Formation | 1973 |
---|---|
Headquarters | West Virginia |
Official language | English |
President | Brenda Schladweiler |
Website | https://www.asrs.us/ |
American Society of Reclamation Sciences (ASRS) (formerly the American Society of Mining and Reclamation, or ASMR) is a society that promotes the advancement of basic and applied reclamation science through research and technology transfer. [1] ASRS is a US-based professional society with membership from academics, students, consultants, and others concerned with mitigating environmental impacts. ASRS initially focused on the development of mining and reclamation practices and policies to mitigate environmental impacts from coal mining. [2] Today the organization focuses on all aspects of land reclamation, protection and enhancement of soil and water resources, abandoned mine lands, climate change, educational outreach, state and federal regulations, reclamation planning, surface water restoration, wetland restoration, and water treatment. [1] [3] [4] [5]
Several individuals in the late 1960's recognized the importance that research could play in the development of mining and reclamation practices and policies, and in the mitigation of environmental impacts from mining. An Advisory Council was formed in 1968 which included State and Federal agencies. Bill Plass, Dick Vande Linde and Ben Greene were responsible for establishing the roots of the organization which expanded regionally in 1973. After further geographical expansion, the name was changed to American Council for Reclamation Research in 1978. [2]
As interest in reclamation grew nationally after the passage of the Federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) in 1977, the organization became national in scope and again changed its name to the American Society for Surface Mining & Reclamation (ASSMR) in 1982. [2]
Dr. Richard (Dick) Barnhisel, Professor of Agronomy and Geology at the University of Kentucky, served as the second executive secretary of the Society (1999-2012). He specialized in reclamation of prime land disturbed by coal mining and published over 50 articles on reclamation. [2]
In 2001, the name of the Society was changed to better reflect the broadening area of applications and interests of its membership. The initial impetus for the Society was the need to respond both to the then extensive impact of current and historic surface mining for coal, and the Surface Mining and Control and Reclamation Act which passed in 1977. [2]
The first issue of the society's magazine, Reclamation Matters, was published in the Spring of 2004. Published bi-annually, it is a full-color magazine with articles that are less technical in nature and portray a view of all thing's reclamation-related. [2]
Between 1984 and 2012, the Society published the proceedings from the national meetings which included all the related presentations. In 2012, the Journal of the American Society of Reclamation (JASMR) began as a replacement for the proceedings. In 2022, the Journal was named Reclamation Sciences and published digitally. [2] In 2013, Dr. Robert Darmody, Emeritus Professor of Pedology at the University of Illinois, became the Executive Director of the Society.
The Society's name was changed once again in 2020 to the American Society of Reclamation Sciences (ASRS) to better recognize its expanding interests in reclamation/restoration of all anthropogenically disturbed lands and waters. [2]
Within the Society, technical divisions (TDs) are smaller groups of individuals with a specific professional interest. These TDs represent key technical disciplines that comprise the study and application of reclamation science.
As part of the Society's name change in 2001, the TDs were reviewed and revised to continue the focal transition to reclamation as a whole, rather than mining alone. The current TDs in the Society: [6]
Reclamation Sciences is the peer-reviewed technical journal of the American Society of Reclamation Sciences. The journal is designed for the dissemination of original knowledge regarding basic and applied solutions related to the reclamation, restoration, rehabilitation, and remediation of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and landscapes disturbed by a broad array of human activities. Both the journal and its audience are interdisciplinary. The journal is designed to serve as a bridge between researchers and practitioners of reclamation science. [2]
The first issue of Reclamation Matters appeared in the Spring of 2004, and the document is now published twice a year.
The Journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation (JASMR) promoted the exchange of basic and applied solutions for the reclamation, restoration, and revitalization of landscapes impacted by the extraction of natural resources - including, but not limited to coal, minerals, gas, and oil. Contributions included original research, case studies, field demonstrations, or policy reviews related to an aspect of ecosystem reclamation.
List of Published JASMR Issues [7] | |
2012, Volume 1, Issue 1 | |
2013, Volume 2, Issue 1 | 2013, Volume 2, Issue 2 |
2014, Volume 3, Issue 1 | 2014, Volume 3, Issue 2 |
2015, Volume 4, Issue 1 | 2015, Volume 4, Issue 2 |
2016, Volume 5, Issue 1 | 2016, Volume 5, Issue 2 |
2017, Volume 6, Issue 1 | 2017, Volume 6, Issue 2 |
2018, Volume 7, Issue 1 | 2018, Volume 7, Issue 2 |
2018, Volume 7, Issue 3 | |
2019, Volume 8, Issue 1 | 2019, Volume 8, Issue 2 |
2020, Volume 9, Issue 1 | 2020, Volume 9, Issue 2 |
2020, Volume 9, Issue 3 | 2020, Volume 9, Issue 4 |
The publishing of conference proceedings was discontinued in 2012 with the first publication of the Journal of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation (JASMR).
