284 Intern to Instill PRIDE into the Wyoming Valley coordinating cleanups 2009-12-08 17:44:48
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12-8-09
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Leigh Ann Kemmerer, Illegal Dump Site Cleanup Specialist-570-371-3522
Intern to Instill PRIDE into the Wyoming Valley coordinating cleanups
EPCAMR would like to welcome Leigh Ann Kemmerer, a recent graduate of King’s College, Wilkes-Barre, PA, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science. As a student, Leigh Ann completed a variety of courses ranging from Ecological Statistics, Wildlife Ecology and Management, to Ecotoxicology. Many of the courses were hands-on performing fish population surveys, electrofishing, and benthic macroinvertebrate sampling. She was also a two year member of the Environmental Club at King’s.
She recently completed an internship with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission assisting with various projects utilizing state and federal protocols for water quality sampling, biological, habitat assessment surveys, and launching/retrieving remote monitoring devices on watersheds close to Harrisburg impacted by sedimentation and storm water runoff and on the E. Branch Fishing Creek, Columbia County on acid deposition. Leigh Ann contributed to the development of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) dealing with acid deposition.
She also spent three months studying abroad in Queensland, Australia, a few years ago, doing a range of research techniques in a highly fragmented and endangered mountain-forest ecosystem. The research contributed to long term goals that are major factors in rehabilitation projects in that region.
Leigh Ann previously interned with the Luzerne Conservation District where she completed a Wetlands Delineation Course with the Army Corps. Much of her time was spent with private consultant engineers on inspections with other District Staff in the Erosion and Sediment Control Department, assisted with stream bank assessments and stream corridor damage due to severe flooding occurrences in 2006, and assisted with several workshops including installing backyard wildlife habitats and pond installations.
She also had previously provided volunteer support to EPCAMR during an AMD tour in Luzerne County with youth from the Children’s Service Center from Wilkes-Barre that had not been previously exposed to many outdoor areas throughout the Wyoming Valley. Along with fellow interns, she harvested iron oxide from several AMD sites to use in an EPCAMR Anthrascapes AMD Art Exhibit and for educational outreach programs, including tie dye t-shirts and chalk.
Robert Hughes, Executive Director enthusiastically stated, “Leigh Ann comes to EPCAMR with a background that is sufficient for any intern to enjoys the outdoors, who already has a familiarity with abandoned mine drainage, is someone who doesn’t mind mucking around in orange water and getting her hands dirty, and enjoys spending time with our area youth educating them on water quality and ways in which they can help through volunteer efforts, such as community cleanups.”
Leigh Ann will be designated as the Illegal Dump Site Cleanup Specialist intern for the Winter and early Spring 2010 working 10-15 hours a week helping EPCAMR to plan for the Spring 2010 Cleanups once the snow and ice recede. She will be seeking community volunteers, neighborhood groups, and college students from the Wyoming Valley to participate in these future cleanups. She’ll be preparing press releases, seeking grant opportunities, and working to put together a small display on illegal dumping on abandoned mine lands and the hazards it presents, working with our state-wide partners, PA Cleanways and the PA Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Waste Management.
“I look forward to helping clean up the Wyoming Valley and exposing as many people as possible to the beauty of our area as a reason why history should not be repeated. Keeping garbage out of our streams, keeps future generations safer in our scenic part of Pennsylvania.”
283 Art sculpture exhibition to be held in Pioneer Coal Mine 2009-09-08 12:19:37
The WYSO Foundation in association with the Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine and Train Tour is excited to exhibit a selection of original sculptures in the coal mine. The art show will be exhibited through the month of September 2009 and may very well be the first art sculpture exhibition to be held in a coal mine. On September 23 @ 6PM WYSO Foundation curator, Steven Lichak, will be there to provide some insight.
Schedule:
Weekday Mine Tours -11 AM, 12:30 PM & 2 PM.
Weekend Train & Mine Tours Continuous, 10 AM – 6 PM.
Last Train Ride- 5:00 PM, last Weekend Mine Tour- 5:30 PM.
Call 570-875-3850 or 570-875-3301 or visit The Pioneer Coal Mine and Train Tour Website for more details.
