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THE HISTORY OF THE NATIONAL MINE MAP REPOSITORY In 1969 an act of Congress established a mine map repository. The repository was funded and assigned to the Department of the Interior (DOI), Bureau of Mines (BOM) in 1970. A repository was set up at a BOM office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that covered all States east of the Mississippi River with the exception of Louisiana and Minnesota. These two States, together with States west of the Mississippi River, were covered by a repository at the BOM Intermountain Field Operation Center in Denver, Colorado. In 1982 the responsibility for the repository and the Repository staff were formally transferred to DOI's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM). Later, when BOM was dissolved in 1996, all of the maps from the BOM offices were consolidated into the current OSM Pittsburgh repository, currently designated as the National Mine Map Repository (NMMR). The Wilkes-Barre repository covers only the anthracite coal region of northeastern Pennsylvania. From the beginning, the mission of the repository has been to obtain authoritative maps on past and current mining operations and preserve them on microfilm. High priority is given to maps of mines in areas where the potential for adverse impact to the environment was most significant. The NMMR, in addition to being an archival entity concerned with the preservation of mine maps, is considered a basic reference file of information on mines. The NMMR index system is computerized and closely allied with mineral supply problems and related mining and environmental issues. The information is made available to Federal and State geological surveys, State mining bureaus, mining companies, oil and gas companies, conservationists, research and planning organizations, water pollution boards, city and industrial planners, highway engineers, building contractors and real estate developers and private citizens. Today the NMMR is a modern high-tech facility with leading edge map scanning and archiving capability and a state-of-the-art computerized map indexing system. The primary archival method remains microfilm although more and more of the Repository's holdings are also available in digital format.
Notice: Mine maps within the National Mine Map Repository are not guaranteed to be accurate, correct or complete. These maps have been donated to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement from various sources and the mines, streets, surface features and coal elevations cannot be verified. OSM does not warrant the accuracy of the mine maps within the NMMR, or the reliability of findings based upon data from the maps or from digital mapping programs. |
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Information: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement U.S. Department of the Interior Appalachian Regional Office 3 Parkway Center Pittsburgh, PA 15220 Phone: (412) 937-2804
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