Past American Society of Mining and Reclamation Conference Proceedings [8] | ||
Owensboro, KY (1984) | Denver, CO (1985) | Jackson, MS (1986) |
Billings, MT (1987) | Pittsburgh, PA (1988 - Volume 1) | Pittsburgh, PA (1988 - Volume 2) |
Calgary, Alberta, Canada (1989) | Charleston, WV (1990) | Durango, CO (1991) |
Duluth, MN (1992) | Spokane, WA (1993) | Pittsburgh, PA (1994 - Volume 1) |
Pittsburgh, PA (1994 - Volume 2) | Pittsburgh, PA (1994 - Volume 3) | Pittsburgh, PA (1994 - Volume 4) |
Gillette, WY (1995) | Knoxville, TN (1996) | Austin, TX (1997) |
St. Louis, MO (1998) | Scottsdale, AZ (1999) | Tampa, FL (2000) |
Albuquerque, NM (2001) | Lexington, KY (2002) | Billings, MT (2003) |
Morgantown, WV (2004) | Brekenridge, CO (2005) | St. Louis, MO (2006) |
Billings, MT (2006) | Gillette, WY (2007) | Richmond, VA (2008) |
Billings, MT (2009) | Pittsburgh, PA (2010) | Bismarck, ND (2011) |
Tupelo, MS (2012) |
In 2025, the 42nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Reclamation Sciences (ASRS) will be held in Butte, Montana. Butte is one of the largest Superfund Areas in the US and has a storied history of mining and reclamation. Technical topics emphasized at the meeting include, but are not limited to abandoned mine lands and the bipartisan infrastructure law, climate change, cover systems, educational outreach, geochemistry, geomorphic landform reclamation, mercury in the environment, PFAS/PFOA, rare earth/critical minerals and their recovery, innovations in reclamation, sediment and soil amendments, seeding and revegetation, stream and river restoration, mapping, remote sensing, urban restoration, and water treatment (active and passive).
Beginning in October 2024, the Society has offered technical webinars and virtual mixers to existing members. The webinars topics cover a variety of topics to include all fields of environmental reclamation.
Article titles, abstracts, and tables of content for the past events, as well as the conference proceedings are publicly available.
Mining is the extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or feasibly created artificially in a laboratory or factory. Ores recovered by mining include metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, chalk, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel, and clay. The ore must be a rock or mineral that contains valuable constituent, can be extracted or mined and sold for profit. Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even water.
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United Kingdom and South Africa, a coal mine and its structures are a colliery, a coal mine is called a "pit", and above-ground mining structures are referred to as a "pit head". In Australia, "colliery" generally refers to an underground coal mine.
In mining, tailings or tails are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction (gangue) of an ore. Tailings are different from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlies an ore or mineral body and is displaced during mining without being processed.
Land rehabilitation as a part of environmental remediation is the process of returning the land in a given area to some degree of its former state, after some process has resulted in its damage. Many projects and developments will result in the land becoming degraded, for example mining, farming and forestry. It is crucial that governments and businesses act proactively by working on improvement, lay out rehabilitation standards and ensure that decisions on mediation should be based around value judgment for higher sustainability in the future.
In mining, overburden is the material that lies above an area that lends itself to economical exploitation, such as the rock, soil, and ecosystem that lies above a coal seam or ore body. Overburden is distinct from tailings, the material that remains after economically valuable components have been extracted from the generally finely milled ore. Overburden is removed during surface mining, but is typically not contaminated with toxic components. Overburden may also be used to restore an exhausted mining site during reclamation.
Acid mine drainage, acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD), or acid rock drainage (ARD) is the outflow of acidic water from metal mines and coal mines.
Mine reclamation is the process of modifying land that has been mined to restore it to an ecologically functional or economically usable state. Although the process of mine reclamation occurs once mining is complete, the planning of mine reclamation activities may occur prior to a mine being permitted or started. Mine reclamation creates useful landscapes that meet a variety of goals, ranging from the restoration of productive ecosystems to the creation of industrial and municipal resources. In the United States, mine reclamation is a regular part of modern mining practices. Modern mine reclamation reduces the environmental effects of mining.
