Funding for mine land reclamation is difficult to acquire and, while the environmental benefits of reclamation are fully understood, the economic benefits of reclamation are just beginning to be appreciated. Innovations in landscape design and reuse planning can attract partnerships with lenders and investors and spur the economic development associated with reuse of abandoned mine lands. Strategies like energy development, carbon sequestration, and wetland banking can address environmental concerns, but should also preserve historical and cultural legacies in order to maximize economic gain. These environmental strategies are now being encouraged by State and Federal agencies, while the cultural legacies are more universally overlooked. This presentation will discuss the ways in which environmental design of reclamation projects could benefit both economically and environmentally by the inclusion of preservation and consideration of historical and cultural legacies of the sites, while still utilizing core environmental strategies.

1. LANDSCAPE DESIGN AND
REUSE PLANNING IN MINE
RECLAMATION
Andy Freifeld
Temple University
2017 PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference

3. HISTORY AND LEGACY

4. • Northeastern Pennsylvania’s population
exploded due to the discovery of anthracite
coal in the 19th century; the economic boom
resulted in the city of Wilkes-Barre being
nicknamed "The Diamond City." Hundreds of
thousands of immigrants flocked to the city,
seeking jobs in the numerous mines and
collieries that sprang up. New industries were
established and the Vulcan Iron Works was a
well-known manufacturer of railway locomotives
from 1849 to 1954. Railroads were being
constructed across the state and country.
• During Wilkes-Barre's reign as an industrial and
economic force in America, a number of major
companies and franchises became based in the
city, such as Woolworth's, Sterling Hotels,
Planter's Peanuts, Miner's Bank, Bell
Telephone, HBO, Luzerne National Bank, and
Stegmaier.

5. • In the 250 years when coal was
mined in Pennsylvania, over 15
billion tons of were extracted
from the earth, and 250,000
acres of mine lands were
abandoned in devastation.
• In the beginning of the era when
coal was king, extensive mining
occurred without any
consideration of the
environmental consequences of
mining. The common practice
was to extract all available
resources from a site, and then
the proprietors would abandon

6. The physical damage of the
land is not the only lasting
impact of mining.
Researchers hypothesize
that communities with a
greater burden of AML have
greater socioeconomic
deprivation, social
disorganization, and mental
and physical disorder.

8. Abandoned mine lands
have the potential to
do good instead of
harm. Through
thoughtful landscape
design they can honor
our industrial heritage
while simultaneously
revitalizing
communities both
economically and
environmentally.

9. ECOLOGICAL ASSETS

10. • Ecological assets, or eco-assets, develop from incentive-based
environmental compliance programs created to protect ecosystem
services. They are tradable credits that reflect the economic value that
public or private sector stakeholders have assigned to an environmental
“service.”

11. Ecological assets that can be
created through the reclamation
of mined lands include carbon
sequestration credits, wetland
and stream restoration credits,
watershed pollution reduction
credits, endangered species
habitat conservation credits, and
many others.

12. CARBON SEQUESTRATION
• Reclaimed forests naturally capture and store
a great deal of carbon, which in its gaseous
form (carbon dioxide or CO2) acts as a
“greenhouse gas” that can contribute to
climate change.
• Additional emissions reduction requirements
may be implemented over the long term,
although substantial near and medium term
uncertainty remains.

13. Carbon sequestration refers to
the transformation of
atmospheric carbon dioxide into
solid components, such as
vegetation, and soil organic
matter. Once the carbon dioxide
has been transferred into these
materials, it is effectively stored
until decomposition occurs.

14. WHAT ARE CARBON CREDITS?
• Carbon credits provide
ownership rights to a certain
amount of gaseous carbon that
has been sequestered in a
forest, which a company may
then buy, sell, or apply toward a
reduction. (Ownership rights
pertain to the carbon
sequestered in a forest, not the
• Carbon credits are measured in
terms of tons of carbon
sequestered per acre of forest;
generally a third party verifies the
sequestration activity in the forest.
Reforestation of mine lands in
therefore an applicable means of
obtaining carbon credits.

