In state fiscal year 2016-2017, 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 62 groups and conservation districts.
See More Those include: Sullivan County Conservation District, Renew Growing Greener Coalition, Huber Breaker Preservation Society, Earth Conservancy, Luzerne Conservation District, PA Anthracite Council, Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed (CDRW), NAAEE, PSU Extension Master Watershed Stewardship Program, PA Anthracite Section Society of Mining Engineers (SME), ARIPPA, Mehoopany Creek Watershed Association (MCWA), PennFuture (PF), Foundation for PA Watersheds (FPW), PA Association of Environmental Educators (PAEE), Wildlands Conservancy, United Way of Wyoming Valley, Lackawanna River Conservation Association (LRCA), White Ash Land Association, Environmental Stewards, Stanley Cooper Chapter of Trout Unlimited, PA Trout Unlimited (PATU), Newport Township Crime-Watch Organization (NTCO), Choose Clean Water Coalition (CCWC), Greater Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution (GASP), Keep PA Beautiful (KPB), International Coastal Cleanup (ICC), Ocean Conservancy,Stream Restoration Inc., Clean Air Council, Pennsylvania Environmental Council-NE Office, Anthracite Scenic Trails Association (ASTA), Abraham Creek Watershed Association (ACWA), North Branch Land Trust (NBLT), Community Aid Inc., Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC), Boy Scouts of America (BSA), PA Student Leadership Council, Delaware RiverKeeper Network (DRK), Anthracite Heritage Alliance (AHA), Save Our Monarchs Foundation, North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC), Schuylkill Headwaters Association (SHA), Friends of the Nescopeck (FON), Arbor Day Foundation, Hazleton Chamber of Commerce, Kiski-Conemaugh Stream Team, The Graham Academy, Western PA Conservancy, Ashley Children’s Trout Stocking Association, The PSU Environmental Resource Management Society, Conservation Legacy, Keystone College Creekwalkers, PA Afterschool Youth Development Network (PSAYDN), Greater Hazleton Area Civic Partnership, Nanticoke Conservation Club (NCC), Stroud Water Research Center, 1% for the Planet, The Conservation Alliance, Newport Township Community Organization (NTCO), Wilkes University Institute for Energy & Environmental Research (IEER), & Wuppertal Institute - 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 15 watersheds to plan, assess, develop, and/or implement TMDL objectives & watershed restoration action strategies.
See More Those include: Loyalsock Creek Watershed, Hicks Creek Watershed, Solomon Creek Watershed, Mill Creek Watershed, Laurel Run Watershed, Susquehanna River Watershed, Nanticoke Creek Watershed, Delaware River Watershed, Lackawanna River Watershed, Rausch Creek Watershed, Abraham Creek Watershed, Upper Lehigh River Watershed, Shickshinny Creek Watershed, Nescopeck Creek Watershed, & Newport Creek Watershed - 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 21 & 22nd, 2017 at the Best Western Genetti Hotel in downtown Wilkes-Barre, PA.
