258 BAMR Featured in WNEP Power to Save (12/08) 2008-12-19 12:57:17
Power to Save Special December 2008
WNEP’s Don Jacobs, Tom Clark, Jackie Lewandoski and Kelly McCool take a cool look at how people are using their power to save energy, the environment and money.
The latest WNEP Power to Save Special welcomes PPL Electric Utilities as a major program sponsor.
Energy Audit
People all over our area are thinking about the cold winter months ahead, and ways to make that dollar stretch as far as it can go. And, in our hi-tech world, people want clear information they can use to make smart energy decisions. Homeowners can have their own hi-tech study done to find out just how energy efficient their home is with a PPL Energy Audit. Jackie went to Carbon County and gave one homeowner the Power To Save. PPL Electric Utilities Specialist Frank Mikus tells viewers about the program. Les Kalimootoo conducted the audit and gave some helful advice. A printed report goes to the homeowner, recommending improvements that will give you the most future energy savings. You can get more information on by clicking on the PPL Electric Utilities logo or calling 1-866-941-7313
Landfill Trees
Long ago we learned the importance of how plants and trees give us the oxygen the Earth needs to live. Today, one unlikely place working, as an experiment, to increase its tree and shrub population is right here in northeastern Pennsylvania. Under a special State Exemption, the folks at the Alliance Landfill in Lackawanna County are studying the viability of planting something other than grass on the cap of a landfill. The goals: enhance aesthetics and provide for woodland habitats. John Hambrose of Alliance Landfill gave WNEP’s Tom Clark a tour of the 3 test plots and shared their results so far.
Once again, northeastern and central Pennsylvania is on the forefront of innovation to save money and time. After the State reviews the results in the different test areas, Alliance, as well as other landfills, may be able to look at a better way of topping our mounds of garbage. You can see more pictures of the project and get more details by clicking Alliance’s website here. ,a href=http://www.wm.com/alliance>www.wm.com/alliance
Strip Mine Reclamation
Coal is used in so many ways: from heating homes to generating power. And, in some parts of our area, the land scarred from surface mining is hard to miss. While in others, the reclamation is quite impressive. Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Resources came out in force to show WNEP’s Don Jacobs how they are erasing the scars of our “˜yesteryear’ today in Luzerne and Schuylkill Counties. Repairing the landscape to make it useful again makes for a better world all around. Imagine the plants, wildlife or development that could once again flourish in our beautiful mountains and valleys. Visit DEP’s website for more news. www.depweb.state.pa.us
Energy Tips
WNEP’s Kelly McCool spent some time with Frank Mikus, of PPL Electric Utilities, for some great tips to save energy. Some options can cost you very little, or nothing at all. Click on the PPL Electric Utilities logo for more information.
Click here to see the video footage
257 DEP Announces New Program to Combat Illegal Dumping 2008-11-12 15:23:24
November 11th, 2008
PITTSBURGH , The Department of Environmental Protection announced a new grant program to provide communities with the tools and resources they need to restore illegal dump sites and it awarded $1 million to PA CleanWays to continue its important mission to cleanup and remediate illegal dump sites in communities throughout the commonwealth.
“Illegal dumping is not just an environmental crime, it is a health and safety issue that plagues our neighborhoods and affects the quality of life of our residents,” said DEP Deputy Secretary Thomas Fidler while standing at the site of an illegal dump in the Hazelwood neighborhood of Pittsburgh. “The new Illegal Dump Cleanup Grant program will help remove the blight of illegal dumps and prevent future dumping. Working together with partners in our communities, we can break the cycle of dumping and raise civic pride.”
Pennsylvania will invest $500,000 in the Illegal Dump Cleanup Grant program for communities and nonprofit groups. The program will focus on the cleanup of illegal dumps; site restoration and beautification; surveillance of existing dump sites and remediated sites; enforcement of littering and illegal dumping ordinances; and public awareness and education to inform local citizens about illegal dumping, littering and clean-up activities.
Grants of up to $25,000 will be awarded with a match of at least 50 percent of the grant amount by the grantee.
The grants are available on a competitive basis to any existing local government or incorporated nonprofit organization currently located in Pennsylvania. An applicant cannot, in any way, be responsible for any illegal dump located in Pennsylvania.
Fidler also announced the $1 million grant to PA Cleanways to continue its programs to identify and eliminate illegal dumps in the state, prevent litter and support community-based efforts to restore and preserve the scenic beauty of the commonwealth.
“PA CleanWays has shown a strong commitment to the elimination of illegal dumps and littering in Pennsylvania,” Fidler said. “In the past three years alone, PA CleanWays’ volunteers have cleaned up 268 sites, hauling out 2,244 tons of trash, 288 tons of scrap and thousands of tires. PA CleanWays also provides important educational resources to help communities raise awareness on the hazards of illegal dumping and on affordable disposal and recycling alternatives.”
With DEP financial support, PA Clean Ways initiated an effort in 2005 to identify illegal dumps within each county across the commonwealth. The Illegal Dump Survey Program serves to educate state, county and local officials about the problem of illegal dumping so constituents at all levels can begin to address the problem through cleanups, municipal waste collections, and recycling programs. To date, these surveys have identified 2,600 dump sites with approximately 11,000 tons of illegally disposed trash on the 24 counties that have completed surveys. The grant award announced today will provide funding for 16 more counties to be completed by 2010, with an overall goal to have the entire commonwealth surveyed by 2012.
Grant applications are available online at www.dep.state.pa.us keyword: Illegal dumping, or by calling DEP’s Bureau of Waste Management at 717-787-7381.
For more information about PA CleanWays, visit its Web site: www.pacleanways.org.
256 New acid-mine water treatment project shows promise at local site 2008-11-03 12:20:58
PHOTO Engineers Tim Gourley and Andy Lawrence, of Iron Oxide Technologies LLC, recently dismantled their machine along Route 61 near Kulpmont.
BY RACHEL CARTA
STAFF WRITER
rachel_c@newsitem.com
Published: Sunday, November 2, 2008 5:24 AM EST
COAL TOWNSHIP , A pilot program deemed a success at treating acid-mine drainage may lead to construction of a low-cost water treatment plant in the township, and that could help attract industry.
Jon Dietz, who holds a doctorate in environmental engineering and science from Penn State University, worked with the Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance (SCRA) to set up a pilot project along Route 61 between Shamokin and Kulpmont in mid-July.
The large blue water-treatment machinery temporarily constructed along the highway and now being dismantled removed iron from the water through an activated iron solids (AIS) process developed by Dietz, who owns Iron Oxide Technologies LLC, State College.
Cleansing this natural, abundant water source could attract industry because it would be less expensive, Dietz said.
The site is near the Coal Township-SEEDCO Industrial Park, a fact not lost on those involved.
“Treatment of the sites in and around the SEEDCO/Industrial Park has the potential for eliminating 40 to 45 percent of pollution to the Shamokin Creek,” said Leanne Bjorklund, vice president of SCRA.
The possibilities are certainly attractive to industry, said Steve Bartos, director of the Northumberland County planning commission, who led the recent unveiling of the county’s FUTURES program, which aims to increase economic development through the promotion of fossil fuels and alternative energy.
“The potential for the use of that technology to clean up that AMD (acid-mine discharge) is very great,” he said. “Any industry that is a heavy water user would look at it very positively because it is a source of plentiful cheap water, while at the same time cleaning up the environment.”
Good location
A typical cost to industry for water is $1.40 per thousand gallons. The AIS treated water could be made available for 15 to 20 cents per thousand gallons, Dietz said.
A high volume of treated water might be used by a cogeneration plant or other industry for cooling or heating.
Dietz said such a treatment plant would be beneficial in that area because the industrial park is on land that has three of the most mine-polluted discharges in the area.
In fact, the “SEEDCO” acronym stands for Social, Economic, Environmental, Development Corp., and the notion of treating the discharges was discussed since the industrial park’s beginning stages earlier this decade.
Bjorklund said members of the alliance began testing and compiling data from the discharges located on park land as soon as the land was prepared for development.
Dietz’s project could treat Scotts Tunnel, Excelsior Strip Pit and the Coalbert discharge. All are within the industrial park and all contribute a large volume of mine-impacted water to Shamokin Creek.
In fact, Dietz said those three discharges make up 90 to 95 percent of the pollutant load in the Quaker Run sub-watershed, which is part of Shamokin Creek, and have a total flow of 20 millions gallons per day.
Each of the discharges exhibits a similar chemistry, with little to no aluminum or manganese levels, that works well with the new treatment system, Dietz said.
Also nearby is the Corbin Mine Drift discharge, which is the sixth highest iron producer in the watershed, said Bjorklund.
Dietz’s developed the AIS process, and he founded Iron Oxide Technologies in 2002 for the purpose of using AIS to provide a treatment system that is effective with low maintenance and low cost.
Coal Township was chosen as a site for the pilot program because the chemistry of the discharges works well with the treatment process, Dietz said.
Potential “˜great’
Jim Koharski, president of SCRA, said there are those in state, county and local governments who are interested in starting a project using the AIS process to treat acid-mine water immediately.
He said a few local industries have shown interest, too, in the possible use of this treated water.
“We are very excited to have a top environmental engineer, Dr. Dietz, interested in helping SCRA and local communities and businesses develop technology that treat large discharges in a way that uses far less land than originally thought needed just five years ago,” Bjorklund said. “The AIS technology that Dr. Dietz developed makes iron react very rapidly in the treatment process, and can potentially allow for recovery of both iron oxide solids and water as resources.”
Dietz said he will be contacting the county planning commission to spread the work to businesses investigating possible development in the area.
His project was funded by the state Department of Environmental Protection through its Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation (BAMR). The pilot program was the sixth and last pilot study that was funded through a grant received in 2004, said Rich Beam, geologist with the DEP BAMR office in Ebensburg, Cambria County.
The other five pilots were located in the bituminous coal region, Beam said.
Beam said the technology, while still in development, “looks promising.” He said the DEP is awaiting a final report before the next step can begin, but that the commonwealth is “very interested.”
Innovative technology
By using aeration tanks with high concentrations of iron, AIS removes iron at a much faster rate than occurs naturally in a stream. During the clarification process, solids settle rapidly and are pumped from the bottom of the clarifier. The iron that is in the water is in a dissolved form, and the process converts it to an insoluble form. This form is what catalyzes the iron removal, Dietz said.
The process is basically self perpetuating, and there are no chemicals used in the treatment process, he said.
The plant would look similar to a wastewater treatment plant and would require less than one acre of land. Other passive water treatments can require 100 acres, and much more time elapses before the water is actually treated, Dietz said.
The iron that is removed has potential for reuse, too, not only in the process itself but for industries that use pigment for ceramic materials as well as a number of environmental uses.
Due to chemical difference in the discharges, this treatment process is unlike the ponds which are working to treat the Excelsior discharge, Dietz said.