282 STAGE IS SET FOR EPCAMRs AMD AVENGERS TO BE AN INTERACTIVE COMEDY 2009-09-03 16:36:34
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact Robert E. Hughes-EPCAMR for details
570-371-3523
September 2, 2009
STAGE IS SET FOR EPCAMR’s AMD AVENGERS AND POLLUTION POSSE TO BECOME AN INTERACTIVE THEATRICAL COMEDY AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION SKIT AT GREATER NANTICOKE AREA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
(Nanticoke, PA) EPCAMR has once again been able to secure a PA Partners in the Arts Grant Program from the PA Council on the Arts and the Scranton Area Foundation to support our environmental education and outreach to local schools on mining impacts in our region. EPCAMR was recently informed that our application for funding was approved for $1408, around half of what was originally requested, nevertheless, a substantial amount to assist us with the development of a theatrical comedy skit and performance involving 4th grade students that will educate them on abandoned mines, anthracite coal, water pollution, mine drainage, land reclamation, and the work of EPCAMR to restore our watersheds and reclaim our land previously impacted by mining. The funds will be used for set and costume designs. Props will be used and created to enhance and make the students more aware, symbolically, of the meanings and representations of various themes of the skit. A project will be purchased to project large colorful pictures of mine drainage, coal mines, mine water, fossils, volcanoes, geologic eras, dinosaurs, swamps, and other images of abandoned mines and real people in our communities making a difference to clean up our environment. A mini-microphone system will be used to narrate the skit and a fog machine will add a fun and cool element of swamp bogs during the times of the dinosaurs to the stage. EPCAMR will probably be looking for a sponsor to help us print up a booklet similar to a PLAYBILL to introduce the audience to the students, their roles, parts, and EPCAMR.
EPCAMR will be receiving its grant award along with other 2009 grant recipients at a celebration and media event on Thursday, September 17 , 20009, at 5:00PM at The Scranton Cultural Center’s Masonic Temple, in downtown Scranton.
The project will entail the creation of backdrops and set designs based on EPCAMR’s hugely popular AMD Activity Book, “The AMD Avengers vs. The Pollution Posse”.
The skit will bring nearly 30 pages from the Activity Book to life on stage. EPCAMR is going to partner with the Greater Nanticoke Area 4th Grade Elementary Class to cast its first production. It is anticipated that it can then be taken to other school districts and potentially nature camps, and performed as a part of our environmental education and outreach programs. Many students will get to become actresses and actors for the skit. The idea is to engage and involve the student body audience as well with interactive role playing and decision making processes based on educational activities and learning experiences contained with the Activity Book.
The students will get to read lines, narrate, act, act silly, come up with impromptu mannerisms for the characters in the Activity Book and make people laugh.
There are several interactive games that will be incorporated into the skit used by EPCAMR in many outdoor field settings in the past. We are hoping to do a dress rehearsal before school lets out in the Summer, possibly for the student body, and maybe at the Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, if the space is available. A play book for the production will be produced by the students of the Greater Nanticoke Elementary 4th Grade as well.
EPCAMR is reaching out to The Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, Arts YOUniverse, Costumes by Barbara, Bloomsburg University’s Drama Department, and the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble for volunteer assistance and guidance in creating the unique and creative set designs, backdrops, props, and costume designs. We are also going to encourage the parents to get involved by helping their children create some of the small props that will be assigned to them as a part of the set designs that EPCAMR will be building and creating.
EPCAMR hopes to teach the students how to artistically express themselves, make fun of themselves, and create a fun and educational learning atmosphere based on the combination of art, science, the environment, and local mining history. EPCAMR will evaluate the project by having the students fill out a questionnaire towards the end of the project as to whether or not they enjoyed the experience and learned significantly more information about the impacts of abandoned mines in their community as a result of our program. EPCAMR is targeting the underserved school districts in Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties for the effort and are hoping to expand it into the region once all of the bugs are worked out of the skit.
Robert emphasized, “The Greater Nanticoke Elementary School District has always been receptive to any grants or educational programs that EPCAMR could bring to its students over the last 5 years or more, whether it was AMD Tie Dye T-shirts, creating Iron Oxide Chalk, or Watershed Education Tours on AMD. Dr. Scott, one of the school’s principals has always welcomed EPCAMR into its school district with open arms and has been very accommodating to scheduling the programs with EPCAMR. The teachers that we’ve worked with over the years really have enjoyed our Programs and seem to like having us come back from year to year. I can’t see them turning down another great opportunity to continue to educate the students in our community when mine drainage is the worst pollution problem the entire school district is surrounded by in the Newport and Nanticoke Creek watersheds.”
State government funding for the arts depends upon an annual appropriation by the Commonwealth of PA and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. PPA is administered in this region by the Scranton Area Foundation.