See More See 2017.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 133 general public and government assisted include the following: Hazleton One Community Center, Hazleton Integration Project, Sullivan County Elementary School, 2TwistedSisters T-shirt Company, Danville Historic Iron Heritage Festival, King’s College Environmental Economics Class, PA Department of Community & Economic Development (PA DCED), US Army Corps of Engineers (US ACE), National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), Hebei Canri Chemical Co., Ltd., Wyoming Seminary Upper School, Wilkes University, Eckley Miner’s Village, Lorena Boniquez-Photographer & Author, Skelly & Loy, Inc., LandStudies, Inc., City of Wilkes-Barre, PPL Utilities, Inc., Jennings Environmental Education Center, American Energy Solutions, LLC, Delaware River Watershed Conference, NAAEE Conference, Cornell University, Cornell University Press, PA Fish & Boat Commission, Trout in the Classroom, Keystone Anthracite, PA Environmental Digest, Bear Creek Charter School, Arts & Culture for Lackawanna County, PA American Water, CSI Environmental, LLC, PA DCNR Pinchot State Forest, OSMRE AmeriCorps, Bloomsburg University, Blaschak Coal Company, Centralia Borough, Tetra Tech Engineering, Ashley Borough, Luzerne County, US Environmental Protection Agency ( US EPA), Wilkes-Barre Area School District (Science Technology Engineering & Math) STEM Program, Swoyersville Borough, Olympus Power, Northampton Fuels Supply, Panther Creek Partners, PA DEP BAMR, PA DEP Pottsville District Mining Office, Swoyersville Planning Commission, Swoyersville Code Enforcement, Plains Township, Econsult Solutions, LLC, PSU College of Agricultural Sciences, City of Scranton, Wilkes-Barre Township, Keystone College, Solomon-Plains Elementary School, Luzerne County GIS Department, Good Host Plants, Keystone College, Exeter Borough, Forty-Fort Borough, West Wyoming Borough, Wyoming Borough, Dallas Township, Exeter Township, Franklin Township, Kingston Township, Mt. Carmel Co-Gen Plant, Tuck Business School-Dartmouth University, Wilkes-Barre City Housing Authority-McGlynn Learning Center, Mineral Springs Learning Center, Mineral Springs Housing Complex, Wilkes-Barre Boulevard Townhomes, HOME DEPOT, Wilkes-Barre City Council, RiverLogic Solutions, LLC, Hedin Environmental, Rexxers LLC, Hazleton Area Life Skills Program, PA DEP Office of Environmental Justice, Ridge Global, Inc., PA Mining & Reclamation Advisory Board (MRAB), Chesapeake Legal Alliance, ISI, LLC, Groassis, Connell Anthracite Mining Company, North Schuylkill School District, Hanover Area School District, NYU College of Arts & Sciences, Mansfield University, Devon Financial Partners, Dominion, Keystone Pure Water Tech, Inc., University of Michigan, University of PA, Newport Township Police Department, City of Nanticoke, Morris County College, University of Scranton, PA Anthracite Heritage Museum, Peak Design, Sovereign Consulting, Inc., Wall Street Journal, Borton-Lawson Engineering, ARRI, OSMRE, PA DEP BAMR, Newport Aggregates, Newport Township Road Department, Spooky Off-Road ATV Club, Greater Nanticoke High School, Panther Valley School District, Synfluent Corporation, Weatherly Area School District, The Hexagon Project, Professional Recyclers of PA (PROP), Heinrich Boll Foundation, Ohio University, & Pioneer Tunnel - 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 19,941 views by 10,087 vistors from 114 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 There were no new treatment systems funded nor improving water bodies documented in this time period. - Report on the number project sites that are in the planning, construction and reclamation stages and the amount of funding that was leveraged by EPCAMR services to help complete the projects (related to Task A).
See More EPCAMR staff are always looking for other sources of funding to complete our scope of work and supplement our programs. In the 2016-17 state fiscal year, EPCAMR was awarded $125,000 from the PA DEP 319 Non-Point Source (NPS) program and matched that amount with $4,925,263 in regional initiatives. Please see the lists below of funded programs within the region. The types of sources are reimbursable (R), contract (C), and cash match (M).