Next steps
For his next step, Dietz will be putting together a presentation for SCRA as well as any other interested parties and conducting a feasibility study to determine an optimal location for a treatment plant. Dietz said a plausible place could be either within the industrial park or adjacent to it.
According to Koharski, the initial cost is about $2 million. He said the operational costs could be approximately $250,000 annually; however, this cost could be supplemented by the industries that are using the treated water.
The possibility of a full-scale operation would depend on funding, Dietz said. He said there may be monies available through the state abandoned mine program.
255 New VISTA in Shamokin 2008-10-17 12:33:10
Environmentally friendly
BY RACHEL CARTA, STAFF WRITER, rachel_c@newsitem.com
Published: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 5:36 AM EDT
SHAMOKIN , As the newest volunteer hosted by the Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance (SCRA), Katie Coulter will take on illegal dumping as her first order of business.
Coulter, of Homer Glen, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, will organize a group of volunteers, including a Boy Scout troop and cadets from Northwestern Academy, to clean up a dump site in Mount Carmel Township at the end of the month. The site is across the street from Commissioners Lake, between Mount Carmel and Conyngham townships.
The dump site is filled with household garbage, leaves and appliances which are suffocating the environment, Coulter said. The illegal dumping may cause chemicals to seep into the ground and pollute area water sources.
The 23 year-old first arrived in the coal region at the end of August to begin her year as the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) Watershed coordinator for SCRA.
OSM/VISTA volunteers are assist in the fight against water pollution and help improve the living conditions of low-income communities in Appalachia.
“I am excited about the potential I see,” she said last week.
It is a sign of the times that people are beginning to pay more attention to stresses on the environment, Coulter said.
Coulter left her Chicago suburb with a mind to affect change and improve environmental issues.
She attended college in Michigan and graduated with a double major in international studies and French.
Noting the vast difference between the mountainous mining region and the flat land of Illinois, Coulter talked about her travels to France, Mali, West Africa and Brussels, Belgium. Her latest stop is the Shamokin area, of which she is eager to learn about its anthracite heritage.
“There are so many opportunities to learn,” she said.
Coulter’s interest in the relationship between people and their environment led her to apply to be a volunteer for the Corporation for National Community Service, through AmeriCorps.
One of her main responsibilities will be to reach out to the public regarding the benefits of treating abandoned mine drainage, which is the result of the exposure of pyrite to water and oxygen, and other environmental issues.
She will work to get community members involved, inspire others to volunteer with SCRA and cultivate collaborations among various other environmental groups.
“The public needs to be more aware of what we do,” Coulter said. “To help improve the knowledge and opinions of people in the community.”
Coulter will be reaching out to the children of the community by giving presentations at area schools. “I won’t under estimate the capacity kids can affect change,” she said. “They are the next generation.”
Coulter will also be writing grants and examining the needs of SCRA.
She said she would like to obtain educational signs for the passive treatment ponds along Route 901, near Ranshaw, in order to describe to the public the function of the ponds. SCRA has said the ponds have significantly reduced pollutants from the waters of the Corbin Drift Mine discharge that flows into the main stem of the Shamokin Creek.
Coulter will be supervised by Jaci Harner, watershed specialist for the Northumberland County Conservation District, and Leanne Bjorklund, vice president of SCRA.
“Katie has taken on the challenge and made a lot of good contacts,” Harner said.
She will work to “create a sense of pride for the area and with an appreciation of the past,” Harner added.
In the future, Coulter said she hopes to attend graduate school and study geography.
Coulter’s ultimate goal is to make a difference that will sustain itself long after she has left the community.
How to help
The clean up of a dump site in Mount Carmel Township will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25. To volunteer, call Coulter at 644-6570, extension 142. In addition, Coulter can be contacted for school and other environmental presentations.
Coulter’s office is located in the Shamokin CareerLink, first floor, Bucknell Small Business Development Center, Northumberland County Career and Arts Center, Eighth and Arts streets.
On the “˜Net: www.shamokincreek.org
254 County would have to dig up funds to convert Huber 2008-10-03 11:31:37
October 1, 2008
Officials not certain if there’s money to transform Huber Breaker into mining museum.
By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.com
Luzerne County Reporter
Will Luzerne County Commissioners save the landmark Huber Breaker in Ashley from the wrecking ball?
The Luzerne County Commissioners want to turn the Huber Breaker in Ashley into a coal mining museum.
PETE G. WILCOX/the times leader
County officials say it will boil down to money.
Almost two years have passed since commissioners voted to take the property through eminent domain, with the goal of turning it into a coal mining museum down the road.
The move halted the owner , No. 1 Contracting , from dismantling the hulking structure for scrap value.
But commissioners legally have two years from their January 2007 filing of the eminent domain paperwork to decide if they want to take the property, said attorney John Aciukewicz, who represents the county.
“A decision will have to be made before January 2009,” he said.
Aciukewicz and commissioners plan to meet Thursday in executive session to discuss legal issues involving the eminent domain. A vote on how to proceed is expected at the Oct. 15 commissioners meeting.
Aciukewicz said court proceedings to date have focused on how much land may be taken for the project.
The county originally sought 26 acres but later reduced the request to 8.25 acres. Al Roman, the owner of No. 1 Contracting, said the county’s request was excessive and offered to sell the county almost 6 acres. Aciukewicz said a compromise was made to buy a little over 7 acres.
If commissioners express interest in proceeding, Aciukewicz said he will start negotiating a price and obtaining an appraisal. The state County Code mandates that the county pay fair market value as determined by an appraisal.
The county had been arguing that the breaker and surrounding land were worth a total of $280,000.
Roman had argued a year ago in court papers that he should receive $20 per ton for “mineable coal” on the land, at least $400,000 for the scrap value of the breaker itself and $95,000 per acre.
Commissioner Greg Skrepenak said he heard the proposed purchase price was ringing in at a little over $1 million, while Republican minority Commissioner Stephen A. Urban said he heard a figure significantly higher.
A board would be set up to determine the price if the two parties don’t agree.
Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla said she’d like to preserve the breaker but won’t vote to proceed until she determines all costs and realistic funding sources.
That includes how much the county would have to spend to “make the area safe” until the site is restored, she said. At minimum, fencing would be necessary, she said.
“My biggest concern is that kids would get hurt playing there until we get the millions of dollars we need to make it into a museum,” she said.
Skrepenak and Urban wholeheartedly support purchasing the breaker, saying it is a rare opportunity to teach history and promote tourism.
“I think it would be a real travesty to let that go,” Skrepenak said.
Funding is a concern, Skrepenak said. He wants to see if the county could “switch some bonding money around” to fund the purchase and secure the site. However, the county’s remaining bond money has been earmarked for other timely projects, and the county is broke and looking to borrow up to $16 million to cover the 2008 deficit.
“I’d be very disappointed if we didn’t get the money, but these are tough times,” he said.
State Sen. Raphael Musto, D-Pittston Township, has been pushing for state funding to pay for the restoration of the breaker if the county acquires it.
Musto got millions for the project listed in state capital budget bills in 2002 and 2006, though his requests compete against billions of dollars in other project submissions. Most capital funding requests are never funded, but they must be listed in bills to have a chance.
Musto’s office says county ownership of the breaker is a key to unlocking state funding.
Roman could not be reached for comment Tuesday. No. 1 Contracting acquired the breaker and 26 surrounding acres in 1997 for $25,000, according to county records.
The 134-foot-tall Huber Breaker, built by the Glen Alden Coal Co., closed for good in 1976.
Project supporters say the breaker is a treasure that must be preserved, but opponents have said the county doesn’t have the resources to fund and maintain another operation. A museum has been estimated to cost $9 million.
Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7333.
Link to the Original Article
253 PA considering a bill that encourages biofuels feedstock to reclaim mine land 2008-09-29 12:10:31
Pennsylvania is considering a bill that would encourage using switchgrass and other biofuels feedstock to reclaim abandoned mine lands. The abstract reads: “An Act amending the act of May 31, 1945 (P.L.1198, No.418), known as the Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act, further providing for mining permit; providing for bioenergy crop bonding; and making editorial changes.” It sounds like an interesting proposal to enhance PA’s mine land reclamation program to aide in our current energy crisis. Here’s the link to the bill in the Pa General Assembly Website
The original law required mining companies to establish and maintain a permanent cover after reclamation of a mining site to satisfy their permit requirements and to release the bond placed on the land. This proposed amendment seems to add the flexibility in the type of cover crop and harvesting.
It was up for an Environmental Resource and Energy Committee vote on September 23, 2008, and passed pretty much unanimously. I have attached a poll to this article to get your response. Please also feel free to comment on this article.
252 Eastern Coalfield Watershed Training Available 2008-09-29 10:51:46
The Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team (ACCWT) and the Eastern Coal Region Roundtable (ECRR) will be having its next semi-annual training October 27th through the 29th, at Canaan Valley Resort in West Virginia.
Issues covered will include fundraising, water monitoring, grant-writing, and organizational structuring, and each day is packed with information. The resort is a beautiful place situated in a state park, with many amenities. Transportation costs will be covered by the organization. Please see the brochure for more details
Robert Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director, and Carly Trumann, EPCAMR AmeriCorps VISTA, are already planning on attending. That leaves us with one spot available where the ACCWT will cover travel and lodging costs. This is why we are opening this invitation up to watershed groups in Eastern PA.
Please contact Carly Trumann at ctrumann@epcamr.org or phone (570) 674-3409 as soon as possible if you have any interest in attending the training. I need to let the ACCWT know by ASAP (definitely before Columbus Day).
251 Coalition Designs GIS Application to Target Abandoned Coal Mine Hazards 2008-08-22 13:33:06
Abandoned Coal Mine Reclamation Group Promotes GIS in Pennsylvania
Abandoned coal mines cover hundreds of thousands of acres throughout the eastern United States. As such, having accurate maps of them is important to keep those involved in their clean-up spatially informed. In Pennsylvania, a regional non-profit abandoned mine reclamation group is promoting a state-of-the-art GIS mapping tool to assist in the reclamation of mined-out land. The tool has proven successful in maximizing the limited funds available for restoring this blighted land to its approximate pre-mined state.
As late as thirty years ago, coal mine companies weren’t required to restore the land they excavated. However, as the impact of surface mining became evident in the mid-1970s, Congress passed the Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). SMCRA attached a per-ton fee to all extracted coal to create an interest-accruing federal reclamation fund. The fund is maintained by the United States Office of Surface Mining (OSM) and is dispersed to states and tribes who still have problems caused by coal mines abandoned before 1977.
With newly enacted legislation which extended the SMCRA program at the federal level, Pennsylvania will be ramping up their reclamation program to spend $1.4 billion of reclamation funds over the next 15 years. Since restoring mined-out land is a complicated, expensive process, and thousands of abandoned mines still await reclamation,$1.4 billion dollars needs to go a long way.