281 EPCAMR AMD AVENGERS AND POLLUTION POSSE CHARACTERS EMERGE FROM ACTIVITY BOOK 2009-09-01 14:19:54
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: ROBERT E. HUGHES-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR; 570-371-3523
SEPTEMBER 1, 2009
EPCAMR MINE DRAINAGE AVENGERS AND POLLUTION POSSE CHARACTERS EMERGE FROM THE ANTHRACITE REGION’S ACTIVITY BOOK COME TO REAL LIFE
(Ashley, PA) As Executive Director and co-creator of the “AMD Avengers vs. The Pollution Posse” Activity Book and the characters and story lines that are contained within the book, during the Fall 2008, upon receipt of the Scranton Area Foundation’s Project Partners for the Arts Project Stream $1691 in funding, EPCAMR began to work with our volunteer AmeriCorps position, Carly Trumann, and co-worker, Mike Hewitt, to think about ways to bring mining history back to life for our youth. EPCAMR has done hundreds of elementary-aged environmental education and arts programs for dozens of school districts across the Anthracite Region over the last 13 years on abandoned mines, mining, geology, biology, aquatic biology, art, and volunteerism in our communities.
Robert reminisced, “back in 2003, I came up with the idea that we needed to be creative in our approach to teaching kids about mine drainage and abandoned mine reclamation, so that it wasn’t technical and super-scientific. We wanted to make our environmental education programs fun, interactive, and exciting, with hands-on learning and outdoor experiences that were related to the local abandoned mine impacts to their watersheds. Mike and I thought it would be awesome if we could get funding to create an activity and coloring book based on different coal mining, water quality, biology, science, and land reclamation themes. Plus, we really wanted to become super heroes for the environment related to the line of work that we were in. What’s the chance of there being any other comic book super heroes fighting for water quality on Northeastern PA’s abandoned mining landscapes? Not even Captain Planet has stopped by!” We worked with several artists and graphic design friends of ours to begin to put the character designs and their traits on paper and it eventually led to EPCAMR purchasing the outright copyrights on all of the characters we created in the activity book, “The AMD Avengers vs. The Pollution Posse” at that time.
Prior to Halloween 2008, EPCAMR was working with a well-respected artist in the Wyoming Valley, and good friend of Robert’s, Kathleen Godwin, another resident of Plymouth Township, and collaborator for the creation of Arts YOUniverse, Wilkes-Barre, where a mansion full of talented artists live, teach, work, and inspire other young artists alike. It is the goal of Arts YOUniverse to develop inexpensive art programming for each member of the community. She had assisted EPCAMR with pulling together a two week AMD Anthrascapes Art Exhibit several years ago where we had over 50 artists create pieces or artwork that contained iron oxide in one format or another.
Robert recalls, “I remember meeting Kathleen in 2006, when I was completing my Leadership Wilkes-Barre classes and she had this string with a notepad hanging from the ceiling of Arts YOUniverse where she had told community leaders from the class to sign, if they ever had a passion for art and wanted to make a connection through her. She said she would do her best to make our wishes come through. I signed up and said that I eventually wanted to secure funding to put a comedy play or theatre performance based on our Anthracite AMD Activity Book and create costumes for all of the characters and the stage settings. Not even a year and a half later, after helping EPCAMR to come up with ideas for the grant, we were prepared to submit the application to the Scranton Area Foundation for funding to begin designing costumes and coming up with a draft skit. She came through for me big time! She is one of my most favorite inspiring artists in the Valley.
Although the grant took some time to develop and honing in on a potential funding source, she suggested that EPCAMR talk with Barbara Gavlick, another local artist and costume designer from Luzerne. EPCAMR took her advice quickly and followed up. EPCAMR had initially made contact with Barbara just before the Halloween rush, so we decided after talking on the phone that we would meet up to discuss EPCAMR’s ideas for costume designs for many of the characters that are in our Activity Book, in the late Fall, around Thanksgiving.
After Thanksgiving, EPCAMR took a trip to her Costume Shop on Main Street in Luzerne, and had a wonderful and exciting time going over some great ideas for each of the characters. Robert exclaimed, “You could see the wheels spinning in our heads as we started to come up with fresh and creative designs! We were all smiles at that point.” She wanted to think about things over the Christmas Holidays and meet back up with EPCAMR after the New Year. She asked EPCAMR to write up some of our costume ideas and get them to her in the meantime, which we did.
EPCAMR is sure that if she hadn’t been so busy in the Fall 2008 with the Halloween Season, which was obviously her busiest time of the year, we may have been able to get a few more characters completed with this project before it closed. However, she was able to complete 8 costumes out of the 14 main characters. She left the 4 hardest ones until the end of the project, which were the D-9 Bulldozer, Gobba “˜da Pile, the Limestone Cowboy (Robert’s costume) and Dolomite (Robert’s horse), Swampy (Robert’s co-worker -Mike) and Wart (Mike’s Bull Frog). EPCAMR is going to complete them under a separate project funding stream request.
