Davids Announces $5 Million Grant to Clean Up Abandoned Mines, Creating Jobs and Improving Safety

Today, Representative Sharice Davids celebrated a $4.9 million grant for Kansas to clean up polluted abandoned mine lands, eliminating dangerous conditions caused by historic coal mining and creating good-paying jobs. This award, administered by the Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, was made possible by the Davids-backed bipartisan infrastructure law. Kansas also received nearly $300,000 to update its abandoned mine land inventory to support future remediation efforts.

“Kansas families shouldn’t have to worry about the dangers of pollution right outside their front doors,” said Davids. “This grant will help clean up abandoned mine sites, improving living conditions for folks across our state while creating good-paying jobs for workers. I’m proud to have supported the bipartisan infrastructure law that made this possible and look forward to seeing more investments in Kansas.”

Millions of Americans live less than a mile from an abandoned coal mine. This project will support jobs in communities by investing in projects that close dangerous mine shafts, reclaim unstable slopes, improve water quality, and restore water supplies damaged by mining. The award will also enable economic revitalization in Kansas by reclaiming hazardous land for recreational facilities and other redevelopment, such as advanced manufacturing and renewable energy deployment.

“The funds from the bipartisan infrastructure law are essential for Kansas to address projects that could never be done with only the fee-based grant such as the Weir Subsidence Drilling and Grouting Project that is currently in engineering,” said Marlene Spence, Administrator, Surface Mining Unit, Kansas Department of Health and Environment. “This project will tackle the potential for subsidence in a Justice 40 area that has been negatively impacted by the effects of past underground coal mining.”

Davids is the only member of the Kansas delegation to vote for the law, which is the largest investment in America’s physical infrastructure in generations and was named the most fiscally responsible infrastructure bill in at least a decade by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. More information on how the bipartisan infrastructure law is improving Kansas’ roads, bridges, water, and safety can be found here.