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# Ohio’s Largest Acid Mine Drainage Site is Getting Cleaned Up, Thanks to AMLER and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding

July 14, 2023

On June 29, representatives from the Department of the Interior and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) joined the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Rural Action, and Ohio University for a ceremony celebrating the groundbreaking of the Truetown Acid Mine Drainage Treatment Plant and Iron Resource Recovery Facility.
*Acid mine drainage in Sunday Creek, Ohio,June 29. Officials from the Department of theInterior and the Office of Surface MiningReclamation and Enforcement joined the OhioDepartment of Natural Resources, Rural Action,and Ohio University for a ceremony celebratingthe groundbreaking of an acid mine drainagetreatment facility funded by the Abandoned MineEconomic Revitalization Program and theBipartisan Infrastructure Law.*

The Truetown Discharge, located in the Sunday Creek watershed, is the largest single acid mine drainage discharge in the state of Ohio, with a flow rate of 988 gallons per minute. This amounts to more than 2 million pounds of iron oxide dumping into Sunday Creek each year, harming aquatic habitat in Sunday Creek before it flows into the Hocking River. The 39-acre facility—funded by both the Abandoned Mine Economic Revitalization Program (AMLER) and reclamation funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—will treat approximately 1.4 million gallons of acid mine drainage daily, cleaning up Sunday Creek while processing iron oxide for professional-grade paint pigment production and employing at least five full-time workers. 

Established in 2016 and administered by OSMRE, the AMLER Program funds projects that reclaim legacy coal mining sites to promote economic and community development. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also catalyzes economic and environmental successes by providing $11.3 billion over 15 years to address high priority abandoned mine land problems, such as underground mine fires, clogged streams, polluted water, and dangerous piles, embankments, and highwalls, all of which pose a threat to the health and safety of communities. This funding is expected to enable the reclamation of the majority of currently inventoried abandoned mine land problems in this country. The Truetown project will be funded in part through more than $46 million dollars in FY22 Infrastructure Law funding, as well as a portion of the $11 million dollars Ohio received from the AMLER program in FY22.

The U.S. Department of the Interior Senior Advisor and Infrastructure Coordinator Winnie Stachelberg was on hand at the groundbreaking and reinforced the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to this effort, stating, “I was thrilled to join the groundbreaking event to see firsthand how this federal funding is supporting reclamation projects in Ohio, creating jobs and revitalizing local economies.”
*Elizabeth Myers, an Ohio University civilengineering graduate student, speaks toattendees at a groundbreakingceremony in Millfield, Ohio, June 29, asMichelle Shively Maclver, Rural Actionand True Pigments, LLC’s director ofproject management looks on. The 39-acre acid mine drainage treatment andpigment facility will treat the acid minedrainage, and Rural Action’s socialenterprise, True Pigments, LLC, willextract iron oxide to create pigmentproducts.*

According to the ODNR Division of Mineral Resources Management, this project is notable due to the number of community partners involved with developing the facility. ODNR is coordinating project development, design, and construction oversight. Rural Action owns the treatment site property and will be responsible for evaluating the iron pigment market. Professors and students at Ohio University have provided their expertise and time to design and test the acid mine drainage treatment process, as well as the process for the pigment production.

“For years, a group of dedicated people had a vision to turn this abandoned mine land into something new and helpful for the community,” said ODNR Director Mary Mertz. “We are proud to play a role in helping everyone realize that vision and making this community even stronger.”

The Truetown facility has the potential to improve seven miles of Sunday Creek impaired by acid mine drainage. The impact of the runoff is evident in the lack of high-quality ecology in the area and the harm to native trout populations, according to ODNR.

“We imagine a world where Appalachian streams run clear and where vibrant economies flourish in historic coal towns,” said True Pigments Director of Project Development Michelle Shively MacIver. “This first full-scale facility will help make that vision a reality in the Sunday Creek Watershed. Rural Action and True Pigments are so proud to be standing with our partners today as we break ground at Truetown.”