Knowing that reclamation funds need to be stretched, the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR) sought funding from multiple sources. With a grant from the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, PA Department of Environmental Protection’s 319 Non-Point Source Pollution Program and a Memorandum of Understanding from OSM’s Technical Innovation and Professional Services Program, EPCAMR used ArcGIS to create a tool to keep track of abandoned mines called the Reclaimed Abandoned Mine Land Information System (RAMLIS). RAMLIS creates highly detailed maps at different scales with layers of information that help identify the areas most in need of remediation. RAMLIS also combines state, federal and local data in maps that reveal all the components of the mine such as mine discharge points, backfilled stripping pits, and reclaimed mine shafts. To work safely and effectively, reclamation crews must know the location of these features. Knowing the location of flooded voids, for example, can potentially save enormous expense, and even lives.
RAMLIS is contained on one CD-ROM. The CD includes shapefiles, layers, map documents which can be opened in ArcMap, and published map files that can be opened in ArcReader. Using both of these ESRI Programs, allows EPCAMR to maximize the distribution of the tool since ArcReader is available as a free download from the ESRI website. Any discrepancies or updates by to EPCAMR’s current version of RAMLIS can be submitted to EPCAMR for inclusion on future versions. The ability to allow an individual to zoom in and look directly into his/her backyard, local watershed, or municipal boundary without being a GIS analyst in ArcReader and not be worried about making edits or changes to the EPCAMR RAMLIS CD was an important selling point in using the program.
The dynamic, interactive maps assist reclamation efforts because they allow the public and local municipality to understand what features are contained within a mine site and which features can be fixed using SMCRA funding. Map layers show a multitude of problems caused by leaving mines unattended. For example, water quality running off these sites is identified in a layer from the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) called the Integrated List of Waters. This layer shows streams that meet (or do not meet) their intended use because of pollution from the seepage of mining byproducts into the stream. By turning on this layer, users can see certain sections of stream that are impacted by mine drainage of heavy metals such as iron or aluminum into the stream. This toxic discharge from this runoff decreases the pH to uninhabitable levels for aquatic organisms.
RAMLIS is also useful for civic management/land development. Elected officials can add their layers to this system for further analysis of the problem (e.g., input a tax parcel layer to examine neighborhoods for economic impacts because of local mine hazards). Local and county planning commissions use the program as a tool for land-use planning, storm-water, floodplain management, and a host of other development-related issues. The tool contains road centerlines, municipal and county boundaries, watershed boundaries, full-color aerial photos, and land-use datasets as background data.
GIS helps municipalities, as well as state and federal officials, by providing concrete evidence of potential health and safety hazards such as subsidence-prone areas. “Pollution from residual coal mine chemicals, illegal dumping, and land cave-ins are a real concern to some of these communities,” said Hughes. “GIS gives us the best solution to identify and respond to these problems on a local level.”
In August, EPCAMR staff showcased the RAMLIS Tool at the ESRI International User Conference in San Diego, CA in front of an audience of about 50, including the Assistant Director for the U. S. Department of the Interior and several Office of Surface Mining Officials. The OSM offered to provide EPCAMR with ArcServer, through their current MOA, to publish the tool online.
“Finally, I don’t have to make so many CDs and mail them to partners.” said Michael Hewitt, EPCAMR Outreach Coordinator. “The ability to place the tool up on the web will allow us to reach a much larger audience and streamline the distribution process.”
To date, approximately 22,500 acres of mine lands in Pennsylvania have been cleaned up and more than 280 mine drainage treatment systems are in place to treat polluted water. EPCAMR hopes their tool continues to spread the GIS message to other organizations. Check out the important work of EPCAMR on their website at www.orangewaternetwork.org.
250 Draft AMD Set-aside Program Position Paper Available 2008-07-23 11:20:13
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Office of Mineral Resources Management Draft Position Paper now Available for the AMD Set-aside Program
Summary: It is the intention of the Commonwealth to utilize the federal Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act Title IV Abandoned Mine Reclamation Grant Set-Aside to fund the development, design, construction, operation, maintenance and replacement of abandoned mine drainage treatment systems. Accordingly, the Commonwealth shall take the maximum 30% abandoned mine drainage set-aside at the earliest possible time that provides a balance with the state’s land reclamation responsibilities. The process of making the decision regarding the set-aside from any individual years’ grant shall be defined, transparent, and open for public comment. Read More…
249 Fields replace one lost to mine drainage cleanup project. 2008-07-15 11:13:29
Sports complex a grand slam for village of Mary D
By Lisa Price | Special to The Morning Call
June 24, 2008
All that was missing was Kevin Costner and some tall corn.
The new sports complex in the tiny Schuylkill County village of Mary D is, in its way, a Field of Dreams — testimony to what can be accomplished when one team member after another steps up to the plate.
Officials dedicated the Mary D Fire Company Sports Complex, which includes a baseball field, soccer field, bleachers, ice skating rink, walking path, paved parking area and fencing, at a ceremony Friday.
Bill Reichert of Schuylkill Haven, president of Schuylkill Headwaters Association, detailed the chain of events that united 19 community groups, businesses and organizations on the project.
Reichert has been the utility player who has spearheaded several water-quality improvement projects along the river, and it was one of those — the Mary D ”Bore Hole,” a project to stop acid mine water drainage — that took him to the village five years ago.
To access and rectify that acid mine drainage meant destroying the town’s previous baseball field, owned by the Mary D Fire Company. To make matters worse, Eastern Schuylkill Recreation Commission had just gotten a $25,000 state Department of Natural Resources grant for Schuylkill Township to rehabilitate the field.
Enter pinch-hitter Dan Blaschak of Blaschak Coal Company in Mahanoy City. He donated 10 acres of an abandoned mine site to the fire company for a new field.
With the project completed, the former baseball field will be turned into a passive mine drainage treatment system that will treat up to 1,000 gallons per minute of acid mine discharges.
”To go from a $25,000 rehab project in 2004 to 2008 and a $400,000 project that wasn’t even on the radar — well, this project is on the top of my list,” Reichert said. ”It shows what can happen after getting the right people working for the common good.”
State Sen. James R. Rhoades, R-29th District, and state Rep. Dave Argall, R-124th District, who threw the field’s first pitch at the ceremony, touted the project as an example of teamwork and a big step toward revitalizing communities.
The complex will be used and maintained by Tamaqua Area Baseball and Youth Soccer associations, and the township will lease the facility from the Mary D Fire Company.
Rhoades said he’d like to bring people from out of the area to see the complex, and said youths who use it may be inspired to develop similar projects as adults.
”Look at the beautiful facility you have,” Rhoades said. ”This is how the coal crackers do it. Little boys and girls will get to use it, and they may someday become the leaders you are.”
Lisa Price is a freelance writer.
248 Click a Mouse, Plant 5 Trees in a PA State Park for Free! 2008-07-07 12:59:47
With just a click of your mouse, you can help to plant trees in Pennsylvania’ State Parks, courtesy of the Odwalla juice company of Dinuba, California.
Odwalla, working with the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation, will donate up to five trees per person who visit the special Odwalla plant a tree website.
It’s simple. Choose Pennsylvania as the state in which you want to plant trees and choose the number of trees you want to have planted (up to five)! For every tree selected, PPFF will get a portion of the $50,000 that Odwalla has committed for tree plantings.
Right now, Colorado is leading in the number of visits to the website. Let’s try to be the state with the most visits. More trees mean nicer parks, cleaner air, and better habitat! Share this email with your email list, family, friends, coworkers, and colleagues, and ask them to share with others.
Thank you for helping to be a steward of our state parks and forests! 😀
Source: 7/4/2008 PA Environmental Digest
Rules from the website:
The Odwalla Plant a Tree Program is available May 15, 2008, through December 31, 2008. Choose which participating state park system (CA, NY, FL, CO, UT, OH, PA or TX) will receive a tree each time you click. Each family can donate up to five trees under this Program. Participants pay no money under this program. The donated trees will be paid for by Odwalla, Inc. up to $50,000 worth of trees.
247 EPCAMR Tours Top 2 AMD Sites with PFBC 2008-06-06 16:14:21
See the PDF Article with Photos, Click Here
246 River basin group wants public input on updating plan 2008-06-05 11:05:21
By ERIC LONG – elong@sungazette.com
POSTED: June 4, 2008
It’s time to update the plan for water.
After more than 20 years, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission released a draft of its “Comprehensive Plan for the Water Resources of the Susquehanna River Basin.” The 2008 plan is called a “substantial revision” of the previous guidelines, which were crafted in 1987, according to commission officials.
The commission is seeking input from the public about the draft of the new plan, which won’t be finalized until late this year, officials said. Public comment meetings will be held at three sites in the state, including one at 2 p.m. July 9 at the Days Inn and Conference Center in Danville. Other meetings will be held at 2 p.m. July 8 at the Owego Treadway Inn and Suites in Owego, N.Y.; and at 10 a.m. July 10 at the Best Western Eden Resort in Lancaster
According to Susan Obleski, director of communications for the commission, it took about a year just to create the draft for the updated plan.
“We knew it would take a lot of staff time to do and we wanted to do it justice, to update it,” she said. “Last year, the commissioners and staff made a commitment that we would get it done. It is an impressive document and it is supposed to be a guiding framework for all the work we do.”
But the commission isn’t the only group affected by the plan, according to Paul Swartz, executive director for the commission.
“This planning project is an extremely important undertaking not only for the commission, but also for its member jurisdictions, water resource manager and other governmental and nongovernmental interests that will benefit from this resource,” he said. “In addition to addressing the more traditional priority water management issues, the draft plan also features numerous current and emerging special-interest topics such as climate change, energy production and emerging contaminants.”
Obleski said the commission is involved in water resource issues from flood mitigation, drought management, regulation water use and withdrawals and monitoring water quality in the watershed of the Susquehanna River, which includes the river and its entire drainage basin, from Cooperstown, N.Y., to the Chesapeake Bay and all the land areas to drain into it.
“We have a watershed that is 27,510 square miles in size and that is bigger than Vermont, Massachusetts, Delaware and New Jersey put together,” she said.
“A lot of it (the plan) is related to water quality and how we regulate water usage and withdrawals. Much of it is a complete overhaul (of the previous plan).”
According to commission officials, the plan will include an assessment of water resource needs in the basin, principles, guidance and standards for use of the resource. Six priority management areas that include goals and actions needed for water supply, quality, flooding, ecosystems and even public information are also included.
In the draft plan also identifies 12 areas of special interest, including issues that impact the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, such as abandoned mine drainage, consumptive use mitigation, drought coordination, invasive species and migratory fish restoration.
“In your area, we looked specifically at abandoned mine drainage and we will look at the gas drilling and the effect that has,” Obleski said
At the public comment sessions the commission will give an overview of the draft of the new plan, then accept formal public testimony, followed by an informal question and answer session.
The draft plan can be viewed online at www.srbc.net/planning/compplanfiles.asp.
