The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement awarded the Alabama Department of Labor Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program the National Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Award for its work in Bibb County.

The award was presented to Alabama by OSMRE Principal Deputy Director Sharon Buccino during the National Association of AML Programs conference in Canaan Valley, West Virginia, on Sept. 2. The State or Tribe with the best reclamation project in the country is presented the National Award.

"The Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Awards honor the best examples of AML reclamation in our nation," said OSMRE Principal Deputy Director Sharon Buccino. "Our State and Tribal partners work hard to remove health hazards and reclaim former coal mines. These reclamation projects showcase innovation, community collaboration, and how reclaiming legacy coal mining problems builds a better future for former coal communities."

The Piper Mine Reclamation Project eliminated public safety hazards by reclaiming the abandon mine land features that remained from coal mining in the early 1900s. Two highwall segments 4,830 feet long and 80 feet high, 59 acres of spoil material, 6 acres of gob area, three impoundments covering 1.1 acres, a mine portal, and 3 acres of mine slump were all mitigated.

Now, the area features a 10-acre pond with a canoe launch ramp, gravel roads, parking areas, new trails and improvements to existing trails.

"This project is an example of what is possible through partnership and collaboration," said Alabama Mining and Reclamation Division Director Dustin Morin. "Although Alabama has a relatively small AML program, we are incredibly proud of the quality of reclamation work we accomplish."

The Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Awards, created in 1992, recognize the hard work of state and Tribal reclamation projects that reclaim coal mine sites that were abandoned before the signing of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.