In June 2009, Barbara was able have EPCAMR pick up the following 5 characters: Fe Rock, Mang Rock, & Silt Rock (The Toxicity Trio), Coal Face, and Filamentous Algae. We began using the Toxicity Trio at a Nature Camp this summer at Hickory Run State Park and the kids loved the costumes. In early August 2009, we were able to pick up 3 more costumes: Brooky the Trout, Pyrite O’Brian, and Al Floc. Towards the end of the month, EPCAMR Staff made a trip to the Salvation Army, where we thought it would be most appropriate to purchase our additional clothing accessories and props for as many costumes as possible and give back to another local charitable non-profit organization in the community. With a puzzled expression on his face, Mike said, “We were like two kids in a candy store with about $100 and we couldn’t even spend it all, yet our cart was full. We got every kind of clothing accessories you we could think of in all kinds of colors. We’re talking colors of the rainbow!”
The skits have been morphed into an idea by Robert to become a comedy play that we’d like to perform on-stage with a willing elementary school from the area, complete with sets, backdrops, additional props, narration by the kids, art in motion, and local children playing each of the characters on stage that will have silly mannerisms and an interactive presence with the kids that aren’t in the actual play. We have gotten a commitment out of a local elementary school principal from the Greater Nanticoke Area’s 4th grade class to participate and we will be following up with the Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre for assistance and receiving set design volunteer assistance from a Theatre Group from Bloomsburg University, where we have a tie, through our most recent summer Environmental Education Specialist Intern, Kyra Norton.
For Immediate Release:
August, 28, 2009
Contact Robert E. Hughes-570-371-3523
NATIONAL AWARD WINNING MAGAZINE ORION HELPS EPCAMR RAISE $300 FOR OUTDOOR SUPPLIES TO GET KIDS IN CREEKS
Several months ago, as an added benefit to our membership to the Orion Grassroots Network (OGN), ( www.orionmagizine.org )a group that assists grassroots non-profit organizations by providing services that allow them to be engaged in ecological, economic, and cultural changes within their region had challenged EPCAMR to go out and get votes online for a small fundraising campaign to suit our needs. EPCAMR was asked to be a part of the OGN’s newest program, the Wish List, where $300 was going to be awarded to 1 of 5 member groups who had to go out and solicit the most on-line votes over a 30 day period for a project or program that they needed funds to support. EPCAMR had put out the call for help to its volunteer base for votes and was chosen by other OGN members as the top vote getter for our “Kids in Creeks” Campaign to get our youth into abandoned mine drainage streams and healthy streams for outdoor environmental education learning experiences and won by a landslide!
Erik Hoffner-OGN Coordinator, and Scott Walker, Orion Society-Marketing Director helped get set up an on-line funding drive at www.fundable.com , a website that allows people to pledge whatever they can towards a project they care about. These drives are wonderfully risk-free, no one pays anything if the goal isn’t reached in the given time frame of 26 days. Pledges came in over a 3 week period, and we met our goal. The OGN will have helped EPCAMR meet our goal of getting kids wet come this Fall when school starts and our outdoor environmental education programs ramp up.
EPCAMR decided to zero in on things that they needed to better allow their staff of two and occasional seasonal interns to reach more youth who don’t get the opportunities to explore the outdoor environment in formal school settings and have not learned much about local environmental issues plaguing their local watersheds, particularly with abandoned mine drainage in the Anthracite Coal Region of Northeastern PA.
EPCAMR needed waders for kids, bug viewers to look at and identify aquatic macro-invertebrate insects (bugs), triangular and vertebrate aquatic nets to catch fish, laminated 3-D bug scans to more closely identify aquatic insects, and a guidebook to the Ecology of Aquatic Insects. All of these supplies for just around $300! We focused on the waders for the most part.
Robert Hughes-Executive Director of EPCAMR, who created the campaign, emphasized, “We focused our campaign on getting waders for the kids to actually get them in the streams, regardless if they are orange-colored or not. They need to experience first hand, in the water, the impacts to the health of the stream ecosystem and the delicate balance it faces when pollution from abandoned mines is all around them. They don’t realize that it is entirely possible for them to be a part of the solution in the future to cleaning up their hometown watersheds, should they go into an environmental field of interest. We tell them that you can’t judge a stream by its color. You need to get in them to discover how to clean them up, if you want to be a part of the solution.” “We want to continue to support place-based environmentalism, related to nature and our environment, and ways in which we can engage our youth to participate actively and not turn their heads away from the past mining scars in our region, but to tackle them head on in the future as we are today!”
