Creating National Coal Mining Geospatial Data Standards

Coal and Related Carbon Resources / Geospatial Information

Date posted: 09/06/09

Recent history has demonstrated a regrettable, sometimes fatal relationship between mining related disasters and continued use of poor quality paper-based mapping information. Movement from paper to digital geospatial data describing past, present, and proposed coal mining operations will provide significant benefits to government agencies, business interests, and the public when planning land use activities in the northern and southern West Virginia coal fields. Benefits include improved regulation of active coal mining operations, more successful reclamation of abandoned mine lands, better public policy at local, state, and national levels, and potentially saving lives during mining related emergencies.