The Interstate Technical Group on Abandoned Underground Mines (ITGAUM)

Greetings to you all from the wonderful south shore of Lake Ontario and the city of Rochester, New York. This year, I'm here as a member of the Interstate Technical Group on Abandoned Underground Mines, or ITGAUM. This group has been meeting for the last 12 years as a place where professionals in geology and engineering, particularly those from state departments of transportation, can address the hazards associated with abandoned underground mines.

This year, we viewed (at the surface) the subsidence features associated with the collapse of the Akzo-Nobel Salt Mine near Genesco, New York. This is currently in remediation, after a near-catastrophic collapse in which one area dropped nearly 70 feet straight down after only 4 hours. I'll be posting pictures of the area in the near future, with more information, ideas, and thoughts on what we can learn from this local disaster.

I'll talk more then about this group, and where it's headed.

Until next time,

Trenchless Geologist