Name & Short Source Type AwardAmount Starts Ends Mine Subsidence Insurance Program Mine Map Processing: EPCAMR Staff-ALL (Tech. Reg. Hrs.) PA DEP MSI R $621,550 Jul’13 Jun’18 ARIPPA AMD/AML Awards: Pass-through (No staff time) ARIPPA M $2,500 Jul’16 Jun’17 Hick’s Creek NCSD: Exec. Dir, Prog. Man. & Outreach Staff PA DEP GG R $450,000 Oct’06 Jun’18 Waterboxx Phase III: Outreach Staff Inquiring Systems Inc. C/M $17,500 Nov’14 Jun’18 Askam Treatment System “Monthly” Sampling: EPCAMR Staff-ALL Earth Conservancy C $4,330 Jan’17 Dec’17 Espy Run Treatment System Quarterly Sampling: EPCAMR Staff-ALL Earth Conservancy C $1,395 Jan’17 Dec’17 Datashed III Outreach: EPCAMR Staff-ALL PA DEP GG via SRI C $4,500 Jan’17 Dec’17 Rausch Creek Plant Mine Pool Mapping: Exec. Dir, Prog. Man. & Outreach Staff SRBC R $16,000 Aug’15 Dec’17 Solomon Cr. Trout Stream Imp. & Dam Removal (Penn DOT Mitigation from South Val. Pkwy.) Penn DOT via PA F&BC R $130,000 Nov’15 Dec’17 Wilkes-Barre City Stormwater Management Plan: EPCAMR Staff & Supplies NFWF via LandStudies C $5,407 Dec’15 Dec’17 Monarchs and Minelands: Outreach Staff & Supplies DEP EE M $3,000 Jul’16 Jun’17 Bird Box Boosters: Outreach Staff & Supplies PPL M $1,000 Jul’16 Jun’17 Sampling Plainsville Borehole: Outreach Staff & Sampling Equip. FPW M $4,500 Oct’16 Oct’17 Mocanaqua Tunnel Mine Pool Model (Phase 1) & Boreholes / Discharge Mon. (Phase 2) SRBC R $85,000 Oct’16 Aug’18 19th Annual PA AMR Conference: Passthrough to AMR Conference Committee PA DEP M $5,000 Jul’16 Jun’17 Clean Our Anthracite Lands and Streams: ED, PM & Outreach Staff Community Aid, Inc. M $5,000 Oct’16 Aug’17 Abraham’s Creek Cold Water Heritage Plan: Outreach Staff & Supplies PA TU M $5,000 Mar’17 Oct’19 City Streets to Valley Streams Fishing Program: Outreach Staff, Supplies, and Travel First Federal Charitable Foundation M $10,000 Jun’17 May’18 Total $1,371,683 In addition, EPCAMR staff support the work of other organizations that have a similar goal of AMD remediation and AML reclamation. Please see the list of projects below.
Organization Name & Short Source Total Starts Ends Funded Earth Conservancy Bliss Banks Reclamation Project E EPA Brownfields $200,000 Oct’17 Sep’20 yes Earth Conservancy Bliss Banks Reclamation Project F EPA Brownfields $200,000 Oct’17 Sep’20 yes Earth Conservancy Bliss Banks Reclamation Project DEP Growing Greener $791,250 Jul’17 Jun’20 no Earth Conservancy Espy Run Reclamation Project B EPA Brownfields $200,000 Oct’17 Sep’20 yes Earth Conservancy Environmental Workforce & Job Dev. US EPA $200,000 Oct’17 Sep’20 no Earth Conservancy Area-wide Strategic Plan US EPA $200,000 Oct’17 Sep’20 no Stream Restoration, Inc. Datashed 3 DEP Growing Greener $105,718 Jul’16 Jun’17 yes Earth Conservancy Bliss Bank Reclamation Phase II DEP Growing Greener $734,600 Jul’16 Jun’19 funded Schuylkill Conservation District Mill Creek AMD Watershed Restoration Plan Dev. DEP Growing Greener $64,857 Jul’16 Jun’17 yes Mahanoy Creek Watershed Association Packer 5 AMD Treatment Design DEP Growing Greener $85,581 Jul’16 Jun’17 yes Schuylkill Headwaters Association, Inc. Reevesdale #2 AMD Restoration Project Phase 2 Optimization DEP 319 NPS $485,722 Jul’16 Jun’19 yes Schuylkill Conservation District Upper Swatara Creek QHUP AMD Mon. Project DEP BAMR Set-side $67,024 Jul’16 Jun’17 yes Total $3,334,752 EPCAMR staff also use their skill sets to write entire grants for organizations that may not have the staff or capacity to write grants. Please see the list below.
Organization Name&Short Source Total Starts Ends Funded Huber Breaker Preservation Socitey Miners Memorial Park Construction DCED $151,263 Sep’15 Jun’18 yes Land Studies Stormwater TAG for Wilkes-Barre City NFWF $67,565 Dec’15 Nov’17 yes Total $218,828
In this age of information and transparency, no one simply wants to see a summary-style annual report. They want details! 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.