15. WETLAND MITIGATION
• Wetlands are vital ecosystems that are important to protecting and enhancing
water quality, maintaining species biodiversity, mitigating floodwaters, providing
bird and fish nursery grounds, and offering recreation opportunities.
• In 1972, Congress passed the Clean Water Act, “to restore and maintain the
chemical, physical, and biological integrity” of the nation’s waters. Under Section
404 of the Clean Water Act, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was
authorized to issue permits for the discharge of dredged or fill material into
navigable waters and wetlands. To compensate for impacts to these waters,
permitees must mitigate these impacts through the creation, restoration,
enhancement, or preservation of wetlands.

16. State and federal agencies may
issue wetlands mitigation credits for
projects that meet USACE
guidelines. Any organization can
obtain wetland credits, either to sell
or to “bank” for use in future
development projects, that could
adversely affect wetlands. Because
wetlands can be created in the
process of mine land reclamation, it
is possible to develop these areas in
such a way that wetland mitigation
credits can be obtained.

17. ARTFUL USE OF THE
LAND
Landscape architects can be
utilized to promote the use of
these credits through quality
design focusing on quality of
work while providing amenities.
By making these actively
functional green spaces
accessible to the public,
awareness of natural systems
can be boosted and societies
changed through active
citizenship.

18. CASE STUDIES

19. AMD & ART

20. Location:
Vintondale,
PA
• Cost:
$800,000
• Size: 35
Acres
• Completion
Date: 2005

21. • Realizing AMD is more than a purely scientific problem, Comp
and his team developed a park concept, then took it to the
community. It was in these meetings that the park plan was
developed. The team listened to the needs and ideas of the
Vintondale populace to make sure the park supported the
community so that the community would in turn support the
park. Utilizing landscape architects, their thought process and
ability to design for a community is what made this successful.
The core concept was to honor the mining
history of Vintondale, while using the space to
remediate AMD from a mine portal a half-mile
upstream from the park site, and provide
usable public space to the community as well
as a destination to increase tourism in mining
country.

22. The "Litmus Garden"
contains groves of
native trees and shrubs,
chosen for their
hardiness, habitat
benefit, and autumn leaf
color. The garden's fall
foliage color reflects the
cleansing of the water in
the ponds and is a
metaphor for this
process.In fall, as you walk from the beginning of the system, you may see
brilliant red leaves, changing to orange, then yellow, and then a
clean blue-green at the end of the treatment system.

23. The goal for AMD&ART was to not only
treat AMD through a treatment system but
to recreate a town center for this small
community, a focal point of energy and
hope. With strong ongoing community
involvement to create a recreation area
and public art pieces that explore and
honor community history, Vintondale has
a place to celebrate its future.
It is also within in the wetlands that the past
of the site is most tangible, as the footprints
of the old colliery buildings rise from the
wetlands as ghostly reminders in the
landscape. Vintondale's history is brought
back to the surface, celebrating both its
proud past and its future commitment to
environmental improvement at the same time

24. LANDSCAPE
PERFORMANCE BENEFITS
ENVIRONMENTAL
6 sequential keystone shaped ponds that make up
the AMD treatment system. These 6 ponds remove
aluminum, iron magnesium and sulfates from the
water as well as bring the water from a Ph of 2.8 to
a Ph of 6.5 through a natural filtration process
SOCIAL & ECONOMIC
The Ghost Town Rail Trail, a bike path which hosts
approximately 75,000 users annually. Increased
eco- tourism throughout the Vintondale area as well
as new park based activities, tours, and artistic
installations.