EPCAMR was featured in The Orion Magazine in February 2007 as a spotlight member organization.
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279 HISTORIC AVONDALE MINE DISASTER, 140th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIONS, SEPT. 6th 2009-08-27 11:41:08
For Immediate Release:
August, 24, 2009
Contact Robert E. Hughes-570-371-3523
From the Anthracite Living History Group, Greater Plymouth Historical Society, Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR), Plymouth Township Planning Commission, the Anthracite Heritage Museum, and the Washburn-Avondale Restoration Committee.
HISTORIC AVONDALE MINE DISASTER, 140th ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIONS, SUNDAY, SEPT. 6th
The public is cordially invited to three free-of-charge historical preservation events in Scranton and Plymouth Township that will commemorate the 140th anniversary of the Avondale mine disaster of September 6, 1869, anthracite’s most deadly mining disaster with 110 victims.
10:30 , 11:45 a.m., September 6, 2009, Washburn Street Cemetery, Hyde Park, Scranton
Victims’ memorial program (colors, taps, memorial reflection, and speakers), plus the dedication of refurbished grave stones and the unveiling of a historical marker. 61 of the disaster’s 110 victims are buried at this cemetery, all of Welsh descent. Sponsored by the Washburn-Avondale Restoration Committee.
1:00 , 3:00 p.m., September 6, 2009, Anthracite Heritage Museum, McDade Park, Scranton
Avondale educational and cultural program with speakers, entertainment, literature display, and refreshments. Sponsored by the Anthracite Heritage Museum.
6:30 , 7:30 p.m., September 6, 2009, Avondale Disaster Site, Route 11, Plymouth Twp.
Avondale memorial program (memorial reflections, tributes, and speakers) on the site of the Avondale disaster, immediately followed by refreshments at the Plymouth Township Municipal Building. Sponsored by the Anthracite Living History Group, the Plymouth Historical Society, Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR), and the Plymouth Township Planning Commission. Visitors will be able to view and hear about the progress that has been made over the last year to construct three community gardens at the site, removal of graffiti, construction of a concrete platform for benches that will soon be secured at the site, wildlife habitat enhancements to the site with the addition of some bluebird boxes, and future plans to beautify the location. Additional local financial support and community volunteers are needed to keep the project moving along steadily.
For further information and directions please contact EPCAMR (570-371-3522) or Chester Kulesa at the Anthracite Heritage Museum (570-570-963-4804).
278 EPCAMR Staff Makes GIS Presentation at 19th Annual ARIPPA Technical Convention 2009-08-26 12:07:44
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact:
Robert E. Hughes, Executive Director for details-570-371-3523
EPCAMR Staff Makes GIS Presentation on Waste Coal and Anthracite Abandoned Mine Pools Study at 19th Annual ARIPPA Technical Convention in Harrisburg
(Harrisburg-PA)
The EPCAMR Staff, consisting of a two-man road show and jack of all mining trades when it comes to abandoned mine reclamation and mine drainage remediation in Eastern PA, Robert E. Hughes-Executive Director, and Michael A. Hewitt-Program Manager were invited to the ARIPPA’s 19th Annual Technical Convention, in Harrisburg on August 25th, 2009 and they made the best of their opportunity to present. They appeared before the Independent Power Producers Association Board of Directors, who are a state-wide trade association of Co-Generation Facility Operations, product companies, and service providers to that industry that are utilizing waste coal piles to generate electricity that is being sold back to the National Power Grid system, and are reclaiming abandoned mine lands, and helping to remediate future mine drainage problems at sites across the Commonwealth, where these operations are located.
EPCAMR was asked by Jeff A. McNelly, Executive Director, of ARIPPA, and board member of EPCAMR, representing the ARIPPA Co-Generation Industry, to make their highly requested Geographic Information System (GIS) Mapping Tool presentation, called RAMLIS (the Reclaimed Abandoned Mine Land Inventory System) to the Board of Directors, who largely consisted of General Managers from the Co-Generation Facilities across the State, on possible ways that EPCAMR could assist the ARIPPA Plants in the future through possible seasonal water quality monitoring associated with their circulating-fluidized bed boiler ash projects on abandoned mine sites where it is being used as a beneficial use by-product for reclamation in order to fill deep stripping pits in both the Anthracite and Bituminous Regions of PA.
