ODNR uses grant funds to address abandoned mine issues

SALEM

Gail and Bill Long of Minerva went to an Ohio Department of Natural Resources meeting on abandoned mine land projects knowing they have had some sinkholes on their 35 acres.

They left the meeting Monday knowing that they have a mine land feature on their property.

“It’s been very informational,” Gail said.

ODNR hosts a series of these meetings for its abandoned mine land projects in several counties, including some in the Mahoning Valley, to tell the public about the future projects for Ohio mines that were abandoned prior to 1977.

In Mahoning County, ODNR has a grant proposal for a section of state Route 165 in Beaver Township that has a highwall or vertical rock faces, which were a part of strip mining operations. Highwalls can be unstable and this particular one is considered dangerous. The total estimated project cost to eliminate the highwall is $649,611.

In Columbiana County, ODNR has a grant proposal for the demolition of a hazardous equipment facility in Elk Run Township, which would cost an estimated $81,263. The steel reinforced concrete structures were once used for coal washing and some coal fragments can still be located in and around the site.

Also in Columbiana, ODNR estimates the total project cost for the removal of a highwall on Waterford Road in Unity Township at $130,609.

Another two dangerous highwalls in the county that ODNR would like to remove are in Madison Township. Within 500 feet of either one or both highwalls are 12 residences and one of them is less than 900 feet from an elementary school.

The funding for these projects comes through the U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining and the funds are generated through a severance tax that is put on coal.