25. CHALLENGE: The rapid closure of many coal companies in the years
following WW II. For decades, in towns like Vintondale, the company was
not just the employer of the miners; it was the de facto government and the
center of the town's existence. When these companies went out of
business, miners were left without work and communities were left
abandoned, surrounded by environmental devastation and economic
depression. When a mining company left town, the company store, the only
store permitted to do business in the town, also closed. The railroads
stopped transportation of passengers and cargo, leaving hotels empty and
commerce at a stand-still. This situation is not unique to Vintondale and is

26. SOLUTION: Turn the site into an attraction. Removal of coal silt to prepare
the site for wildlife habitat. Soil, water, and fish tissue testing determined
that heavy metals were not a concern in this system. To manage the storm
water runoff, a series of bioinfiltration cells were designed to clean the water
and recycle it back into the natural system. These cells allow water to
infiltrate the ground, while plants biologically degrade the pollutants. The
Ailanthus and other invasive woody species were ground up, mulched,
aged, and reused on site to provide organic matter that supports new plant
growth. The sanctuary is closely monitored for incoming invasive species
such as phragmites and Japanese knotweed and periodically undergoes

27. BEFORE AFTER
BLACK ROCK SANCTUARY

28. Location:
Phoenixville, PA
Size: 120 Acres
Budget:
$800,000
Completion Date:
2010

29. Black Rock Sanctuary was one of 16 coal silt decanting basins built along
the Schuylkill River by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from the 1930s
to the mid-1950s to store over a century’s worth of accumulated silt and
residue dropped from barges transporting coal to Philadelphia for
manufacturing.
The Black Rock site remained untouched until 1999, when the first of a
series of grants was applied to fund the creation of a bird sanctuary and
park. Triggered by the site’s location on the Eastern flyway, the concept was
to reclaim and create a series of high quality wetland habitat areas for rare
or endangered migratory waterfowl species to breed and nest. Landscape
architects worked to maximize habitat effectiveness while making the park
accessible to the public.
A second goal was to educate the public about wetland environments
through an interpretive trail and environmental programming. The sanctuary

30. •47 acres of new wetlands were created,
including 5 acres of emergent herbaceous
wetland, 1.3 acres of emergent wetland, 1.7
acres of scrub/shrub wetland, and 3.5 acres of
forested wetland, none of which were present on
the existing site.
•10 acres of new upland meadow were created
to provide habitat for ground nesting birds,
covering over 8% of the total site area.
•The site contains 1.1 acres of vernal pools that
support tree/wood frog, salamander, and turtle
habitats.
•A biofilter captures, infiltrates, and biologically
degrades pollutants from the adjacent
neighborhood’s stormwater runoff. The three
cells are heavily planted with species such as
blue vervain, fox sedge, swamp milkweed, blue
indigo, and black-eyed susan.

31. LANDSCAPE
PERFORMANCE BENEFITS
ENVIRONMENTAL
Tripled bird counts from 262 in 2004 to
907 in 2011. Over the same seven year
period, species variety increased from
63 to 100 species observed.
Improved the ecological integrity of 10
acres of the site by 17 times by creating
new upland meadow habitat. Ecological
integrity is measured by the Plant
Stewardship Index, an assessment of
native biodiversity based on a site’s

32. LANDSCAPE
PERFORMANCE BENEFITS
SOCIAL
Increased annual average visitation
by over 200% from an estimated
10,000 visitors in 2009 to 34,414
visitors in 2011. A 16% increase is
projected for 2012.
Supports 8 new educational
programs and a school field trip each
year, attracting 160 annual
participants.

33. CHALLENGE: Because the site had been a decanting basin, there was
concern about soil contamination, particularly heavy metals, which could
lead to biomagnification of these toxins in the food chain since the intention
was to serve as breeding and nesting habitat for migratory birds. The new
sanctuary would also have to manage stormwater from the neighborhood
located across the street, since runoff ran directly from the lawns of the
subdivisions into the pond on site, causing extreme algae buildup from
excessive fertilizer use. Another major challenge was the eradication of
Ailanthus and other invasive species on the site to establish new, native
vegetation. Keeping invasives under control would be an ongoing

34. SOLUTION: Removal of coal silt to prepare the site for wildlife habitat. Soil,
water, and fish tissue testing determined that heavy metals were not a
concern in this system. To manage stormwater runoff from the adjacent
neighborhood, a series of bioinfiltration cells were designed to clean the
water and recycle it back into the natural system. These cells allow water to
infiltrate into the ground, while plants biologically degrade the pollutants.
The Ailanthus and other invasive woody species were ground up, mulched,
aged, and reused on site to provide organic matter that supports new plant
growth. The sanctuary is closely monitored for incoming invasive species
such as phragmites and Japanese knotweed and periodically undergoes

