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The CIC is utilizing the Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) Program, which was authorized by Congress through the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE).

AMLER funds are to be used for reclaiming abandoned mine lands for economic and community development and reuse goals. OSMRE manages the AMLER program, which provides grants to states with a great amount of abandoned mine land problems for projects that leverage mine land reclamation with local economic development. Ohio’s grant in 2021 was $25 million, and $10 million each year in 2017-2020. The project cost estimate is about $700,910; the number can vary based on need and what is found during the project.

The plan is to safely excavate and expose a section of the long-closed Hanna Mine

Company’s strip mine and backfill the area left open when the mine went out of operation. Hanna Mine Company, in its time, was one of the largest strip mines in the local area. The hope of the project is to restore the land to a stable state, plant vegetation to promote a healthy ecosystem and installation of sediment control and erosion systems. Any existing utility structures and sanitary piping within the excavation site will be removed till the backfilling is completed; afterward, they will be maintained and restored to working order.

The mine is considered “pre-law,” which means it was abandoned before the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) law took effect. The State of Ohio has not had a happy environmental history with strip mining, and although Ohio was one of the earliest states to adopt a strip