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Mine-Scarred Lands (MSL) Initiative Tool Kit: MSL Initiative and Demonstration Projects
Tool Kit Links
This tool kit shares what the MSL Initiative partners have learned to date working with six demonstration projects. This tool kit also incorporates information shared during the Mining Communities in Transition Workshop that was sponsored by EPA Region 8 as part of the EPA Brownfields 2005 national conference. This resource is a work in progress and will be updated periodically.
The MSL Initiative
The MSL Initiative is an effort established in 2003 to explore opportunities for multiple federal agencies to coordinate and collaborate with each other and with state partners and local mining communities on the cleanup and redevelopment of mine-scarred lands. The establishment of this interagency partnership was created in response to the passage of the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act (referred to as the Brownfields Law) in 2002, which provides new legal and financial tools for the cleanup and revitalization of mining properties. The law uses the term “mine-scarred lands” to describe mining-related brownfields properties.
The following agencies established the MSL Initiative:
- Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC)
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
- U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
- U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Since its inception, new partnerships have developed with other federal and state agencies, local governments, communities, and non-profit and private sector organizations.
Demonstration Projects
The MSL Initiative partners sought communities to participate in the MSL Initiative as demonstration projects. The six participating communities reflect the variety and scale of challenges that are shared by mining communities across the country. The communities include:
- Bullfrog Mine, Beatty, Nevada
- Cranberry Creek Corridor, Hazleton, Pennsylvania
- Animas River Corridor, San Juan County, Colorado
- Kelly’s Creek Watershed, Kanawha County, West Virginia
- Pennsylvania Mine, Summit County, Colorado
- Stone Creek Tipple Site, Lee County, Virginia
Additional information on the Mine-Scarred Lands Initiative and the demonstration projects is available in the Mine-Scarred Lands Year One Report.
The federal partners have been working with the projects since the summer of 2004. The experiences learned through this Initiative have helped the federal partners develop a more integrated approach to assisting local communities with mining property cleanup and revitalization.