EPCAMR Staff were able to make a 45 minute presentation on dozens of datasets, geographic information system (GIS) layers, which are natural resource points of interest related to abandoned mines such as boreholes, mine tunnel entrances, stripping pits, dangerous highwalls, culm banks, waste coal processing facilities, active mining sites, streams impacted by abandoned mine drainage, watershed boundaries defined by areas that are covered by a community group in a particular region of PA, and water quality data points and databases as well. Much of the presentation focused on the locations of where the Co-Generation Facilities were located in the Anthracite Region, the environmental impacts surrounding those facilities due to past mining practices, mine discharge points, culm banks, stripping pits, and a sneak peak at the underground hydrogeological connections from one mine pool system to another, particularly, in the Western Middle Anthracite Coal Fields.
EPCAMR Staff were able to show 3-D models and video animations of the structural geology of the Buck Mountain marker coal seam and areas above this particular bed in the Mt. Carmel area, that have been mined out to allow the members in attendance to see where mine pool water exists and approximate locations of the elevations of those pools, based on accurate elevations of existing borehole data for the region and the elevations at which AMD flows from abandoned mine tunnels, shafts, slopes, and other boreholes in the area.
Software used by EPCAMR to create the accurate reflection of the underground hydrogeology was able to show underground contour elevations of some of the coal reaching nearly 5000 to 7500′ deep, particularly in the areas of the Sharp Mountain range, outside of Pottsville, where dangerous cropfalls, extend deep beneath the mountain, into deep Anthracite Mines.
EPCAMR informed the ARIPPA members that what they do not have is an accurate reflection of the number of acres being reclaimed by the Co-Generation Facility industry and that is would be very useful to have to assist, not only EPCAMR, but the Commonwealth of PA in reducing the overall numbers of acres to be reclaimed of abandoned mines in PA. There has never been a comprehensive study of waste coal piles in the last decade or more to accurately reflect the amount of materials that are still out on the landscape in PA. There are still nearly 190,000 acres of abandoned mine lands left unreclaimed in PA and over 5,500 miles of streams impacted by AMD. Nearly 11 Million Tons of CFB-ash has being beneficially used at abandoned mine sites throughout PA. Over 2 Billion Tons of waste coal have been burned as an alternative energy fuel source in PA. Approximately 4500 acres of waste coal piles have been reclaimed in the last 20 years. EPCAMR would be wiling to partner with the industry to update those numbers into our GIS RAMLIS System for the cost of the time to put it together. Several industry representatives followed up with the EPCAMR Staff following the presentation and are interested in meeting with them to discuss future possibilities. Cogentrix, in Northampton County, and NEPCO, in Schuylkill County, were two industry representatives who would like to know more about our services. NEPCO is willing to provide EPCAMR with additional mine maps that we do not have at our fingertips to be able to add more accurate information to mining areas around McAdoo and the areas impacted near the Little Schuylkill River and Silver brook Creek, along State Route 309.
Harvie Beavers, Chairman, of the ARIPPA Board, commented at the end of EPCAMR’s presentation to Mr. McNelly, “It was one of the best technical presentations that our Board has seen in a long time, and it was nice to see that these two young guys have found themselves a niche in the reclamation business.”
ArcView (right) and EarthVision (left)For other details about the presentation, contact ARIPPA directly.
Jeff A McNelly, Executive Director,
2015 Chestnut Street Camp Hill PA 17011
Phone: 717 763 7635, Fax: 717 763 7455 Cell: 717 319 1457
Email: jamcnelly1@arippa.org, Alt Email: office@arippa.org Web: www.arippa.org
277 LRCA seeking funds to treat acid mine drainage 2009-08-11 15:50:01
by shari sanger (staff WRITER)
Published: August 10, 2009
The Lackawanna River Corridor Association is exploring ways to remove acid mine drainage from the Lackawanna River and possibly develop private investment and related business opportunities.
“It’s been one of our long-term goals to get the acid mine drainage at the Old Forge borehole and the Duryea outfall under control, and we are developing proposals and attempting to secure funding to get a study under way,” said Bernie McGurl, executive director of the community-based, nonprofit group.
He said the study would be the first step in a complicated process to get the area placed on a list of qualified sites eligible for application of federal mine reclamation funding.
“We think the problem … should not be the responsibility of the citizens. It’s long been recognized that it’s a problem of federal importance, so it should receive federal funding to help remedy it,” Mr. McGurl said.
The borehole – which can easily be spotted because of bright orange rocks downstream – is the discharge point for a huge underground reservoir of groundwater from hundreds of abandoned coal mines that underlie much of the Lackawanna Valley.
The water becomes polluted as it picks up minerals from the coal and enters the river, he said.
A wider problem
“We believe it’s significant and in need of remediation because it flows right into the Susquehanna River and into the Chesapeake Bay,” Mr. McGurl said.
He said the lower Lackawanna River is classified as a problem because it exceeds the maximum daily load for iron by thousands of pounds.