Mountaintop removal mining (MTR), also known as mountaintop mining (MTM), is a form of surface mining at the summit or summit ridge of a mountain. Coal seams are extracted from a mountain by removing the land, or overburden, above the seams. This process is considered to be safer compared to underground mining because the coal seams are accessed from above instead of underground. In the United States, this method of coal mining is conducted in the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States. Explosives are used to remove up to 400 vertical feet of mountain to expose underlying coal seams. Excess rock and soil is dumped into nearby valleys, in what are called "holler fills" or "valley fills".
Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which the overlying rock is left in place, and the mineral is removed through shafts or tunnels.
A spoil tip is a pile built of accumulated spoil – waste material removed during mining. Spoil tips are not formed of slag, but in some areas, such as England and Wales, they are referred to as slag heaps. In Scotland the word bing is used. In North American English the term is mine dump or mine waste dump.
Consol Energy Inc. is an American energy company with interests in coal headquartered in the suburb of Cecil Township, in the Southpointe complex, just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It employs more than 1,600 people.
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) is a branch of the United States Department of the Interior. It is the federal agency entrusted with the implementation and enforcement of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA), which attached a per-ton fee to all extracted coal in order to fund an interest-accruing trust to be used for reclamation of abandoned mine lands, as well as established a set environmental standards that mines must follow while operating, and achieve when reclaiming mined land, in order to minimize environmental impact. OSMRE has fewer than 500 employees, who work in either the national office in Washington, DC, or of the many regional and field offices.
Revegetation is the process of replanting and rebuilding the soil of disturbed land. This may be a natural process produced by plant colonization and succession, manmade rewilding projects, accelerated process designed to repair damage to a landscape due to wildfire, mining, flood, or other cause. Originally the process was simply one of applying seed and fertilizer to disturbed lands, usually grasses or clover. The fibrous root network of grasses is useful for short-term erosion control, particularly on sloping ground. Establishing long-term plant communities requires forethought as to appropriate species for the climate, size of stock required, and impact of replanted vegetation on local fauna. The motivations behind revegetation are diverse, answering needs that are both technical and aesthetic, but it is usually erosion prevention that is the primary reason. Revegetation helps prevent soil erosion, enhances the ability of the soil to absorb more water in significant rain events, and in conjunction reduces turbidity dramatically in adjoining bodies of water. Revegetation also aids protection of engineered grades and other earthworks.
The health and environmental impact of the coal industry includes issues such as land use, waste management, water and air pollution, caused by the coal mining, processing and the use of its products. In addition to atmospheric pollution, coal burning produces hundreds of millions of tons of solid waste products annually, including fly ash, bottom ash, and flue-gas desulfurization sludge, that contain mercury, uranium, thorium, arsenic, and other heavy metals. Coal is the largest contributor to the human-made increase of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere.
Environmental impact of mining can occur at local, regional, and global scales through direct and indirect mining practices. Mining can cause erosion, sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, or the contamination of soil, groundwater, and surface water by chemicals emitted from mining processes. These processes also affect the atmosphere through carbon emissions which contributes to climate change.
The Kayenta mine was a surface coal mine operated by Peabody Western Coal Company, a subsidiary of Peabody Energy) on the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona from 1973 to 2019. About 400 acres were mined and reclaimed each year, providing about 8 million tons of coal annually to the Navajo Generating Station.
Margaret A. Palmer is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Maryland and director of the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC). Palmer works on the restoration of streams and rivers, and is co-author of the book Foundations of Restoration Ecology. Palmer has been an invited speaker in numerous and diverse settings including regional and international forums, science-diplomacy venues, and popular outlets such as The Colbert Report.
The Stream Protection Rule was a United States federal regulation issued by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement that went into effect on January 19, 2017. These regulations implement Title V of the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). The original regulations had been issued in 1979 and were updated in 1983. Litigation over mountaintop removal mining required changes to the regulations, which were issued in 2008. These regulations were in turn struck down by a judge after litigation by environmental groups. The new regulations, the Stream Protection Rule, were issued in January 2017.
Environmental justice and coal mining in Appalachia is the study of environmental justice – the interdisciplinary body of social science literature studying theories of the environment and justice; environmental laws, policies, and their implementations and enforcement; development and sustainability; and political ecology – in relation to coal mining in Appalachia.
Emily S. Bernhardt is an American ecosystem ecologist, biogeochemist, and professor at Duke University.