Reclamation and amenity conflicts toward impending lignite extraction in Bastrop County, Texas

ABSTRACT:

The urgency to tap alternative fuel sources in the United States, impelled by the drive for energy self-sufficiency, has made strip mining of lignite in Bastrop County, Texas, a reality. Not since 1954, when energy companies began leasing privately owned lands in the county, has lignite extraction been as attractive economically as it is today. Confronted with impending extraction and visualizing its effects on the surrounding environment, many Bastrop County residents now object to the leniency of state reclamation standards. Those residents who have leased land for lignite extraction, however, view mining as an appropriate next step in the profit-generating use of their land. They do not object to lenient reclamation laws requiring no more than the leveling of land for use as pasture. Given the county-wide impact of mining, the attitudes of those not directly involved in the process should be considered in formulating reclamation policy.