SMS Committee meets with PDA Secretary to discuss mine
reclamation projects.
Mushroom News • April, 2007 • Spent Mushroom Substrate, Pennsylvania Department of
Agriculture
The Community Awareness Committee's (CAC) Spent Mushroom
Substrate (SMS) research group recently met with Pennsylvania Department
of Agriculture (PDA) Secretary Dennis Wolff and other state officials in
Harrisburg, PA to discuss using SMS in mine reclamation projects.
Last December, President Bush signed a 15-year extension on a coal
company tax that funds mine reclamation projects. Pennsylvania is
expected to receive $1.4 billion of the amount collected between 2007
and 2024. The Department of Environmental Protection will be
coordinating this effort in Pennsylvania. The money will go toward
abandoned mine clean up, which includes underground mine fires, water
filled pits, deep holes, steep cliffs, cleaning up acid waterways, land
reclamation and areas prone to subsidence.
One objective of CAC's PDA Non-Animal Health Agricultural
Research Grant is to research and define the feasibility and
profitability of transfer of SMS to Pennsylvania mine sites for mine
reclamation and acid waste remediation. The research proves that SMS is
an excellent medium for reclamation projects. However, costs to
transport SMS are a major deterrent. If funds were available to pay or
subsidize transportation costs, SMS could be a major ingredient to
ensure a successful clean up of Pennsylvania's hazardous mines.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
State officials showed interest in finding solutions to the
problem.
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