35. BEFORE AFTER
TANGSHAN NANHU ECO-CITY
CENTRAL PARK

36. Location
Tangxu Road, Lunan
Tangshan, Hebei
CHINA
Size
1,557 acres
Budget
$68,027,648
Completion Date
2009

37. Tangshan Nanhu Central Park is a mine reclamation project, which is now
the largest urban central park in northeastern China.
Located in the center of Tangshan City, the former 1,557-acre wasteland is
now a dynamic public space, featuring recreational facilities, conservation
areas and more than 600,000 trees and shrubs. The former coal mining site
was heavily polluted and damaged after a massive 1976 earthquake. Parts
of the site had collapsed and settled unevenly, creating a patchwork of
unstable surfaces which eventually grew to 28 sq km. The site became a
safety hazard and was used largely as a city landfill and a sewage lagoon.
In 2008, the reclamation project began.
Landscape architects, using sustainable practices such as material reuse,
stormwater management, and wildlife habitat restoration, have
fundamentally improved the environmental quality of Tangshan City and
created a major new public recreational space, accessible to more than

38. •450 metric tons of rubbish in Nanhu area were reclaimed and
used to create a 50-meter high hill, offering 130,000 square
meters of green space. The hill was sealed, covered by soil and
planted with trees. It provides scenic views, and various
recreational opportunities, such as walking, hiking and
picnicking. A waste gas collection system in the rubbish hill
collects and burns the gas generated by the rubbish, preventing
it from being emitted into atmosphere.
•Islands in the center of each of several lakes are constructed
with reclaimed coal ash, as is the scenic peninsula on the north
side of the southern lake.
• Two lakes, as well as a series of smaller water features, offer scenic and recreational value. These lakes fill
former subsidence basins and are recharged without potable water. The south lake receives about 80,000 cubic
meters of reclaimed water daily, after it is discharged by a water treatment plant into a series of constructed
wetlands. The north lake is recharged by 20,000 cubic meters of groundwater, which is obtained daily from the
coal mining site to the north of the park. The two lakes are the water source for landscape irrigation.

39. LANDSCAPE
PERFORMANCE BENEFITS
Environmental
Sequesters an estimated 2,800 metric tons (6.2 million
lbs) of CO2 annually in the trees of the park, equivalent
to removing 550 passenger vehicles from the road
each year.
Provides habitats for 6 fish, 4 reptile, 3 amphibian, 2
mammal, and 81 bird species observed on the site. Of
these, 7 are nationally-protected wildlife species.
Reduces potable water consumption by 29,200,000
cubic meters (7.7 billion gallons) annually, equivalent
to 11,680 Olympic-sized swimming pools, by importing
reclaimed water from a nearby sewage treatment
plant. The reclaimed water is further treated in a series
of constructed wetlands and used for water body

40. LANDSCAPE
PERFORMANCE BENEFITS
Social
Provides park access for the 10,000 nearby
residents within a 15 minute walking distance.
Economic
Saved $47.2 million in material costs by reusing 6
million cubic meters of coal ash to produce
foundations and bricks used in park construction.
Saved $369,000 in construction costs by recycling
133,820 trunks of dead trees to form an
embankment structure to prevent erosion along the
lakeshore.
Generates $157,300 in annual revenue from
recreational and facility rental fees alone.

41. CHALLENGE: The site was an extremely large brownfield, full of
contaminated waste and sewage, as well as areas of geological
subsidence. Notably, the entire southern portion of the site lacked
geotechnical stability. One of the key design challenges was to address the
settling land and determine a way to use this part of the site in a viable way
which would complement the rest of the park.

