OSM Seal Office of Surface Mining
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October 28, 2004
For immediate release
Contact: Mike Gauldin
(202) 208-2565
mgauldin@osmre.gov
Vann Weaver
(412) 937-2858
OSM Partnering With Pennsylvania in the Use of Geospatial Technologies for Regulatory Oversight on Mining and Reclamation Operations

(Washington, DC) - The Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining (OSM) and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) are partnering with Wilkes University to demonstrate the application of geospatial tools to regulatory management of an active mine site.

Jeff Jarrett, director of OSM, today announced that his agency has awarded $70,000 to PADEP to use several geospatial applications for regulatory (and bonding) oversight and management at a mining operation in western Pennsylvania. PADEP will provide $20,000 bringing the total funding for this project to $90,000. PA GIS Consortium/College of Science and Engineering at Wilkes University (PAGIS) located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania has been selected to conduct the project.

This project will include the integrated use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), high accuracy GPS, and satellite imagery to provide geospatial and geophysical data and analysis for engineering mapping and operations monitoring. The project will implement a GIS-based system to track and verify mining operations, on-site reclamation, and bond release status. This would demonstrate the use of GIS, GPS, and remote sensing technologies in the tracking and verification of operational constraints, including environmental constraints like erosion and sedimentation controls or wildlife structures, monitoring of permit boundaries, verification of topsoil redistribution and other post-mining characteristics such as surface hydrology, vegetation, wildlife habitat, and post-mining land use.

"One big bonus of this project is the requirement that PAGIS/Wilkes University transfer this field-proven technology to other state agencies," said Jarrett. "That will insure that the state and people living and working in the coalfields get the maximum benefit from this ground-breaking use of technology."

"This project will act as a spring board for our field staff to employ remote sensing and digitally-generated mapping techniques to assist in ensuring the proper and timely reclamation of mine sites," according to J. Scott Roberts, Deputy Secretary for the Office of Mineral Resources Management. "It is especially gratifying that OSM has taken the initiative to act as a partner in this endeavor, benefiting not only our state program, but potentially other coal producing states as well."

Within OSM, the Technical Innovation and Professional Services (TIPS) program will provide hardware, analytical software and technical assistance, and Appalachian Region Technical Transfer initiative will provide technical guidance to this endeavor. An integrated use of geospatial tools is expected to provide regulatory field and office staff with the necessary digital environmental and engineering data and maps, design features, and records and analyses of on-site activities during regular mining operations. A mining site in western Pennsylvania that meets the criteria for the demonstration project is presently under consideration.

-OSM-



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Office of Surface Mining
1951 Constitution Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20240
202-208-2719
getinfo@osmre.gov