Back in April 2003, Techlines told you about the signing of Senate Bill 165 (SB 165), which allows for public access to maps of Kentucky's mines. The legislation was created as a way to increase sharing of information and knowledge of where mines are located to improve safety. The legislation was especially important after Kentucky's Martin County coal slurry spill in October 2000 and an incident in Pennsylvania in 2002, which trapped nine miners underground before they were successfully rescued. The Pennsylvania incident was a result of not having accurate and up-to-date mine mapping information. Since the signing of SB 165 last year, a lot of computer processor power, programming, manpower and scanners have been turning paper maps into digitized maps to bring the latest mine mapping information online and available for free. It's called the Kentucky Mine Mapping Information System.

Kentucky houses the largest coal mine map collection in the world - over 164,000 maps dating back to 1884. For over 100 years, maps of coal mines have been sent in from coal companies the same way year after year, in paper format stored by the Office of Mine Safety and Licensing (formerly the Department of Mines and Minerals). Now a team of geographic information system (GIS) specialists are busy putting the maps in an online database and format. The project is a collaborative effort across state government, with much of the coding and technical creation taking place by Bryan Bunch and Tony Sturgill of the GIS Branch of the Division of Information Services in the Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet. The online result of all of this work can be seen at www.minemaps.ky.gov where anyone can view an amazing array of data, layered and displayed in a graphic format.

The process to go from paper maps to digital is moving quickly. Federal funding for the work was received early in 2004, but the project team was already busy doing the digital conversion prior to receiving funding. The funding made it possible to get some new equipment and interns from area colleges and universities who are working to convert around 300 maps a week into the digital format. The goal is to have more than 30,000 maps converted in two years and eventually have the coal companies submit their new maps in a digital format.

So far it's estimated the mine map Web site has taken over three million hits. Who visits the site? The safety of miners and the public is the number one priority for the digital mine mapping project, so the site is heavily visited by those in the coal industry. However, knowing where coal mines are located is of interest to land owners, real estate companies, the Transportation Cabinet, power companies, residents who use well water and those interested in attracting businesses to Kentucky. In western Kentucky, government officials are using the data to help with disaster planning for roadways and bridges in the event of an earthquake in the New Madrid seismic zone.

The Kentucky Mine Mapping Information System Web site has been picked from thousands of GIS applications for a Special Achievement in GIS Award given out by ESRI, the world's leading maker of software for the GIS community. The award will be presented to the project team next week at the International Users Conference in San Diego. It's a big hit with users, too. According to David Grubb, an independent contractor for the oil & gas industry, "I use the Kentucky mine map Web site on a daily basis. The availability of on-line mine mapping is a tremendous asset to the industry."

The goals of the project are to maintain a safer workplace, improve economic development, protect the environment, improve water quality and accessibility and increase public awareness and involvement. For more information on what Kentucky is doing in the area of GIS, see the Kentucky Geography Network, the "one-stop-shop" for geographic data resources related to the Commonwealth of Kentucky: http://kygeonet.ky.gov/