolation

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Abstract

Coal mine reclamation projects are very expensive and require coordination of local and federal agencies to identify resources for the most economic way of reclaiming mined land. Location of resources for mine reclamation is a spatial problem. This article presents a methodology that allows the combination of spatial data on resources for the coal mine reclamation and uses GIS analysis to develop a priority list of potential mine reclamation sites within contiguous United States using the method of extrapolation. The extrapolation method in this study was based on the Bark Camp reclamation project. The mine reclamation project at Bark Camp, Pennsylvania, USA, provided an example of the beneficial use of fly ash and dredged material to reclaim 402,600 sq mi of a mine abandoned in the 1980s. Railroads provided transportation of dredged material and fly ash to the site. Therefore, four spatial elements contributed to the reclamation project at Bark Camp: dredged material, abandoned mines, fly ash sources, and railroads. Using spatial distribution of these data in the contiguous United States, it was possible to utilize GIS analysis to prioritize areas where reclamation projects similar to Bark Camp are feasible. GIS analysis identified unique occurrences of all four spatial elements used in the Bark Camp case for each 1 km of the United States territory within 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 km radii from abandoned mines. The results showed the number of abandoned mines for each state and identified their locations. The federal or state governments can use these results in mine reclamation planning.

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Acknowledgements

The NY/NJ Clean Ocean and Shore Trust (COAST) provided software and suggested this analysis. New York City Department of Environmental Protection provided necessary high-computing equipment and computer time.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Sciences, SUNY, Purchase College, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase, New York 10577, USA

    Yuri Gorokhovich , Matthew Reid & Erica Mignone

  2. Clean Ocean and Shore Trust (COAST), Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, 918 Mudd Building New York, New York 10027, USA

    Andrew Voros

Authors
  1. Yuri Gorokhovich
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  2. Andrew Voros
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  3. Matthew Reid
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  4. Erica Mignone
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Gorokhovich , Y., Voros, A., Reid, M. et al. Prioritizing Abandoned Coal Mine Reclamation Projects Within the Contiguous United States Using Geographic Information System Extrapolation. Environmental Management 32, 527–534 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-003-3043-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-003-3043-1

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