Unlike a separate project proposed by local inventor Chris Gillis, who is looking to divert the flow of the borehole through a network of settling areas and gently agitate the iron from the water, the association is looking for a broader-based solution.
“I don’t believe there is any single solution; it’s going to take a range of solutions,” Mr. McGurl said.
Mr. Gillis has also proposed harvesting the metal removed from the water and selling it in up to 12 potential markets.
Scientific approach
The association’s focus, however, is more on developing scientific and engineering resources to study ways to treat and mitigate the pollution from the drainage points in Old Forge and Duryea, rather than selling anything.
Mr. McGurl said the association is also looking to involve a broad sector of the community in decision-making that will hopefully lead to the creation of a large master plan for the lower Lackawanna River.
The association’s initial funding applications are for about $170,000 – the estimate for preliminary engineering studies.
Mr. McGurl said it could cost another several hundred thousand dollars to create a measurement apparatus to determine how much water is flowing through the borehole system.
The association has received a $30,000 grant from the Willary Foundation in Scranton but is looking for matching funds.
Looking for help
The group recently submitted funding proposals to the state Department of Environmental Protection, Lackawanna County commissioners and Susquehanna River Basin Commission.
“If we get all the funding together, we will be making an announcement to launch a program,” Mr. McGurl said, adding it would combine both public investment of mine-reclamation funding and support from private investment in industries.
He said the association, throughout the entire process, would work closely with the two boroughs and residents, who own sizeable pieces of the 2,000 acres of abandoned mine land along the west side of the river.
“They will be major partners with us as we try to develop an understanding of all the variables that affect the borehole,” he said.
Contact the writer: ssanger@timesshamrock.com
276 EPCAMR Looking for Volunteers to Participate in Wyoming Valley Cleanups 2009-08-03 14:25:32
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact Robert Hughes-EPCAMR Executive Director
or Leigh Ann Kemmerer Illegal Dump Site Cleanup Specialist for details
570-371-3522 or 570-371-3523
Wyoming Valley Watershed PRIDE (People Reaching Into Dumps Everyday) Upcoming Cleanup!
Volunteers Needed!
EPCAMR would like to continue its effort in cleaning up Northeastern PA’s illegal abandoned mine land dump sites and other trash-filled locations, and is looking for your help and community-wide organizations to participate! Within the next few months we will be seeking volunteers to join us in ridding Luzerne County’s Wyoming Valley, of trash, tires, garbage, household hazardous wastes, demolition debris, and other discarded items located at several illegal dump sites throughout the Wyoming Valley. The work will range from painting over graffiti filled walls with anti-graffiti paint, building community gardens, preserving the historic Avondale Mine Disaster location, to removing thousands of tires from old coal flats near the floodplain to mountaintop stripping pits located right alongside of township roads.
EPCAMR received a $16,000 grant from the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Waste Management in April 2009 and is awaiting a fully executed contract before proceeding with work over the late Summer and into the early Fall 2009. In advance of the work beginning, EPCAMR would like to obtain volunteers (Church Groups, School Clubs, Scout Troops, Boys and Girls or any other community organization or resident that is interested in taking PRIDE in their community) to assist with cleanups. EPCAMR has partnered with dozens of local community groups to secure the funding to work on at least 5 locations throughout the Wyoming Valley.
Gloves and garbage bags are all provided by PA DOT. PA CleanWays has been a partner of EPCAMR’s over the years and has educational materials that we will be able to provide to community residents to prevent future dumping incidents from occurring. EPCAMR has a 12 year history of conducting community cleanups with volunteers throughout the Anthracite Region. EPCAMR’s relationships are strong with these community groups because the majority of the dumping that goes on in the heart of the Northern Anthracite Region is in their backyard, apathy is high, access to sites is unlimited, policing of the sites is virtually non-existent, and it is where there is a need to change the mindset of local folks that illegal dumping should not be tolerated.
Robert Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director emphatically stated, “We don’t accept the mentality that it is alright to dump household wastes wherever you desire just because the landscape has been scarred once. We’re trying to teach our children that this is an unacceptable behavior and it is a quality of life issue for our residents, their community, their health, their childrens’ future, and ultimately, the environment. EPCAMR would like to promote the PA CleanWays Adoption Program with local governments and community groups to establish additional signage to make dumpers more aware that people are going to become more vigilant and on their guard in the future.”
Come join us at a site near you! EPCAMR would really like to recruit additional volunteers for our Cleanups to increase our volunteer base within the Wyoming Valley for future restoration projects in other communities to build upon our earlier successes.
