Kentucky receives $74.2 million to clean up abandoned, polluted mines

Kentucky will get an additional $74.2 million to clean up abandoned and polluted mines from the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The funding builds on the $74.2 million sent to the Bluegrass State in fiscal year 2022, the Interior Department said.

Kentucky’s funds came from Interior’s Abandoned Mine Land (AML) reclamation program, designed to support jobs in coal mining communities that close dangerous mine shafts, reclaim unstable slopes, improve water quality by treating acid mine drainage and restore water supplies damaged by mining.

The program finances projects that rehabilitate hazardous land for recreational facilities, advanced manufacturing and renewable energy initiatives. Priority are given to projects that hire unemployed coal workers, as directed by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

“Through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we have a historic opportunity to address nearly all currently inventoried abandoned mine lands across the country and create good-paying, family sustaining jobs in coal communities in the process,” said Acting Interior Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis.

In fiscal year 2023, nearly $197.9 million in AML awards have been announced for Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas, and Wyoming. Funding will be awarded to additional eligible states and Tribes on a rolling basis.

In mid-February, West Virginia received $30 million from the program for a similar reclamation project. Notable projects that got funding included $6.8 million for a theme park to be built at the Logan Resort and Recreation Center in Logan County that includes a roller coaster, simulated coal mine, artifact display and an expansion of surrounding hiking trails. Brooke County’s West Virginia Farm Foods, LLC got $4 million to construct a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) abattoir to process cattle from 7,000 farms in northern West Virginia.

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