FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday July 2, 2020
Media Contacts:
Amanda Pankau, Prairie Rivers Network, 217-840-3057, apankau@prairierivers.org
Dan Fisher, City of Gillespie, 217-825-8189, dfisher51@mac.com
Dana Kuhnline, RECLAIM Campaign Coalition, 304-825-3262, Dana@AppVoices.org
RECLAIM Act Passes the House as part of H.R. 2, The Moving Forward Act
This bill could mean a large boost of funds for Illinois mine clean up.
On Thursday, July 2nd, the RECLAIM Act (HR 2156) passed the U.S. House of Representatives as part of The Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2), a bill to address America’s infrastructure needs and create jobs in the wake of the economic and health crisis caused by COVID-19.
The RECLAIM Act would invest $1 billion in projects that clean up abandoned coal mines and their polluted waters and catalyze community economic development projects on or near reclaimed sites. These funds would be invested in over twenty states across the country, including Illinois. In addition to the RECLAIM Act, the Moving Forward Act includes H.R.4248 to reauthorize the fee supporting the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Reclamation Fund.
For more than 140 years, Illinois’ coal mining communities have helped power the state and the nation. While many communities have a proud history of mining and reclamation, thousands of acres of abandoned mined lands still exist throughout Illinois’ coal country. The Office of Surface Mining estimates that Illinois has $153 million in remaining AML liabilities. Under the RECLAIM Act, Illinois would be poised to access $102 million over 5 years to complete reclamation and spur economic development. This could create an estimated 1300 jobs in the state.
For years, coal communities and organizations have advocated for these bills as job creation measures to support coal communities as they faced job loss and economic decline due to a disappearing coal industry. However, these jobs are even more critical for coalfield communities as they grapple with further economic decline due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Illinois is one of the nation’s success stories in terms of redevelopment of reclaimed coal sites and the area around Gillespie, in south central Illinois, is the epicenter of much of this redevelopment. “From the early 1900’s to the mid 1960’s coal mining was the dominant industry around Gillespie,” said Dan Fisher, Gillespie City Treasurer and President of the community’s economic development group, Grow Gillespie. “But over the years all of the mines closed and beginning in the 1970’s the former mine sites were reclaimed thanks to funds from AML. Within a 10 mile radius of my house there are now soccer fields, a steel tubing plant, a carpet retailer, a vineyard-winery, and a manufacturer of industrial trash containers, all of whom are operating on lands that were once abandoned coal mines. These businesses are proof that jobs can be created in former coal communities and reclamation is a fundamental catalyst for that job creation.”
“Reclamation efforts seek to restore topography and drainage, rectify acidic soils and waters, and return soil to abandoned coal mines that were disturbed prior to a 1977 federal law that required clean-up,” said Amanda Pankau, Energy Campaign Coordinator with Prairie Rivers Network and member of the Reclaim Working Group. “Illinois has countless examples of economic development projects on reclaimed mined lands including farms, vineyards, recreational opportunities, businesses, state parks, and industrial parks. Opportunities to reclaim land with an eye to economic development is especially important in areas where coal economies continue to decline amid a transitioning energy economy. The RECLAIM Act will focus on those areas and will also allow community members to play a role in determining what areas and projects receive support.”
This legislation is a critical step for coal community recovery after the decline of the coal industry and the economic effects of COVID-19. The RECLAIM Act and reauthorization of the abandoned mine reclamation fee was recently endorsed by over 100 organizations across the United States in a letter to congressional leadership.
“Now that the bill has reached the Senate, we look forward to working with Senators Durbin and Duckworth so that this crucial legislation can finally become law and provide funds that will both erase the environmental scars of abandoned coal mines and provide jobs in those communities that depended upon coal mining for their economic livelihood,” Fisher said. “COVID continues to wreak havoc on our social and economic structures. Fold the economic uncertainties that the continued decline of coal mining has wrought and you can clearly see that coal communities are experiencing a one-two punch to the gut right now. It’s time to pass RECLAIM and provide needed hope to coal country families.”
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