In 2014, the EPCAMR Staff continued to focus their attention on providing technical assistance and support to conservation districts and other local governments as well as, community/watershed organizations, economic development organizations, and other partners in the abandoned mine reclamation (AMR) field of interest.
Within that charge, there are several tasks and deliverables that EPCAMR staff meet on an annual basis. Those are to:
- Provide technical assistance to at least one watershed association or non-profit organization in each sponsoring county conservation district of EPCAMR who requests assistance with grants & watershed projects related to abandoned mine drainage (AMD) remediation and abandoned mine land (AML) reclamation. EPCAMR staff provided technical assistance to 30 groups and conservation districts.
See More Those include: WPCAMR, Earth Conservancy, Stream Restoration Inc., Foundation for PA Watersheds, Northeastern PA Alliance, Pennsylvania Environmental Council (NE Office), ARIPPA, Lackawanna County Conservation District, Lackawanna River Conservation Association, Columbia County Conservation District, Carbon County Conservation District, Tioga County Conservation District, Sullivan County Conservation District, Loyalsock Creek Watershed Association, Schuylkill Conservation District, Schuylkill Headwaters Association, Wiconisco Creek Watershed Association, Tri-Valley Watershed Association, Catawissa Creek Restoration Association, Columbia County Conservation District, Friends of the Necopeck, Abrahams Creek Watershed Association, Hicks Creek Watershed Association, Mehoopany Creek Watershed Association, Mahanoy Creek Watershed Association, Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance, Wildlands Conservancy, Trout Unlimited (National, Western Pocono Chapter, and Stanley Cooper Chapter) and several more groups in attendance at our statewide conference. - Maintain EPCAMR Program Coordination to Conservation Districts in Eastern PA through Monthly Progress Report Documentation and Annual Reports.
See More Please see our Monthly Progress Report Documentation within our EPCAMR Board Page. - Ensure and support the implementation of local watershed restoration and protection plans such as Watershed Restoration Action Strategy (WRAS), Watershed Implementation Plans (WIP), and Qualified Hydrologic Unit Plans (QHUP), including plans to meet Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) objectives and to restore AMD impacted watersheds. EPCAMR staff worked specifically in 16 watersheds to plan, assess, develop, and/or implement TMDL objectives & watershed restoration action strategies.
See More Those include: Lackawanna Valley, Wyoming Valley (Newport Creek, Nanticoke Creek, Solomon Creek, Warrior Run, Abrahams Creek, Hicks Creek, and Laurel Run), Schuylkill River, Rausch Creek, Catawissa Creek, Babb Creek, Nescopeck Creek, Mehoopany Creek, Shamokin Creek, Lehigh River (Hazle Creek). - Plan, Co-Sponsor, and Conduct the Annual PA AMR Conference in partnership with WPCAMR and other planning partners on the conference planning committee and participate in or sponsor regional workshops on AML issues throughout PA. EPCAMR staff co-hosted the PA AMR Conference on June 26-27, 2014 at the Ramada Inn and Conference Center in State College, PA.
See More See 2014.treatminewater.com website for more details. Please see our Monthly Progress Report Documentation within our EPCAMR Board Page for other regional workshops. - Provide data, GIS layers, and maps, as a public service to watershed groups and municipalities impacted by AMD/AML.