Written public comment about the plan will be accepted by the commission until Aug. 18 and may be submitted by mail by writing to: Ava Stoops, administrative specialist, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, 1721 N. Front St., Harrisburg, PA 17102.
Written comment may also be submitted via email at astoops@srbc.net.
245 Middle school students study watersheds 2008-06-02 10:51:14
By DAVID KAGAN dbkagan@comcast.net
POSTED: May 25, 2008
RAUCHTOWN , What do the seventh graders at Jersey Shore Area Middle School know about streams, watersheds, freshwater aquatic life and fly-fishing? Quite a bit, after studying the environment in class for a month and then recently spending a day at Ravensburg State Park.
Science teachers William Ferguson and Tracy Silvis established the school’s watershed education unit four years ago. It was the result of a revamping of the science curriculum to become more aligned with the then newly adopted Pennsylvania State standards in science/technology and environment-ecology.
The Ravensburg State Park trip has been the culminating activity the past two years. Outside environmental experts assisted Ferguson and Silvis in leading the students in interesting experiments along Rauchtown Creek at the park.
John Kaercher, the Environmental Education Specialist at Little Pine State Park, led the students in doing physical testing along and in the creek. They calculated the volume flow of the stream from measurements of depth, width and velocity.
They also checked the slope and the temperature of the creek. Student Nick Caputo, after dipping a thermometer into the waters, reported it as “nine degrees Celsius.”
Kaercher, who has conducted numerous programs for north-central Pennsylvania area students through the years, didn’t seem to be bothered by the fairly steady, rather cold rain that fell during the day May 9.”I’ve been out giving demonstrations when it’s been sleeting,” he said.
Half the Jersey Shore Area seventh-grade students came the day before for the all-day program, when it didn’t rain.
Three of the lucky May 9 “ducks” were friends Nicole Murray, Libby Hill and Kayla Allen.
“It was fun but it was really cold. I got to wear hip boots, which I had never done before, but I fell in any way because the current was strong,” Murray said.
“It was sort of miserable, but it was a great learning experience. We’re learning how to stop pollution,” Hill said.
“We learned a lot of stuff. My favorite was macro-invertebrates,” Allen said.
Watershed Specialists Carey Entz (Lycoming County) and Erin Dunleavy (Clinton County) led the study of macro-invertebrates (“bugs”). Students actually collected insects from the cold waters of Rauchtown Creek and brought them to a nearby pavilion table to be identified.
Among the large diversity of creatures found were stone, caddis, may and black flies, crayfish, an aquatic worm and a tiny salamander. The students clearly very much enjoyed gathering and identifying the stream wildlife, and looking at them under magnifying glasses , with some even letting them crawl around in their hands.
Water Specialists Entz and Dunleavy helped lead the students to the happy conclusion that Rauchtown Creek has very little pollution. “We got excellent bugs!” all shouted together.
At a third station, students did chemical testing of the waters under the direction of Maryann Haladay-Bierly, the environmental education specialist for Raymond B. Winter and Ravensburg State parks. They determined the hardness of the water, its dissolved oxygen, Ph and the level of nitrates.
A fourth activity involved the tie-dying of T-shirts using iron oxide obtained from abandoned mine drainage recovered near Shamokin, Pennsylvania. Silvis pointed out an interesting side-point to the students that watershed restoration people have been raising money to clean up more streams by selling the iron oxide to paint companies to use for their pigments.
Finally, students got to learn about and to try their hands at fly-tying and fly-casting. Volunteer members of the Lloyd Wilson Chapter of Trout Unlimited (Ray Rathmell, Richard Rogers, Bill Bailey and Skip Frye) assisted Jersey Shore High School teachers James Smith and Jeffrey Miller instructing and demonstrating. Students enjoyed practicing “over your head and back down” fly-casting into Rauchtown Creek just above the dam.
Other adults helping out at the two daylong sessions included student teachers Mark Niedermeyer and Kelly Bradley, from Lock Haven University, and a number of parents of the seventh-graders. Mark Leitch, Jacob Leitch’s father, said that he appreciated the “chance to hang out with” his son.
As a result of the educational outing and preparatory, month-long, in-class science program, Jersey Shore Area Middle School’s seventh-graders certainly are more aware of their local Susquehanna Basin Watershed, its valuable features and the dangers that imperil it and the larger natural world. Perhaps some of these students will be inspired by this experience early in their lives to eventually become environmentalists, ecologists or other types of nature scientists.
244 River commission: Mine drainage needs to be fixed 2008-06-02 10:34:03
BY HEIDI RUCKNO
STAFF WRITER
05/26/2008
The Susquehanna River Basin Commission thinks it is time to address abandoned mine drainage in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
In a recently released draft of its 2008 comprehensive plan, the basin commission called for more active involvement in reclaiming old mine lands that discharge contaminated water into the river.
Water quality has long been an issue in the anthracite region, due in large part to the fact that deep mining went largely unregulated until the 1940s, the commission said.
Water filled with contaminants, such as coal dust and iron, frequently flowed into the river untreated. When all the coal was excavated, mine operators moved on to the next seam without restoring the earth.
As a result, massive amounts of pollutants still flow into the river, said Bob Hughes of the Luzerne Conservation District.
Newport and Solomon creeks on the East Side carry much of that contaminated water, said Hughes. Another source of the pollution is the Lackawanna River, near Old Forge and Duryea.
The basin commission wants local watershed groups to initiate projects to treat the mine water before it flows into the river, a move Hughes supports. He said that water could be a viable resource for power or wastewater treatment.
“It doesn’t even have to meet drinking water standards,” said Hughes.
While there are no major projects proposed in the anthracite region, the basin commission has been involved with reclamation projects on the West Branch of the Susquehanna, in the bituminous coal fields. They partnered with Trout Unlimited to secure the funding, said Susan Obleski, a spokeswoman for the basin commission.
Money for reclamation, however, is always an issue. Hughes supports a proposal that would raise the fees for consumptive use in the basin.
“Maybe as an offset to that fee being increased for consumptive use or water storage, more money could be put into investments for capital improvement projects or maintenance,” Hughes said.
Water from the Susquehanna River basin is a source for drinking water for millions of people, inside and out of the basin. Hydroelectric power from the river is also a valuable source of energy.
In the Wilkes-Barre area and on the West Side, the majority of public drinking water comes from Huntsville Dam in the Back Mountain, said Susan Turcmanovich, a spokeswoman for Pennsylvania American Water. The reservoir is constructed along Toby Creek, which flows directly into the Susquehanna River.
Most of Luzerne and Lackawanna counties lie within the Susquehanna River basin, except for a small portion of eastern municipalities, Turcmanovich said.
hruckno@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2109 0 943 25 admin 1 1 0 0 0 0 25-26- 0
Edit Edit Edit Inline Edit Copy Copy Delete Delete 243 6 admin West Branch of the Susquehanna Restoration Symposium IV 2008-05-22 10:33:06 Date: Jul 18th & 19th, 2008 (Fri & Sat)
Location: Nittany Lion Inn, State College, PA
This event serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas regarding AMD abatement in the region and provides an excellent opportunity for networking among volunteers, policy-makers, technical experts, students, and others interested in restoring land and water impacted by AMD – the largest source of pollution to the Commonwealth’s waterways.
View the Registration Brochure.
Contact Amy Wolfe at Trout Unlimited with any questions you may have regarding the Symposium or the West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Initiative. Amy can be reached at (570)726-3118 or awolfe@tu.org.
242 PA man survives 500-foot fall into strip mine 2008-04-28 10:44:38
Apr 25, 09:10 PM EDT
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM – Associated Press Writer
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A man survived a 500-foot fall into a strip mine Friday, astounding rescuers who spent hours on a risky descent into the abyss to bring him back out.
Police said Nathan Bowman was trespassing on coal company property around 1 a.m. Friday when he slipped and fell into the Springdale Pit, an inactive mine about 700 feet deep, 3,000 feet long and 1,500 feet wide.
Bowman tumbled down a jagged slope and then free-fell several hundred feet, his descent broken by a rock ledge not far from the bottom of the pit, said Coaldale Police Chief Timothy Delaney, who helped direct the rescue effort.
“If you look at that drop, there was no way somebody could survive that,” Delaney said.
Bowman, 23, of Tamaqua, was in serious condition Friday night at St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem. The extent and nature of his injuries was not clear, although rescuer John Fowler said it appeared he suffered a number of fractures.
Bowman and a friend were walking around the pit when he went over the side. The friend called 911, and Coaldale police and firefighters began a frantic search, according to Delaney.
State police got into the act several hours later, using a helicopter, floodlights and thermal imaging to try to pinpoint Bowman’s location in the pit, about 90 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
“It got really, really dangerous,” Delaney said. “My guys were fantastic; they were heroes, risking their lives in total darkness.”
The search was called off at daybreak. Shortly thereafter, Delaney went to the offices of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co., which owns the Springdale Pit, to notify officials of the situation.
“I said, ‘Let’s take a ride over there and show me where it occurred,'” said Fowler, 40, a project manager at the company.
Their luck was better this time.
“Within about three minutes, we found him,” Fowler said. “I thought I could hear a muffled call for help. We yelled to him and asked him where he was, and he said he thought he was on a ledge.”
Fowler, who moonlights as a state firefighter instructor, and a Coaldale police sergeant scouted a relatively safe route to Bowman and stayed with him until more help arrived.
Two firefighters rappelled down to the ledge, loaded Bowman onto a basket and tied themselves to it. Then all three were painstakingly hoisted up.
Bowman was lucid when he arrived at the top of the pit late Friday morning, wanting his harness loosened, asking that someone call his brother and expressing fear about riding in a medical helicopter, said Sarah Curran Smith, a vice president at Lehigh Coal.
Bowman’s survival is “pretty unbelievable,” she said. “I think the universe has bigger plans for Nathan. I hope he realizes that.”
Bowman faces charges including defiant trespass, according to Delaney.
241 Stream Improvement Information Sought 2008-04-15 17:30:10
by Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator
updated by Michael Hewitt, Outreach Coordinator
Do you have a stream that you think has improved due to a pollution abatement project? If you do, we need your help. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Non-point Source Program has enlisted the aid of EPCAMR and WPCAMR to help find those improved streams across Pennsylvania.
The information you provide will assist PA DEP biologists in their efforts to target specific streams for a biological reassessment. If the stream or a segment of the stream has indeed improved, PA DEP could consider it for removal from the list of impaired waterways in the Commonwealth.
The list of impaired waters (formerly known as the 303(d) list) is now part of what is called the “Integrated List”. Impaired waters are those waterways that are not meeting their “designated use”, in other words, the biological community in those streams is adversely affected by AMD, sediment, or any number of other pollutants.
Designated uses are those uses specified in the state’s water quality standards for each water body or segment whether or not they are being attained. An example of a designated use in Pennsylvania is “CWF”, meaning a Cold Water Fishery, capable of sustaining a healthy cold water biological community (eg. a stream where trout live and reproduce). Removal of a stream or stream segment from the impaired waters list is a concrete way of showing that pollution reduction projects are having a positive impact on our streams.
