Mine reclamation funding: A "game changer for eastern Ohio"

<h2>Ohio News Connection</h2> <p>Efforts to rectify the lingering environmental legacy of coal mining in Ohio are getting a big financial boost.<br> <br> The new federal <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3684" target="_blank">infrastructure law</a> includes $11.3 billion to fund abandoned mine cleanup in 25 states.<br> <br> In Ohio, there are more than 3,400 abandoned mines, according to the <a href="https://gis.ohiodnr.gov/MapViewer/?config=OhioMines" target="_blank">Department of Natural Resources</a>, posing health and safety risks to people and the environment.<br> <br> Marissa Lautzenheiser, director of northern programs for the group Rural Action, cited lists of potential projects where the <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5da75e8578e3be27cc68f60f/t/6112a23938c80e6d2951126f/1628611129508/Est+AML_Funding_Projections+Under+Infrastructure+Investment+and+Jobs+Act+8.10.2021+1.pdf" target="_blank">estimated $550 million</a> Ohio will receive would be well-spent.<br> <br> "This is a game changer," Lautzenheiser asserted. "The landscape of eastern Ohio is going to look a lot different in five years, let alone in ten years, than it would have without this investment."<br> <br> She pointed out the funding is especially important for Ohio communities hit hard by the coal industry decline, because it will create 730 jobs, nearly $2 billion in economic output and $660 million in labor income.<br> <br> Since the federal <a href="https://www.blm.gov/programs/public-safety-and-fire/abandoned-mine-lands/about-aml" target="_blank">Abandoned Mine Lands Program</a> was created in 1977, roughly 978,000 acres and $8 billion worth of damage has been cleaned up in the region. But it represents only about one-fourth of the total damage.<br> <br> Lautzenheiser noted the thousands of remaining unclaimed sites have continual issues.<br> <br> "If you build your home adjacent to or on an underground mine, you can find your basement floor collapsing into air shafts," Lautzenheiser outlined. "