See More A list of the GIS Data & Map Services is on our EPCAMR website and physically through the EPCAMR GIS Technical Assistance Center (TAC) in the EPCAMR Office. A list of 80 general public and government assisted include the following: PA Department of Environmental Protection (Harrisburg, California DMO, Pottsville DMO, BAMR Wilkes-Barre, BAMR Ebensburg, MRAB), PA Department of Community and Economic Development, PA Game Commission, PA Association of Environmental Educators, US Geologic Survey, Pocono NE RC & DC, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, PA American Water, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, AmeriCorps, Alliance for Appalachia, Appalachian Energy & Environment Partnership, PA Game Commission, PennFuture, Huber Breaker Preservation Society, Plymouth Historical Society, Greater Pittston Historical Society, Lackawanna Valley Heritage Authority, State Senator Yudichak, State Representative Pashinski, State Representative Mundy, Weatherly Borough Planning Commission, White Ash Land Association, Pasello Logistics LLC, Pollock Enterprises, Benton Foundry, Susquehanna Mining Solutions LLC, Medico Industries, JMF Underground Inc., Keystone Pure Water Tech Inc., Nanticoke City, Newport Township Community Organization, Tobyhanna Army Depot, Anthracite Society of Mining Engineers, Representative Phillis Mundy, Wyoming Borough, Exeter Borough, PA Anthracite Council, Choose Clean Water Coalition, Greater Nanticoke Area School District, Bear Creek Charter School, Generations Charter School, Wilkes-Barre Area School District, North Schuylkill School District, Wilkes University, Kings College, Misericordia University, University of Scranton, Pennsylvania State University, ITT Tech, Cornell University, Drexel University, Lock Haven University, Luzerne County Roads Department, Pittston City, Wilkes-Barre City, PA Tectonics, McGlynn Learning Center, Joe Sapienza (videographer), Centralia Borough, Skelly & Loy, Northampton Fuels Supply, Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority, McClane & Associates, Synagro, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders, Citizens’ Voice, Times Leader, Hazleton Standard Speaker, Scranton Times, Commission on Economic Opportunity, PA Growing Greener Coalition, Keep PA Beautiful, Chesapeake Bay Foundation and several more in attendance at our statewide conference. - Provide general EPCAMR Board Administration to increase communication and facilitation with the EPCAMR Board in order to strategically plan and conduct meetings.
See More Please see our Past EPCAMR Quarterly Meetings within our EPCAMR Board Page. - Maintenance of epcamr.org and treatminewater.com and provide information to the WPCAMR’s AMRClearinghouse.org websites.
See More We had 14,693 views by 5,276 visitors in 121 different countries for epcamr.org alone (statistics from wordpress.com). Please see our www.epcamr.org, www.treatminewater.com and WPCAMR’s www.AMRClearinghouse.org websites, respectively. - Suggest to the PA DEP Section 319 Program Stream Segments in the EPCAMR Region that should be reassessed where improvements have been made to streams or segments previously on the 303 (d) List that stand a good chance of being removed from the List with supporting water quality monitoring or biological monitoring evidence.
See More 2.68 Miles of Sugar Notch Run should be removed from the Impaired Waters List with reclamation of several AMLs in the watershed (3 Segments Reach Codes 02050107002979 to 02050107001041) Headwaters:63 F, pH 6.2, Iron 0.8 mg/l, Alkalinity 17.1 mg/l, Acidity 17.1 mg/l, Diss. Oxy. 6 mg/l (stoneflies, case-building caddisflies, net-spinning caddisflies and electroshocking turned up trout fingerlings), Unnamed Trib. to SNR: Temp. 62 F, pH 6.7, Iron 1.7 mg/l, Alkalinity 17.1 mg/l, Acidity 17.1 mg/l, Diss. Oxy. 8 mg/l (case-building caddisflies, net-spinning caddisflies and crayfish), Upstream of I-81: 64 F, pH 6.8, Iron 0 mg/l, Alkalinity 17.1 mg/l, Acidity 17.1 mg/l, Diss. Oxy. 5 mg/l (mayflies, stoneflies (2 species), case-building caddisflies, net-spinning caddisflies and electroshocking turned up trout fingerlings), Upstream of S. Main St. 66 F, pH 5.5, Iron 0 mg/l, Alkalinity 51.3 mg/l, Acidity 102.6 mg/l, Diss. Oxy. 4 mg/l (mayflies and stoneflies (2 species)).
For up-to-date information, we encourage you to visit our website, especially our news page which is in chronological order and searchable. Our current initiatives page is also a great place to see our most recent and future programs.