If you are in the EPCAMR Region and think you have a stream or a segment of a stream that was impaired and is now not, we invite you to share what you know by filing out the information form at the “Cantidate Stream for Reassessment” page. Water quality information showing the improvement is a plus, please forward this to Michael Hewitt, hardcoal@epcamr.org. By sharing your information, you can help direct state efforts to locate recovered streams and remove them from the list.
240 2007 Growing Greener Grant Announcement 2008-03-07 15:17:42
Governor Rendell Says Pennsylvania Building on its Environmental Commitment through Latest Growing Greener Grants
HARRISBURG (March 7) — Governor Edward G. Rendell today continued Pennsylvania’s commitment to the environment by announcing a $22 million investment in more than 120 projects that will help restore the state’s polluted streams, provide clean water, and help prevent devastating floods in communities across the Commonwealth.
The Governor said Pennsylvania’s long mining history and extensive farm industry have created challenges that affect the state’s natural water resources. Additionally, regular floods throughout the state have diminished the effectiveness of natural and man-made measures designed to protect people, businesses and communities.
With the $22.3 million in grants announced today, however, Pennsylvania will expand its efforts to address these challenges.
“Pennsylvania has been blessed with incredible natural resources,” said Governor Rendell. “Unfortunately our streams have been tainted by agricultural run-off and acid mine drainage from the unregulated activity of the past. Furthermore, recurring floods in many places have eroded stream banks and rendered many flood measures ineffective, which can exacerbate the damage caused to our communities.
“The $22.3 million in grants we’re announcing today will help undo this damage with effective treatment systems, agricultural best management practices, stabilization work, stormwater management strategies, and flood protection projects. Together, these measures will help restore the health and natural functions of our streams.”
Of the $22.3 million awarded today by the Department of Environmental Protection, $9 million comes from the Growing Greener program in the form of watershed grants and $10.1 million comes from the Growing Greener II initiative. The remaining $3.2 million was awarded by DEP in nonpoint source implementation program grants, which are funded by the federal government through Section 319(h) of the Clean Water Act.
The grants support acid mine drainage treatment facilities, stream bank stabilization efforts to reduce erosion and protect against flooding, added riparian buffers to filter pollutants before reaching streams, aquatic habitat improvements, and comprehensive watershed protection planning. The grants will also be used to implement innovative agricultural and stormwater management techniques that reduce nonpoint source pollution in streams.
This year, DEP is allocating up to $2 million to begin addressing the unmet operation and maintenance costs of acid mine drainage remediation projects.
The grant funds also will support the first Watershed Renaissance Initiative, awarding $381,000 to treat acid mind discharges in Indiana County’s Bear Run watershed. The new initiative is intended to fund the complete or substantial implementation of an existing watershed restoration plan by encouraging public-private partnerships, long-term coordinated stewardship of the water resources, and educational outreach to promote environmental protection.
Smaller, impaired watersheds that have existing comprehensive plans to restore water quality are targeted through the Watershed Renaissance Initiative, which will again be available in next year’s grant round.
Since 1999, DEP has invested more than $190 million in watershed grants for 1,657 projects in all 67 counties of Pennsylvania through the traditional Growing Greener program. The grants are used to create or restore wetlands, restore stream buffer zones, eliminate causes of nonpoint source pollution, plug oil and gas wells, reclaim abandoned mine lands and restore aquatic life to streams that were lifeless due to acid mine drainage.
Voters overwhelmingly approved the $625 million Growing Greener II initiative in May 2005 to clean up rivers and streams; protect natural areas, open spaces and working farms; and shore up key programs to improve quality of life and revitalize communities across the commonwealth. Since then, DEP has awarded $38.5 million for watershed projects to make Pennsylvania healthier, a better place to live, and more competitive in attracting and supporting business investment.
DEP is now accepting grant applications for the next Growing Greener grant round. Applications will be accepted until May 16.
For more information or to download a grant application form, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us, keyword: Growing Greener.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a list by county of the 124 watershed restoration and protection grants:
ADAMS COUNTY
Watershed Alliance of Adams County – $15,300 for operation and maintenance of the East Berlin Stream Gauge on the Conewago Creek.
ALLEGHENY COUNTY
Bridgeville – $50,000 for streambank stabilization on McLaughlin Run.
Township of Upper St. Clair – $140,000 for water quality and habitat improvement on Chartiers Creek.
Trout Unlimited, Penn’s Woods West Chapter – $133,055 for stream restoration on Little Pine Creek.
Jefferson Hills – $60,000 to stabilize a portion of Peters Creek that experiences severe erosion.
ARMSTRONG COUNTY
Parks Township – $24,950 for streambank stabilization and erosion control on Carnahan Run.
Armstrong Conservation District – $78,375 to remediate erosion issues along a 5.5 mile length of Plum Creek through utilization of natural stream design techniques and restoration of riparian buffers.
Armstrong Conservation District – $8,229 to restore and protect a portion of Buffalo Creek.
Armstrong Conservation District – $24,850 to assess 46 square miles of watersheds in Armstrong County that flow directly into the Allegheny River. The assessment would identify and prioritize problems including acid mine discharge, flooding, combined sewer overflows, sedimentation/erosion, and agricultural problems.
Armstrong Conservation District – $35,000 to reclaim five acres of abandoned mine land and convert the land into productive pastureland utilizing an intensive rotational grazing system.
BEAVER COUNTY
Independence Conservancy – $330,000 to continue stream restoration/stabilization at four sites on Raredon Run.
BEDFORD COUNTY
Broad Top Township – $375,000 for the design and construction of a passive treatment system in the headwaters of Sandy Run.
Broad Top Township – $15,600 for the design and construction of a passive treatment system in the headwaters of Sandy Run.
Juniata Clean Water Partnership – $100,000 for retrofitting the Tussey Mountain High School parking lot with a porous surface, leading to an interceptor water garden to protect an impaired stream.
BERKS COUNTY
Berks County Conservation Association – $171,660 to install innovative stormwater management techniques on the county agricultural campus to improve water quality and for educational purposes.
BLAIR COUNTY
City of Altoona – $100,000 for the final phase of stream improvements on Mill Run.
BRADFORD COUNTY
Schrader Creek Watershed Association – $129,985 to build a passive acid mine discharge treatment system on Coal Run, a tributary to Schrader Creek.
Canton Township – $135,000 for streambank stabilization, dirt and gravel road improvement and agricultural best management practices on eight farms in the North Branch Towanda Creek watershed.
Sylvania – $7,500 for a natural stream channel design for Wallace Run, a tributary to Sugar Creek.
BUCKS COUNTY
American Littoral Society – $145,000 for stream stabilization and restoration for a portion of Swamp Creek.
Warrington Township – $100,000 to install stormwater best management practices, including rain gardens, rain barrels, retrofitting basins, and to provide public education and outreach in the Little Neshaminy Creek watershed.
Bucks County Conservation District – $6,408 for organizing a new watershed advocacy organization, the Aquetong Watershed Association, in Solebury Township and New Hope.
Heritage Conservancy – $52,170 for education, outreach and streambank stabilization along an unnamed tributary to the Little Neshaminy Creek on the Lindsay Farm Preserve.
BUTLER COUNTY
Wild Waterways Conservancy – $42,800 for removal of concrete dam and submerged wooden dam at Harmony Junction in Jackson Township.
CAMBRIA COUNTY
Clearfield Creek Watershed Association – $40,828 for design of a passive treatment system to treat 3 acid mine drainage discharges in the headwaters of Little Laurel Run.
Cambria County Conservation District , $172,180 for acid mine discharge treatment on Trout Run, including an innovative limestone bed treatment system.
Cambria County Conservation District , $105,000 for four limestone bed treatment systems to treat abandoned mine discharge flowing to an active brook trout fishery on the South Fork Little Conemaugh River.
Dunlo Rod and Gun Club – $27,678 to raise alkalinity in the main stem of the South Fork Little Conemaugh River to restore brook trout to lower stream reaches.
CENTRE COUNTY
ClearWater Conservancy of Central Pennsylvania – $34,150 to remove the remains of Dayton Dam, restore stream channel and install fish habitat structures to enhance the existing wild trout fishery.
Milesburg – $5,000 to establish the Bald Eagle Watershed Association.
Centre Region Council of Governments – $10,000 for education and outreach on stream buffer protection.
CHESTER COUNTY
Tredyffrin Township – $64,415 for the construction of rock infiltration trenches at two storm sewer outfalls.
Brandywine Valley Association – $54,500 for stream and floodplain restoration on an unnamed tributary to Doe Run.
CLEARFIELD COUNTY
Emigh Run/Lakeside Watershed Association Inc. – $170,646 for acid mine drainage treatment on Emigh Run.
Pike Township – $400,082 for design and reclamation of acid mine discharges on Anderson Creek.
Lawrence Township Supervisors – $47,063 for the design, permitting and engineering design costs of a passive treatment system for unnamed tributary of Montgomery Creek.
Emigh Run/Lakeside Watershed Association – $17,292 for an acid mine treatment system study for the upper most reaches of Hubler Run.
Clearfield Creek Watershed Association – $49,000 to assess acid mine drainage to Muddy Run and its tributaries and develop a restoration and sampling plan.
CLINTON COUNTY
Trout Unlimited – $595,000 for a passive treatment system for discharges to Two Mile Run, a tributary to lower Kettle Creek.
Trout Unlimited – $99,363 for mine pool stabilization at the Kettle Creek Coal Co. mine No. 1.
Keystone Central School District – $40,000 to convert a former agricultural field adjacent to the school into a wetland and convert five acres of adjoining upland native grasses for use as a wetlands educational tool.
CRAWFORD COUNTY
Crawford County Conservation District – $210,000 for installation of agricultural best management practices on eight farms.
Allegheny College – $25,000 for an environmental assessment of the Mill Run watershed.
CUMBERLAND COUNTY
Trout Unlimited, Cumberland County Chapter – $6,863 to remove floodplain and channel obstructions associated with the Piper Mill and Thomas Hatchery operations on Big Spring Creek.
DAUPHIN COUNTY
Dauphin County Conservation District – $256,790 for construction of a passive treatment system for discharges polluting Bear Creek and Wiconisco Creek.
DELAWARE COUNTY
Villanova University – $185,000 for stormwater wetland best management practice reconfiguration.
Swarthmore – $21,759 to address stormwater management at a playground and pocket park in an urban area.
ELK COUNTY
Elk County Freshwater Association – $250,000 for two treatment systems on Big Mill Creek to abate the persistent acidic conditions.
ERIE COUNTY
Mercyhurst College – $106,500 for a two-year E. coli bacteria monitoring study of the Walnut Creek and Elk Creek watersheds that will identify sources of the bacteria and lead to an action plan that will assist in resolving the bacteria pollution issues in the Lake Erie tributaries.
