{"id":2213691,"date":"2024-04-05T10:28:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T14:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/feds-give-pennsylvania-244m-for-mine-land-problems\/"},"modified":"2024-04-05T10:28:25","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T14:28:25","slug":"feds-give-pennsylvania-244m-for-mine-land-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/feds-give-pennsylvania-244m-for-mine-land-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"The federal government allocates $244 million to Pennsylvania for addressing mine land issues"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffeds-give-pennsylvania-244m-for-mine-land-problems%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2213691&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Pennsylvania is receiving \u2062$244 \u200cmillion from\u200d the\u200b federal government to address\u200c orphan\u2064 oil and gas wells and hazardous mine lands. \u200dThis funding aims to reclaim mining lands posing risks to the environment and humans. The Department of the Interior Secretary highlighted that this funding will enable \u200dthe \u200creclamation of abandoned mine lands nationwide. The Biden administration \u200cplans to invest over $11 billion in mine land remediation, providing long-term support and job opportunities for coal communities.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2014 Pennsylvania\u2019s orphan oil and gas well problem has gotten much attention in recent months.<\/p>\n<p>So too has the commonwealth\u2019s legacy of hazardous mine lands. Now, the federal government is sending hundreds of millions of dollars to deal with them.<\/p>\n<p>This week, the Department of the Interior announced $244 million will come into Pennsylvania to reclaim mining lands that still present risks to humans and nature alike.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOverall, this funding is expected to enable the reclamation of nearly all current inventoried abandoned mine lands in this country,\u201d Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said at a press conference in Bovard, where stabilization work is ongoing to avoid mine subsidence that threaten homes in the community.<\/p>\n<p>Subsidence is the movement of the ground surface that follows the collapse of underground mines. Damage usually comes to homes in the form of wall deformations, cracking, and windows and doors not opening or closing properly. Sinkholes can also form from mine subsidence.<\/p>\n<p>Pennsylvania will receive almost one-third of the federal money available this year, $725 million, for dealing with mine lands. The Biden administration, Haaland said, will spend more than $11 billion on abandoned mine land remediation in the coming years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere will be many more years of reliable funding that Pennsylvania can count on in the future,\u201d she said. \u201cThese funds will support vitally needed jobs for coal communities by funding all types of reclamation projects which, in turn, will help revitalize entire local communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The project in Bovard will stabilize 35 acres of mine subsidence that affects more than 100 homes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know the Biden administration cares about communities like this one here in Bovard and communities that too often feel forgotten or left behind,\u201d Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said. \u201cThis is a big deal for so many families and business owners in the commonwealth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A legacy of energy production that powered the nation has left Pennsylvania with a legacy of environmental hazards, too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur commonwealth has more abandoned coal mines than any other state in the country,\u201d Davis said. \u201cTake Pittsburgh and copy it five times \u2014 that\u2019s how much land we\u2019re talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Environmental Protection has reported more than 91,000 acres of rehabilitation mining lands, the lieutenant governor said, but at least 180,000 acres of mine lands still need attention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a top priority and we\u2019re not going to take our foot off the gas pedal,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n<p>Not all abandoned mine lands pose a risk, but many do. Of almost <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/mapmaker.millersville.edu\/pamaps\/AbandonedMines\/\">10,000 abandoned mines<\/a><\/strong> across the state, almost 6,700 pose an environmental risk and almost 3,300 pose a health and safety risk. The Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation classifies 140 of them as an extreme health and safety risk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have the resources to end this cycle,\u201d Haaland said. \u201cTogether, we will make these smart investments and build a cleaner and more just future for our children and grandchildren.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Davis encouraged homeowners to get insurance coverage; the Department of Environmental Protection <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dep.pa.gov\/Citizens\/MSI\/Pages\/default.aspx\">estimates a yearly cost<\/a><\/strong> of $41. The Mine Subsidence Insurance program has paid out $36 million since the early 1960s to affected residents.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pennsylvania&#8217;s orphan oil and gas well issue and hazardous mine lands legacy are in the spotlight. The federal government is providing $244 million to address these problems. The Department of the Interior recently announced this funding allocation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2213692,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP22032674384912-1024x634.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2213691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP22032674384912-1024x634.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2213691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2213691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2213692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2213691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2213691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2213691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}