Showing papers by "Carl E. Zipper published in 1996"

Successes and failures: Applying research results to insure reclamation success

Abstract: This document contains reports which were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Surface Mining and Reclamation. Topics include issues on: toxic mine waste; hydrology; mine-slope stability; acid mine drainage; reforestation; soil amendments. Individual projects have been processed separately for the United States Department of Energy databases.

Encouraging re-mining and reclamation of abandoned mined lands in Appalachia: Policy options

Abstract: Abandoned mined lands (AML) are areas that were mined prior to implementaion of federal controls over coal-mined land reclamation and were inadequately claimed. The majority of the United States' AML acreages were produced by coal mining Appalachian areas. Environmental problems sociated with AML include lands in barren semi-barren condition, excessive sedimentation, acid water discharges, and unstable slopes. There is no active, national program with primary goal of reclaiming AML whose adverse impacts are environmental. As a result, many the lands that were adversely impacted by coal mining prior to 1977 remain in an unreclaimed condition. When AML are re-mined and reclaimed by active operations, results can include reduction of the adverse impacts of previous mining. However, the current legal and regulatory structure tends to discourage environmental enhancement of AML through re-mining, especially where adverse impacts of previous mining are severe. Today, mining operations on previously mined sites often fail to reclaim adjacent AML problem areas. The purpose of this article is to address the potential to achieve reclamation of AML in the Appalachian region by creating incentives for environmental enhancement through re-mining. We review background information on AML and on current policies affecting re …