Erie County Conservation District – $300,000 for 40 agricultural best management practices projects to reduce nonpoint source pollution from farms.
City of Erie – $65,180 for installation of a litter/debris trap on the lower Mill Creek channel at the city’s wastewater treatment facility.
FAYETTE COUNTY
Jacob’s Creek Watershed – $54,195 to apply best management practices to eliminate shore erosion, and improve water quality and fish habitat in Greenlick Lake.
Fayette County Conservation District , $131,828 to design and implement agricultural nutrient and sediment reduction best management practices in headwater streams.
FRANKLIN COUNTY
Falling Spring Greenway – $200,000 to restore degraded reaches of the Falling Spring Branch for the benefit of aquatic species and upland wildlife.
FULTON COUNTY
Fulton County Conservation District – $283,750 for restoration of Spring Run.
Fulton County Conservation District – $160,500 for a publicly accessible greenway with a stable stream channel and a walking trail along Big Cove Creek.
Fulton County Conservation District – $113,770 for providing incentives for 2,000 acres of cover crops on corn silage fields, a no-till farming strategy.
INDIANA COUNTY
Indiana County Conservation District – $160,000 for agricultural best management practices on 10 farms in various watersheds throughout Indiana County.
Indiana County Conservation District – $380,709 for a Watershed Renaissance Initiative to abate acid mine discharges to Bear Run, a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna.
Stream Restoration Inc. – $14,000 to develop a conceptual plan to treat acid mine discharges at the McIntyre refuse pile, including use of an innovative pre-treatment technology.
LACKAWANNA COUNTY
Taylor – $704,127 for channel restoration and culvert construction on the Colliery Property.
LANCASTER COUNTY
Trout Unlimited, Donegal Chapter – $129,487 for streambank stabilization, fencing and riparian buffer planting along Conowingo Creek.
Columbia – $325,000 to implement a variety of stormwater best management practices, including porous asphalt and concrete surfaces, vegetated swales, and rain gardens, at the new Riverfront Park.
Franklin & Marshall College – $516,650 for sediment and nutrient monitoring relating to legacy sediments.
Enterprising Environmental Solutions – $387,500 to restore a portion of Big Stream Run and remove legacy sediments, reconnect stream to floodplain, restore and create wetlands and riparian buffer. The project will also generate nutrient trading credits and develop some economic value projections for legacy sediments mixed with manure compost.
LEBANON COUNTY
Lebanon Valley Conservancy – $250,000 to implement best management practices on the Quittapahilla Creek.
LUZERNE COUNTY
Luzerne County Conservation District – $102,362 to repair damage to Toby Creek caused by flooding.
Luzerne County Conservation District – $86,689 for a watershed assessment for use in flood-mitigation planning.
LYCOMING COUNTY
Rose Valley/Mill Creek Watershed Association – $3,030 for steambank stabilization on Mill Creek.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Whitpain Township – $60,000 to convert two stormwater detention basins to naturalized basins and to increase infiltration and reduce nonpoint source pollution.
Upper Dublin Township – $42,283 to restore a portion of Little Pine Run and to
restore 25,000 square feet of riparian buffer area.
Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association – $40,611 to expand a created wetland area along Bethlehem Pike in Fort Washington to mitigate flood waters, reduce nonpoint source pollution, and provide additional habitat for birds and wildlife.
Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust – $50,085 for a large infiltration trench to capture and infiltrate stormwater runoff from approximately 18 acres of suburban residential area and roadway.
MONTOUR COUNTY
Montour County Conservation District – $63,354 for installation of manure storage on the Seven Springs Farm.
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
Northampton County Conservation District – $115,261 to install agriculture best management practices at four agricultural sites determined to be nonpoint sources of nutrients and sediment pollution to the Bushkill-Jacoby watersheds.
Wildlands Conservancy – $325,670 to complete the construction of a natural stream channel, floodplain and bank restoration design for more than 1,000 feet of Saucon Creek and an unnamed tributary.
Bushkill Stream Conservancy – $107,000 for a constructed wetland within the Bushkill Creek Watershed to ease flooding issues in the College Hill section of Easton and improve water quality.
City of Bethlehem – $64,071 to remove the Saucon Creek dam and enhance/stabilize approximately 2,100 feet of stream channel.
NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY
Northumberland County Conservation District – $79,000 to conduct a feasibility study to treat Quaker Run which is heavily impacted by acid mine discharge from three sources.
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY
Schuylkill Conservation District – $433,189 to evaluate surface and ground water interactions and possible consequences of acid mine discharge remediation, stream restoration and mine pool utilization.
SOMERSET COUNTY
Somerset County Conservation District – $86,000 for repairs to two acid mine treatment facilities on Stonycreek River.
Shade Creek Watershed Association – $20,000 to raise the alkalinity of various tributaries of Shade Creek to improve water quality.
SULLIVAN COUNTY
Columbia County Conservation District – $40,000 for acid mine discharge treatment on Heberly Run, a tributary of Fishing Creek.
TIOGA COUNTY
Babb Creek Watershed Association – $290,000 for two limestone bed passive treatment systems for acid mine discharge on Rock Run, a tributary of Babb Creek.
Babb Creek Watershed Association – $21,835 to rehabilitate an acid mine discharge treatment system and convert it to a settling pond and an open limestone ramp.
County of Tioga – $30,000 to assess and design streambank stabilization/relocation needs of two miles of Marsh Creek. Benefits include mitigation of flood flows to the Village of Stokesdale, stabilization of an eroding railroad grade, stabilization of specific project sites for a “Rails to Trails” corridor extension and reduction of sediment loading.
UNION COUNTY
Union County Conservation District – $235,528 for agricultural restoration on impaired subwatersheds.
WARREN COUNTY
Warren County Conservation District – $25,000 to stabilize streambanks and riparian areas.
WASHINGTON COUNTY
Washington County Conservation District – $100,000 to convert a vertical flow pond acid mine discharge treatment system into a limestone bed treatment system.
WAYNE COUNTY
Lake Wallenpaupack Watershed Management District – $7,300 to stabilize the shoreline along Lake Wallenpaupack adjacent to the boating access at Mangan Cove to reduce soil erosion and provide riparian plantings.
Wayne Conservation District – $4,614 to start the Equinunk Watershed Alliance to protect and preserve the Equinunk watershed.
WESTMORELAND COUNTY
Mt. Pleasant Borough Municipal Building – $72,327 to retrofit a stormwater system.
Loyalhanna Watershed Association – $500,000 to construct a passive acid mine discharge treatment system to improve the water quality in the Loyalhanna Creek.
Turtle Creek Watershed Association – $142,338 for stream restoration and riparian buffering in the Haymaker Run tributary of Turtle Creek.
Sewickley Creek Watershed Association – $95,000 to assess degradation from nonpoint sources in the watershed and develop a restoration plan.
WYOMING COUNTY
Mehoopany Creek Watershed Association – $550,000 to restore the historical stream channel and provide additional natural stream channel stabilization.
YORK COUNTY
Izaak Walton League of America Inc., York Chapter 67 – $30,000 for stream restoration on Pierceville Run , Mitchell Pasture subwatershed of the South Branch Codorus Creek.
Izaak Walton League of America Inc., York Chapter 67 – $100,000 for stream restoration on Pierceville Run , Rockville Road subwatershed of the South Branch Codorus Creek.
MULTIPLE COUNTIES
Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts – $143,700 to administer the Non-Point Source Educational Mini Grant program, provide workshops and training including the annual Watershed Specialists meeting.
Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts – $5,693,740 for the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, supporting farm-based conservation practices such as forest riparian buffers, wetlands, and grass swales in 59 counties.
Luzerne County Conservation District – $123,500 for abandoned mine reclamation
program coordination through the Eastern Pa. Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation.
Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation – $121,500 for conservation district demonstration projects remediating acid mine discharges.
Wyoming County Conservation District – $131,680 for streambank stabilization demonstration project along the South Branch of Tunkhannock Creek.
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy – $111,566 for agricultural best management practices in the impaired Yellow Creek watershed.
Somerset County Conservation District – $150,000 to install stream bank fencing, livestock watering systems, access lanes, and other pasture improvement
management practices on 20 farms in a 14-county area.
American Rivers Inc. – $500,000 for dam removal and river restoration projects statewide.
Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy – $250,000 for approximately 80 stream restoration projects in 14 counties, comprising 20 stream miles.
Headwaters Chartable Trust – $40,000 for rotational grazing systems to reduce sediment and nutrient loading to surface and groundwaters.
Natural Lands Trust – $51,000 for a land conservation planning tool to prioritize sites in northeastern Pennsylvania communities.
Penn Soil Resource Conservation & Development Council – $51,000 to promote use of rotational grazing systems that reduce sediment and nutrient loading to groundwater and surface water.
Capital Resource Conservation & Development Area Council – $140,000 for technical assistance relating to no-till farm management systems.
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society – $250,000 to continue the TreeVitalize Watersheds program that restores tree cover in Southeastern Pennsylvania, including riparian buffers and plantings in stormwater detention basins.
Friends Central School – $50,000 to restore riparian areas in urban parkland along Indian Creek.
Peters Creek Watershed Association – $59,055 to assess and develop a watershed plan for Peters Creek in Allegheny and Washington counties.
Penn State University – $7,344 to develop database software to extract best management practices data.
Trout Unlimited – $120,500 to provide rapid-response and prioritized technical assistance to applicants in several areas of mine reclamation activities.
Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation – $100,000 to recover, process, and sell iron oxide from the treatment of mine drainage pollution.
Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation – $100,000 for quick-response repairs on water quality projects that provide critical protections.
Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts – $300,000 for engineering technical assistance for projects that treat acid mine drainage, restore streams and implement agricultural best management practices.
Pennsylvania Envirothon – $70,000 to support the efforts of the Pennsylvania Envirothon program.
Stroud Water Research Center – $214,725 to expand an on-going study of three streams to demonstrate the impact acid mine discharge has on ecosystem function, particularly nutrient processing.
Trout Unlimited, Doc Fritchey Chapter – $25,000 for an acid mine discharge treatment project on mine discharges that flow to Rausch Creek and Stoney Creek. The treatment systems would replace the diversion wells that have been maintained on Stoney Creek since 1986.
Trout Unlimited – $81,000 to provide updated water quality and benthic data for the entire West Branch Susquehanna River to document the existing condition of the river and its tributaries, and to quantify water quality improvements and establish a benchmark to measure future improvements.
Moshannon Creek Watershed Coalition – $62,000 to assess acid mine drainage impacting a section of Moshannon Creek from Bear Run to Trout Run and to complete a restoration plan.
239 DEP: Mine drainage treatment news reports inaccurate, says DEP secretary 2008-02-12 12:34:42
Funding Will Be Provided This Year and Beyond
HARRISBURG — Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty today refuted recent media reports stating that the commonwealth has decided not to fund abandoned mine drainage projects. The secretary said these projects will continue to be funded through the department’s abandoned mine reclamation program this year and beyond.
