WASHINGTON – After a long battle fighting for abandoned mine land (AML) funds owed to the State of Wyoming, U.S. Senator John Barrasso, R-Wyo., has welcomed the first payments flowing to the state.

“Washington owes Wyoming more than $580 million of accumulated AML funds – it is our money. It should come without strings attached,” Barrasso said. “It is wrong that the people of our state have been denied access to our money.”

The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality has received $226,440 in August. The payment is a fraction of more than a half billion of AML funding owed to the State. The funding will support the University Of Wyoming School of Energy Research. 

“The spigot is open and the funds have finally started to flow. I remain committed to finding a solution so Wyoming can access these funds without becoming bogged down in Washington’s bureaucratic red tape.”

During its 2008 Budget Session, the State Legislature appropriated $20 million in AML funds for the development, construction, and operation of a high plains gasification facility and technology center.