JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ala. (WBMA) — Across Alabama, land once used for coal mining still sits beneath neighborhoods, ballfields and future development sites — sometimes posing safety and environmental risks decades later.
Now, millions in federal funding are helping communities reclaim those sites and turn them into economic opportunities.
One of the most visible examples may soon rise along Interstate 65 in north Jefferson County.
From iconic barn to agricultural hub
About 20 miles north of downtown Birmingham, the red-roofed barn at Hallmark Farms off Exit 280 is already a familiar landmark. Plans call for the roughly 500-acre property to become the future Alabama Farm Center — a large-scale agricultural and event facility…