McGinty said that since 2003, Pennsylvania has invested $17.5 million in abandoned mine lands funding on acid mine drainage treatment for streams. The commonwealth has also targeted more than $62 million from the Growing Greener II program for abandoned mine reclamation projects.
This state and federal money has supported 46 acid mine drainage treatment projects.
“Reports that the department will not provide funding for acid mine drainage treatment projects are false,” said McGinty. “The Governor remains firmly committed to using all available resources to restore our land and water that was damaged by mining before environmental laws were put in place to prevent this kind pollution,”
Governor Edward G. Rendell was instrumental in lobbying for the reauthorization of the federal Abandoned Mine Lands Fund in Congress, which will provide increased funding for this important environmental initiative over the next 15 years.
Pennsylvania will receive $27.6 million from the federal Abandoned Mine Lands Fund for 2008, which will be used to reclaim abandoned mine lands by: eliminating dangerous highwalls where young people often are injured and even killed while riding motorcycles and all terrain vehicles; closing open mine shafts; and planting grass and trees on land left barren by surface mining.
Under the new law, up to 30 percent of this money can be used for treating abandoned mine drainage that makes streams uninhabitable for fish and other aquatic life.
“What we are doing now, and have been doing for the past several months, is engaging the public to help us determine how we can best use our available resources and, in the years ahead, to reclaim abandoned mine lands and clean up acid mine tainted streams.
“We have held public hearings around the state and are continuing to meet with focus groups to help us make the best decisions on how to carry out this important environmental protection program in the long term,” said McGinty. “All Pennsylvanians should be assured we will fund abandoned mine reclamation and stream restoration projects as part of this effort.”
Contact: Neil Weaver, (717) 787-1323
238 Health risk from fly ash dumping debated 2008-02-12 12:14:33
Environmentalist: Stricter rules, fed oversight needed. Utility spokesman disagrees.
By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
Given the prevalence of fly ash dumping locally, an environmentalist says the public should write to federal regulators and lawmakers to support federal oversight and more rigorous regulations for dumping that could contaminate water sources.
But a utility association spokesman says state agency oversight of fly ash disposal is adequate, and that recommendations for a voluntary program of compliance would be much more quickly implemented.
And today is the final day that members of the public can formally voice their own opinion on the topic to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Fly ash is a byproduct of coal-fired electric generation plants and contains trace concentrations of many heavy metals that are known to be detrimental to health in sufficient quantities.
Local municipalities in which companies have permits for dumping fly ash for mineland reclamation include Hanover, Hazle, Newport and Plains townships in Luzerne County, Banks Township in Carbon County and Kline Township in Schuylkill County, according to the state Department of Environmental protection.
DEP spokesman Ron Ruman said fly ash is also stored in impoundment sites that are typically located on the properties of the plants that produce it.
Ruman said he feels “pretty confident” that state regulations for fly ash disposal “are environmentally very sound.”
Ruman said a report by Penn State University concluded that using fly ash for mineland reclamation is “proper for the environment” and “we really haven’t found any problems with it.” He said the state is working with groups that “did a study last year and raised some issues on whether there’s a better way to monitor if there’s any leaching (of heavy metals) going on.”
Jeff Stant, of the Clean Air Task Force, said Congress in 1980 ordered the EPA to come up with regulations for fly ash and other coal combustion waste, commonly called CCW.
Finally, in March 2000, the EPA determined CCW would be regulated as a contingent hazardous waste. But after “a storm of protest from electric utilities,” the EPA in May 2000 reclassified it as solid waste and promised to develop regulations for disposal and monitoring, Stant said.
“Eight years have passed and the best they could do is release the Notice of Data Availability in August 2007,” Stant said.
The notice includes a risk assessment analysis that shows there is a “very high risk of cancer to people who live around these unlined impoundment sites,” Stant said.
Stant said there are no requirements for groundwater monitoring at most impoundment sites, permits don’t set limits for many of the metals contained in coal ash, and the “vast majority” of the sites are not lined.
Stant said a National Academy of Sciences report shows that states are not adequately beefing up regulation of fly ash disposal. He said more stringent regulations with federal oversight are necessary because many state lawmakers are influenced by utility company lobbyists, resulting in weak regulations.
Jim Roewer, executive director of the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, commonly called USWAG, said the group developed an action plan of its own for the EPA to consider in response to concerns about a need for additional groundwater monitoring.
The plan, in which utility company participation would be voluntary, would entail the drilling of monitoring wells within three years on sites where fly ash could pose a threat to groundwater.
Roewer said it would take five years for the implementation of groundwater monitoring if the EPA had to develop and implement its own mandatory regulations.
He also said the Pennsylvania DEP has “one of the foremost regulatory approaches,” and that Stant’s assessment that DEP regulations are lax “isn’t founded.”
Roewer said USWAG’s plan doesn’t need to be mandatory because “the utility companies want to do the right thing. They want to manage their ash so it won’t have an adverse affect on human health and the environment.”
VOICE YOUR OPINION ON THE WEB
Send a letter with your opinion on regulations for fly ash to the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection by e-mail to rcra-docket@epa.gov; fax to (202) 566-0272; or mail to: Notice of Data Availability on the Disposal of Coal Combustion Wastes in Landfills and Surface Impoundments, Environmental Protection Agency, Mailcode: 5305T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, D.C. 20460. Direct attention to Docket No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2006-0796 in the subject line of the e-mail, in the body of the fax or on the envelope of a mailed letter.
Visit www.timesleader.com for links to the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group plan and to a sample letter to the EPA supplied by Jeff Stant.
237 Groups push for funding to revive polluted waterways 2008-02-12 12:08:53
Federal money to fix most dangerous mine lands instead
Sunday, February 10, 2008
By Don Hopey, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Watershed organizations aren’t getting any of the $28 million allocated to Pennsylvania from the federal Abandoned Mine Lands Fund this year and they’re not happy about it.
R. John Dawes, executive director of the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, said progress toward resurrecting 4,600 miles of biologically dead, mine-polluted streams will slow to a trickle if the state Department of Environmental Protection sticks to its decision to spend all of that federal money to fix the most dangerous abandoned mine lands instead.
Dozens of popular, cost-effective, stream restoration projects across the commonwealth will go begging, Mr. Dawes said, even though up to 30 percent of the federal allocation — about $8.4 million this year and much more in succeeding years — could be allocated by the DEP for the watershed work.
“It’s ridiculous and it’s fiscally irresponsible,” said Beverly Braverman, executive director of the Mountain Watershed Association, which has built treatment projects on the Indian Creek watershed in Somerset County and has two more awaiting state funding decisions. “It’s created a sense of uncertainty in our ability to move ahead on those projects.”
At a meeting scheduled for Wednesday in Harrisburg, Mr. Dawes, Ms. Braverman and watershed group leaders from across Pennsylvania will press state DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty to reverse course and free up the federal funding.
Future concerns
While that discussion will focus on how the DEP will spend this year’s federal allocation, watershed groups are at least as concerned about how the much bigger future allocations from the fund will be divvied up and whether they’ll be cut out.
They are worried that the DEP will use the federal money to paper over state shortfalls in its mine reclamation bureau and expand its own watershed reclamation program, which has designed and built about 40 projects statewide.
At stake is up to 30 percent or $408 million, of $1.36 billion the state is guaranteed to get in the next 15 years from the Abandoned Mine Lands Fund, which was established in 1977 to fix the scars left by previously unregulated mining.
This year’s $28 million allocation is the first to reflect the increased funding mandated by the reauthorization. The annual allocations, funded by a royalty payment by mining companies on every ton of mined coal, will bump up to around $35 million in 2009, $60 million in 2010 and $90 million by 2018.
When the fund was reauthorized in December 2006, after hard lobbying in Washington by Pennsylvania’s watershed groups, the amount allowed for remediation of mine water discharges was increased from 10 percent to 30 percent.
“We worked hard to get that 30 percent set-aside for watershed projects, and it’s important to distribute that full amount to watershed groups rather than run the whole program out of state mining offices,” said Mr. Dawes, who also chairs the Pennsylvania Abandoned Mine Land Coalition.
“We understand there’s a backlog of dangerous mine sites in need of funding. But in many cases, water improvements are just as much a priority as a dangerous abandoned mine site and can have just as devastating an effect on a community.”
Grass-roots efforts
Pennsylvania’s long mining history has left deep scars on 184,000 acres of abandoned mine land — more than in any other state. And the thousands of miles of drainage-impaired streams flowing off that acreage are its biggest water quality problem. Together the wasted land and dead water affect 44 of the state’s 67 counties.
Across the state, more than 200 community-based watershed groups, run by volunteers and funded with a mix of federal, state and private grant money, have formed over the last decade to work on the problems. They’ve built approximately 200 mine drainage treatment projects around the state.
Ms. Braverman said watershed groups are better able to maximize the impact of the Abandoned Mine Lands Fund money by leveraging matching money from private sources and other government funding that the state can’t tap. She said the groups also receive in-kind donations and use armies of volunteers to control project costs and provide quality control.
“We make $1 million work like $3 million,” Ms. Braverman said. “We can get projects done quicker, better and cheaper than the state can.”
Still, mine drainage treatment projects, almost all using a “passive” technology that channels mine drainage through a series of settling and aeration ponds where iron, aluminum and other metals drop out, are expensive to build and operate. The Mountain Watershed Association’s planned Mellcroft project will cost more than $1 million, and its Marcellino project plan is priced at $900,000.
Scott Roberts, DEP’s deputy secretary for mineral resources management, said the DEP is not trying to cut watershed groups out of stream reclamation, but is reassessing how the grant program will work.
“We’re in a ramp-up period for the federal funding and this is the time for us to figure out how we want the program to look when we do get larger sums,” Mr. Roberts said. “We recognize the value and benefit of the watershed groups and we’re not trying to freeze them out.”
Setting priorities
But Mr. Roberts also said it’s important to fix quickly the kind of dangerous abandoned mine land problems that cause the deaths of 25 to 35 people a year nationwide. That’s more than usually die at active surface and underground mines.
The state is targeting 5,100 of the most dangerous abandoned mine sites to reclaim cliff-like “highwalls” at old strip mines, douse underground mine fires and fill in open mine shafts and mine entrances.
“These are dangerous areas. If we can take care of them we should do it,” he said. “In the east, where there are more of those types of sites, they’re asking if we should spend any money on mine drainage until we get rid of the places where kids are getting killed.”
Mr. Roberts said the DEP is rewriting the state’s Comprehensive Mine Reclamation Program, which will guide planning on mining and watershed projects, including how much of the federal set-aside for watershed projects should be spent on new construction, and maintenance and rehabilitation of existing projects. One possibility under consideration is to create an interest-bearing fund for the maintenance and rehabilitation of existing projects.
