The Spewing Camp Branch project completed reclamation on a 60-acre coal refuse dump that had been abandoned since 1974.  The Kentucky Division of Abandoned Mine Lands (DAML) began construction work on the site in 2002 under a contract with Hawkeye Construction Co. LLC, of Robinson, Kentucky.  Hawkeye completed the majority of the reclamation within a year and the contract was closed in October 2004.  The total project cost was $3,517,367 that included two satellite projects.  Project highlights are as follows: 

• The Spewing Camp refuse dump had been one of the worst remaining abandoned mine sites in eastern Kentucky.  From 1952 to 1973, the site received coal refuse generated by the Price coal preparation facility located on the opposite side of the mountain.  More than 7 million cubic yards of refuse was placed on the 165-foot-deep pile from an aerial tram that transported the material from the coal washer over the crest of the mountain.
• The dump became inactive in 1973 and was abandoned in 1981. It was left unvegetated and began to erode, causing coal sediment to clog the stream channel and pollute the water all the way into the Left Fork of Beaver Creek, more than one mile away.  Giant gullies eroded into the sides of the refuse pile.
• AML construction began in spring 2003.  The coal waste was graded in place and covered with 2 feet of earth, which came from three nearby sources. An adjacent area owned by Progress Land Co. was used to cover the upper reaches of the pile. The lower areas received cover from two other AML projects--the Hoods Fork and Curtis Johnson AML projects.  These projects involved the reclamation of two landslides caused by abandoned mines.  These landslides were located near the Spewing Camp Branch project. As both of these projects required DAML to find an area to relocate the excavated landslide material, it decided to make these projects satellites of the larger refuse project.  Earth material was transported to the Spewing Camp refuse project and used for cover.
• After the refuse was covered, drainage features were installed.  Ditches were constructed and lined with rock to prevent erosion and the area was reseeded. 

• Funding for the Spewing Camp Branch refuse project came from four different sources: $2.1 million was contributed from the commonwealth's federal Abandoned Mine Land grant; $723,297 came from the Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative; and the DAML contributed $406,665 from the state supplemental reclamation fund to supplement a forfeited reclamation bond.
• In September 2005, the federal Office of Surface Mining  presented two awards to the Kentucky Division of Abandoned Mine Lands--the National Award for Outstanding Reclamation, the People’s Choice Award and the Appalachian Regional Award for Outstanding Reclamation-- for its Spewing Camp Branch AML refuse project. It was the second time in five years Kentucky had garnered the national award.

Completion of this project eliminated the hazards associated with one of the worst remaining AML problems in the eastern coalfields. Citizens downstream from the project will no longer see the coal waste eroding into the creek causing periodic flooding.  The site is no longer an aesthetic blight and is another success attributable to the reclamation provided by the Abandoned Mine Land program.