42. SOLUTION: The design responded to the site’s varying environmental
conditions by proposing very different uses and aesthetic characters north
and south of the main dividing road. North of Tangxu Road, the park is
geologically stable and thus designed for active recreational uses, with
features including gardens, the reclaimed rubbish hill, plazas and trails. The
area south of Tangxu Road is designed to be a natural reserve, retaining its
natural vegetation and landform with few interventions. This part of the park
includes cedar grasslands, wetlands and other landscapes native to the
region. The settling land and shorelines within this area were stabilized
primarily with materials found onsite, such as rocks and wood posts made

43. THE FUTURE OF RECLAMATION?

44. The reclamation of post-industrial landscapes is considered an emerging
practice in landscape architecture, and the profession is a source of creative
thinking and planning that is relatively untapped within the mining industry in
America. The majority of projects dealt with scientific approaches to
restoring vegetation, or mitigating the impact of acidity in the hydrology of
AML sites.

45. The landscape architect is a creative
problem solver, yet there are no
simple answers to the problems
facing society's need for minerals,
resource development, and mined-
land reclamation. Land-use decisions
and site design are based, at least in
part, on science. If landscape
architects want to be influential
members of multidisciplinary teams,
along with scientists and engineers,
they must address the misconception
of landscape architects as solely -
artists or horticulturists.

46. In many aspects creating a
reclamation plan is a
professional art, relying upon
science for guidance. While
post-mining land use
reclamation planning and design
is a topic that is not widely
published, it is evident that the
practice is grounded in many
fundamental processes related
to landscape architect. These
can range from, but are not
limited to, design theory, design
process, design fundamentals,
and construction technology.

47. NEW LANDSCAPE DECLARATION
Across borders and beyond walls, from city centers to the last wilderness,
humanity’s common ground is the landscape itself. Food, water, oxygen –
everything that sustains us comes from and returns to the landscape. What
we do to our landscapes we ultimately do to ourselves. The profession
charged with designing this common ground is landscape architecture.
After centuries of mistakenly believing we could exploit nature without
consequence, we have now entered an age of extreme climate change
marked by rising seas, resource depletion, desertification and
unprecedented rates of species extinction. Set against the global
phenomena of accelerating consumption, urbanization and inequity, these
influences disproportionately affect the poor and will impact everyone,

48. Simultaneously, there is profound hope for the future. As we begin to
understand the true complexity and holistic nature of the earth system and
as we begin to appreciate humanity’s role as integral to its stability and
productivity, we can build a new identity for society as a constructive part of
nature.
The urgent challenge before us is to redesign our communities in the
context of their bioregional landscapes enabling them to adapt to climate
change and mitigate its root causes. As designers versed in both
environmental and cultural systems, landscape architects are uniquely
positioned to bring related professions together into new alliances to
address complex social and ecological problems. Landscape architects
bring different and often competing interests together so as to give artistic
physical form and integrated function to the ideals of equity, sustainability,
resiliency and democracy.

49. As landscape architects we vow to create places that serve the higher
purpose of social and ecological justice for all peoples and all species. We
vow to create places that nourish our deepest needs for communion with
the natural world and with one another. We vow to serve the health and
well-being of all communities.
To fulfill these promises, we will work to strengthen and diversify our global
capacity as a profession. We will work to cultivate a bold culture of inclusive
leadership, advocacy and activism in our ranks. We will work to raise
awareness of landscape architecture’s vital contribution. We will work to
support research and champion new practices that result in design
innovation and policy transformation.
We pledge our services. We seek commitment and action from those who
share our concern.

50. REFERENCES
• Berger, Allan. 2010. “Designing the Reclaimed Landscape.” Philadelphia: Taylor &
Francis.
• Burley, Jon Bryan. 2001. Environmental Design for Reclaiming Surface Mines.
Lewiston, N.Y: Edwin Mellen.
• Kirkwood, Niall. 2001. “Manufactured Sites: Rethinking the Post-Industrial Landscape.”
Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis.
• Liu, Ann Y., Frank C. Curriero, Thomas A. Glass, Walter F. Stewart, and Brian S.
Schwartz. "Associations of the Burden of Coal Abandoned Mine Lands with Three
Dimensions of Community Context in Pennsylvania." ISRN Public Health 2012 (2012):
1-11.
• www.mcrcc.osmre.gov/tree
• landscapeperformance.org/
• www.amdandart.info/