The DEP has been funding some of the projects proposed by watershed groups with the state’s Growing Greener I and II bond money. But the Growing Greener II funding stream will likely end after this year, several watershed group leaders said, leaving them scrambling for project financing and, possibly, survival.
“This decision by the DEP definitely puts us on the back burner,” said Robert Hughes, executive director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, which has more than 70 member organizations working on stream restoration projects in the state’s anthracite region. “The state’s working on its backlog, but without this additional funding I’m not sure what our community members who want to participate in improving their watersheds will do.”
Mr. Hughes said the AML Fund allocations would be “a huge shot in the arm” for the more than 200 community groups working on watershed projects in the state.
“We’re missing a big window of opportunity to leverage the federal money with other federal and state programs and foundation grants to make it go even farther,” Mr. Hughes said. “If DEP wants to create a maintenance trust fund they ought to do it and let these community groups get back to doing what they do best, taking care of the streams.”
Amy Wolf, director of abandoned mine programs for Trout Unlimited, works mostly in the Susquehanna River watershed in central Pennsylvania and said many watershed groups are now facing project delays.
“We know Growing Greener money is dwindling for abandoned mine drainage projects, and we want to know where else we can go to get money for these projects,” Ms. Wolf said. “A lot of them are ready to go.”
Don Hopey can be reached at dhopey@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1983.
First published on February 10, 2008 at 12:00 am
236 2008 Woodland Resource Adventure Camp 2008-01-11 11:27:17
Campers and Sponsors Needed
Endless Mountains Resource Conservation and Development Council and its partners are once again holding the Woodland Resource Adventure (WRA) Camp for 2008. This twenty-one year old program (previously named Youth Forestry Camp) will be held on the campus of Camp Lackawanna, Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania. The Woodland Resources Adventure Camp begins on Sunday, July 13 at 12:00 am and runs through Thursday, July 17 at 3:30 pm. WRA is an overnight camp and is open for students ages 12-16. This year’s theme is “Forestry”. Lodging and two days of sessions will be held at Camp Lackawanna while two days will consist of field trips to sites in the local area. We will travel to various locations such as a baseball bat factory, tree nursery, Christmas tree farm, and maple syrup operation. Participants will learn about the following topics: tree identification and measurement, Forest Stewardship planning, wildlife impacts to forests, invasive pests, and tree climbing.
The student is responsible to pay $175. The remaining $100 is provided in the form of a sponsorship. We encourage students to make every effort, on their own, to obtain local sponsorship from an organization or business. The Woodland Resource Adventure Camp committee has a limited number of sponsorships available, if you cannot find one on your own. The total fee covers the cost of meals, lodging, insurance, tour transportation, and program materials.
WRA Camp is recommended for young people who want to learn about the outdoors and the environment through an excellent hands-on experience. The Camp provides an opportunity to prepare for the Envirothon competitions, 4H Events and can be used as credit toward Scout Merit Badges.
For any student interesting in attending the camp, please contact Endless Mountains RC&D Council to obtain a brochure.
Any individual, group or business interested in becoming a sponsor of a student or the camp in general, please contact Endless Mountains RC&D office by phone 570-265-3409 ext. 5. Donations of any denomination will be accepted. Endless Mountains RC&D Council is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, so any donation/sponsorship for the camp or a student is tax deductible.
For more information on the Woodland Resources Adventure Camp, contact Endless Mountains RC&D Council office by phone 570-265-3409 ext. 5 or www.endlessmountainsrcd.org.
WRA Tentative Agenda: Not all speakers or locations have been confirmed
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Tree Identification-Terminology and Using a Key
Plants Other Than Trees
Wood Mobile/Forest Products
Orienteering/Compass/GPS
Wildlife Rehabilitators and Taxidermist
Monday, July 14, 2008
Benny’s Nurseries-Tour of nursery and Christmas Tree Farm and discussion of invasive pests
Tour of Loch’s Maple Syrup operation
Community Forestry Session-each presentation is 45 minutes
 Structured Soil
 Urban Tree Commission
 Urban Tree Pruning
 Tree Climbing
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Watersheds and the Forest Connection
Basic Tree Measurements
What’s Your Tree Worth
Silviculture
Forest Succession
Woodland Inventory and Forest Stewardship Plans
Forest Scavenger Hunt
Tree Felling and Chain Saw Safety
PA Fuels for Schools and Beyond Program
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Tours of Oak Hill Veneer
Troy Ag Museum
Cummings Lumber
Larimer & Norton
Hike/Geocashing
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Owl Habitat
Deer Impacts and Quality Deer Management
Invasive Plants and Mis-management of Forests
Land Conservation Easements/Stewardship Plan
Careers and Natural Resource Opportunities in the Area
235 Comprehensive Update of Mine Safety Laws Goes Before Senate Committee 2008-01-08 15:03:47
First major rewrite of mine safety laws in more than 45 years.
Harrisburg , The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, chaired by Sen. Mary Jo White (R-21), will meet next week to consider the first comprehensive rewrite of Pennsylvania’s mine safety laws in more than 45 years.
The meeting will be held Tuesday, January 15 at 9:30 a.m. in Room 8 E-B of the Capitol’s East Wing.
Among its provisions, Senate Bill 949 would create a new Board of Coal Mine Safety to keep Pennsylvania’s mine safety standards regularly updated, provide for greater responsibility for operators to ensure the safety, and enable the state to establish a central database of maps of mines throughout the Commonwealth.
Senator White, Democratic Committee Chairman Raphael Musto and the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Richard Kasunic, worked closely with Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty, DEP officials, coal mine operators and mine union officials in preparing the legislation.
###
CONTACT:
Patrick Henderson , Sen. White (717) 787-9684
Richard Fox , Sen. Musto (717) 787-7105
Will Dando , Sen. Kasunic (717) 787-7175
234 Borehole collapse may be cause of Hanover Twp. flooding, officials say 2008-01-08 15:01:24
BY MICHAEL R. SISAK
STAFF WRITER
01/08/2008
HANOVER TWP. , U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski got a firsthand look Monday at the rust-colored pond that has been forming from a 20-foot rise in underground mine water over the last two weeks in the township.
Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, walked along the banks of the pond, in a tranquil woods behind Dundee Apartments, and heard the details of an ongoing investigation and a possible solution from officials with the U.S. Office of Surface Mining.
“What we’re all disturbed about is that when the mine pool rises as fast as it did, to the height that it did, (we want to make sure) it’s not something really substantial that has changed, that we’re not aware of,” said Kanjorski.
Mick Kuhns, chief of the Office of Surface Mining in Wilkes-Barre, and Mike Dziak, executive director of Earth Conservancy, the nonprofit organization that owns the flooded land, told Kanjorski the rise in mine water appears to be have been caused by the collapse in mid-December of a drainage borehole in nearby Askam.
“Normally, the water would drain itself out through the Askam borehole,” said Kuhns. “It is not doing that like it should.”
Edie Zabroski, the Office of Surface Mining project manager, said her office would work first to reduce the level of the pond by doubling the width of a 3-foot channel that, with the aid of a motorized pump, has been directing flood water into the nearby Nanticoke Creek.
“This is treating a symptom here,” said Kuhns. “It’s not solving the problem.”
Zabroski said the focus of the Office of Surface Mining would shift Thursday to the collapsed borehole. A crane is being brought in from Pittsburgh and a camera will be lowered into the shaft to help investigators determine if the collapse is causing the rise in mine water. If it is, Zabroski said, a new borehole would be drilled.
“If the camera confirms that it is the Askam borehole, then putting in a new borehole should take care of the problem,” Zabroski told Kanjorski.
The pond, which measured larger than a football field as it moved perilously close to Building K in the Dundee complex, has receded about 8 feet, moving away from the backyard patio that resident William Zupancic, 87, considered his sanctuary.
The rising mine water has also affected residents near the intersection of Dundee and South Main roads , more than 1,000 feet from the pond. Dominic Lombardi, who lives in a home adjacent to the Dundee Apartments on South Main Road, said orange-colored water that has flowed steadily in his backyard, seeping into his basement since last Saturday.
“I have water shooting up,” said Lombardi. “Whatever underneath is coming up.”
Kanjorski, who remembers the Knox Mine Disaster in 1959, when water from the Susquehanna River infiltrated a mine near Pittston, said the rising mine water is part of a problem that has affected communities throughout the Wyoming Valley for decades.
“What you have to do is be conscious of the fact that when there is a significant change in water location that is unexplained, you get the people that understand it so it doesn’t get ahead of you,” said Kanjorski.
msisak@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2061
©The Citizens Voice 2008
233 Collapse of borehole dug after Knox Disaster causing basement flooding 2008-01-08 14:56:25
Feds to view flooding linked to mine tragedy
By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
HANOVER TWP. , Federal officials today will see for themselves a flooding problem that is related to the deadly Knox Mine Disaster in 1959 that has troubled residents of a Lower Askam neighborhood.
Carl Olshefski, of Clarks Crossing Road, off Main Street and near Dundee Road, said he and others noticed flooding in basements about a week ago.
Basement flooding is nothing new to many areas in Luzerne County. But the apparent cause of flooding in the Dundee Road/Clarks Crossing area is the collapse of a borehole, which Olshefski said was dug after the mine disaster to alleviate flooding problems.
Township Manager John J. Sipper said a resident informed the township of the flooding, and officials found the source was water on land owned by Earth Conservancy and making its way to neighborhood basements.
Sipper said Earth Conservancy President and CEO Mike Dziak “acted quickly and took over the lead” on the problem.
Dziak said the collapse of the Askam Borehole on Dundee Road caused the normal flow of underground mine water to be restricted and contributed to a backflow of water that eventually seeped up through the ground onto Earth Conservancy property.
Although the problem is really the responsibility of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement, Dziak said Earth Conservancy dug a channel and has been using a pump to divert the water into nearby Nanticoke Creek.
“Our concern is that none of the neighbors would be impacted,” Dziak said.
Dziak said that while the diversion has been successful for the past one and a half to two weeks, he’s been “waiting for the OSM to take action.”
Dziak will join U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, representatives from Sens. Bob Casey’s and Arlen Specter’s offices and a representative from the OSM on a tour of the site this afternoon.
Olshefski likened Dziak and Earth Conservancy to “the little Dutch boy who put his finger in the dike” to save his town from being flooded.
“I’m afraid it’s an impending disaster. “¦ Hopefully, there won’t be a really big weather event” before federal officials can permanently fix the problem, Olshefski said.
Boreholes initially were drilled by mining companies to determine the location and thickness of coal seams. In the 1970s, they were drilled as a way to relieve water pressure on home foundations and basements in the South Wilkes-Barre area.
The boreholes were considered necessary after Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972 and the Knox Mine disaster, in which water built up in the mines.
In 1977, such boreholes were stopped by an act of Congress, according to Robert Hughes, regional coordinator with the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation.
Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 459-2005.
