Associated Press

A state agency is slowly chipping away at cleaning up abandoned mines in North Dakota.

Bruce Beechie, an environmental scientist with the state Abandoned Mines Division, said three major projects are scheduled this year at mines near the communities of Zap, Williston and Columbus.

The cleanup of all abandoned mine lands in North Dakota would take decades at that rate.

"There's over 600 abandoned mines that we know about and probably quite a bit more than that," said Beechie, who's worked at the agency for 20 years. "We conservatively estimate probably a thousand abandoned mines in the state.

"It's all mines, and it's all abandoned coal mines," he said.

The agency typically works on one surface mine and about two underground mines annually, Beechie said.

The Abandoned Mine Lands Division is part of the North Dakota Public Service Commission. It has four staff members who work to eliminate hazards associated with abandoned coal mines.

The program has been in existence since the 1980s. About 30 other states have similar programs, Beechie said.

Funding for the program comes from a 10-cent a ton production tax on coal mined in North Dakota. He said the agency's budget is about $1.5 million annually.

Projects are prioritized based on hazards, like sinkholes, and their proximity to a highway or town, he said.

The work south of Zap is in its fourth year, Beechie said. "Hopefully, we'll finish up this year," he said.

The work near Zap involves drilling holes in the underground coal mine and pumping slurry or grout into the mine to fill it up to reduce the potential for collapse.

"We'll be doing that same thing up in Williston this year also," he said.

Work on the surface mine project near Columbus will involve reducing the slope on walls surrounding the mine. A similar project was done near Garrison last year.

"What we did was reduce the slope so people wouldn't fall off and cars wouldn't drive into it and that type of thing," Beechie.