Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) would like to invite you to a free community educational session on the Abandoned Mine Land Funds Program (AML), which will discuss how counties in Tennessee can take advantage of this federal fund to bring money to the county for mine site reclamation.
The AML Fund exists to reclaim both surface and deep mine sites mined before 1977, restoring the land and removing dangerous features. In 2015, the State of Tennessee was granted $3,000,000 for mine reclamation. However, the registry is out-of-date and incomplete. For instance, a deep mine on a resident’s private property may not be included, but may still be eligible to receive money.
The presentation will explore how the fund works in Tennessee, and how members of local communities can organize to increase their chance of receiving funds. It will also cover simple policy changes that would make the fund more accessible for Tennessee residents.
The presenters will be Kendall Bilbrey from the Alliance for Appalachia and Eric Dixon from the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center, both Appalachian Transitional Fellows who have conducted a year-long research project on the AML Fund.
The dates and locations are as follows:
April 6th – DuBose Conference Center, 635 College Street, Monteage – 6pm CDT April 7th – Common Ground, 405 W. Fourth Street, Crossville – 6pm CDT April 9th – Rocky Top Community Center, 216 N. Main Street, Rocky Top – 6pm EDT
If you are interested in attending or have any questions regarding the presentation or the fund, please contact Adam Hughes, East Tennessee Organizer, at 865-249-7488 or adam@socm.org.