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Commission Meets in Jasonville and Gains Better Understanding of Growing Importance of Underground Coal Mining The Commission ordinarily meets in Indianapolis. Twice annually, the Commission meets outside the city to better understand perspectives of local citizens and agency regulatory programs that have particular regional interest. The Commission met at DNR’s Jasonville Field Office in Greene County on the evening of May 15, 2012. The building hosts DNR professionals from the Division of Forestry, the Division of Fish and Wildlife, the Division of Outdoor Recreation, the Division of Engineering, and the Division of Oil and Gas. The Commission’s Division of Hearings periodically conducts hearings there. But the largest presence at the Jasonville Field Office is the Division of Reclamation, the DNR division primarily concerned with helping to assure that coal mining and subsequent site restoration comply with State and Federal laws. In a single year from 1992 through 2000, not more than 5 million tons or 16% of the coal mined in Indiana came from underground mines. By 2011, more than 15 million tons came from underground mines, 45% of the total amount of coal mined in Indiana.
To better understand the scope of and techniques used in a modern underground coal mine, Commission members toured the underground mine (and related above-ground facilities) at Sunrise Coal Company’s Carlisle Mine in Sullivan County. Officials at Sunrise Coal Company led the tour on the day of the May Commission meeting, and Commission members were accompanied by the DNR’s Division of Reclamation and the NRC’s Division of Hearings.
Shipwrecks, like the wreck of the JD Marshall, which happened 100 years ago last summer, are memorials to Indiana’s maritime history. With funding from NOAA, Indiana’s Lake Michigan Coastal Management Program (Indiana’s LMCMP) coordinated archaeological investigations of shipwrecks in the Indiana waters of Lake Michigan. A contract to perform the investigations was awarded to the Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group, Inc. for 2011 and extended for additional work in 2012.
(JD Marshall: photo courtesy of DNR Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology)
The locations of nine shipwrecks were determined with certainty, and as many as 20 wrecks were identified. Direct surveys were made at eight sites, including underwater documentation with measurements, video, and photography (digital and HD). Indiana's LMCMP and Commonwealth Cultural Resources Group reviewed these advancements and future goals during the September 18, 2012 Commission meeting at Potato Creek State Park, North Liberty. For additional information, please click here.
CADDNAR Updates
Digests of the ten most recent “Contested Administrative Decisions of the Department of NAtural Resources” (CADDNAR) are now available in a new service called CADDNAR Updates. You may also receive notice by email when new decisions are added to CADDNAR by signing up using the "Subscribe for e-mail updates" icon at the beginning of this page.
