FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

04-29-11 245PM

Black Diamond Mines Regional Park in Antioch offers public tours of the Hazel Atlas mine weekends from March to November. Due to scheduled maintenance, the Hazel Atlas mine tours and museum will be closed from June 17 to approximately July 15.

The maintenance project includes backfilling a portion of the historic coal mine. The work area is unconnected to the present sand mine, where the tours are conducted. As a safety precaution, however, the entire mine area will be closed during the project.

The maintenance project is one more step toward repairing and improving the entrance to the Greathouse Visitor Center, which is expected to reopen in the summer of 2012. The project is completely funded by the Office of Surface Mining, a federal agency.

Black Diamond Mines park, trails and naturalist programs unrelated to the mine will remain open during regular operating hours. Tours will quickly resume should the project finish ahead of schedule.

To check the status of the maintenance project this summer, go to www.ebparks.org/closure or call Black Diamond Mines at 510-544-2750. For information on participating in a tour, visit www.ebparks.org or call 888-EBPARKS (option 2, then 3).

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