$4 million in federal grants may help reclaim abandoned Utah mines

SALT LAKE CITY — The Interior Department announced Tuesday that is has $4.2 million in grant money available to Utah to help restore abandoned coal mines, and another $6.5 million available for the Navajo Nation of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said that the amount is an increase in funding for such grants and "will put more Americans to work and help them find their way out of recession. Restoring lands and waters affected by past mining practices keeps jobs in areas hard hit by the economic downturn."

The money available to Utah is part of $369 million made available nationwide, up $70 million from last year. The money goes for such things as filling mine shafts and addressing other safety and environmental problems caused by old, abandoned mines.

During the past 30 years, the department's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), "working with states, tribes and our Good Samaritan partners, has reclaimed more land and restored more streams than any other federal agency," said Joe Pizarchik, the office's director. "Since its inception, OSM and its state and tribal partners have invested over $6.8 billion to reclaim more than 220,000 acres of abandoned mine lands."

— Lee Davidson