Become a volunteer with Leigh Ann Kemmerer, EPCAMR’s Illegal Dump Site Cleanup Specialist who has assisted with the organization and coordination of this season’s cleanups. It is unbelievable the amount of work that EPCAMR has been able to get done in partnership with all of the volunteers in the Anthracite Region. EPCAMR has a hands-on approach to getting the job done and they work side by side with local residents and youth to actively take part in restoring PRIDE to many communities throughout the Wyoming Valley. EPCAMR is very well-established and respected by many community leaders.
Cleanups will be taking place at the following locations:
1. Pennsylvania Avenue & Dana Street in Wilkes-Barre, along the outside bend of the train tracks
2. Hick’s Creek illegal roadside dump along EPCAMR’s natural stream channel design project along Schooley Ave, Exeter Borough
3. Canal Street Floodplain Area behind the old Apex Auto in West Nanticoke
4. Two small illegal strip mine pits dump sites on Curry Hill and Smith Row in Plymouth Township
5. Avondale Mine Memorial site located just off of Route 11 along the future Susquehanna Warrior Trail, Plymouth Township
If you would like to offer a hand, contact Leigh Ann Kemmerer or Robert Hughes at 570-371-3522 to learn how to sign up and get notified of when the cleanups will occur. Dates have not been set just yet, but volunteers can expect to work for at least a 4 hour shift to assist with any of the cleanups. See details on www.orangewaternetwork.org or EPCAMR’s Facebook page for upcoming dates. Just search for EPCAMR on Facebook and become a fan.
EPCAMR is also registered with Disney’s “Give a Day Get a Disney Day” program.
Give a Day Get a Disney Day Website
Enter our Zip Code (18706) and either Community or Animals and Environment in the Volunteer Opportunity Interest Area box to sign up for a free ticket to Disney!
275 Hope for Avondale Mine Disaster Site through Community Revitalization! 2009-08-03 10:04:13
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact Robert Hughes-EPCAMR Executive Director
or Kyra Norton-EPCAMR Environmental Education Intern for details
570-371-3522 or 570-371-3523
Hope for Avondale Mine Disaster Site through Community Revitalization!
The Avondale Hill community was the site of the deadliest mine disaster in Anthracite coal mining history. On September 6, 1869, 110 men and boys perished in the mine where they were trapped by a suspect fire which began in the mine shaft. After the disaster, relief funds were taken for the families of the dead miners and many laws were passed for mine safety to prevent disasters of this size from occurring again. Since then the Avondale site has become almost forgotten. All that stands there now is a small historical marker, a circular raised bed garden along State Route 11, and the colliery ruins of the old patch town buildings which have become overgrown by shrubbery, thickets, and invasive plants in the floodplain.
Today there are a few organizations that still look after the site and are trying to preserve its history. EPCAMR is one of these organizations. They are trying to complete projects at the site to revitalize it.
A few community organizations have been trying to change the image and memory of the disaster location for several years now so that its history can be told and the site can be visited. EPCAMR and the Anthracite Living History Group have coordinated dozens of volunteer efforts with community partners such as the Wilkes-Barre Area Vo-Tech Machine Shop & Horticulture Class, and several local Boy Scout troops to revitalize the site along the Susquehanna Warrior Trail, which was once the active Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western Railroad. One such project includes cleaning up the illegal dumping that is currently taking place at Avondale.
EPCAMR received a $22,000 Illegal Dump grant from the Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Waste Management to do cleanups throughout the Wyoming Valley at 5 locations over the next year, Avondale included. The work will require tire removal, dumpsters, and volunteers to pick up the trash. EPCAMR also received anti-graffiti paint and rollers donated by PA DOT thanks to Keep PA Beautiful Coordinator Dave Rinehimer. The paint will be rolled in several coats that may be necessary to remove the unsightly graffiti, possible gang-related tags, and vulgarities that are on the underpass near Avondale and also the foundation walls at the site where several raised bed gardens are under construction, the engine house that parallels State Route 11 before you enter the Avondale Hill community, and several other buildings dating back to the Avondale Colliery. The paint will also make future cleanup of any additional graffiti tags by young ignorant youth easier to remove.
Two of EPCAMR’s interns, Kyra Norton and Shawn Jones have jumped at the opportunity to assist with the project before they head back to college in mid-August to help EPCAMR finish the beautification project along the underpass and at several other locations within the next two weeks. PA DOT has provided us with 10 gallons of paint, and several rollers to start off. Once the State budget is passed, they will be able to provide us with additional anti-graffiti paint, rollers, and brushes.
Once all the cleanup work is done, EPCAMR will place gardens near the foundation wall that will be planted with native species of wildflowers and shrubs. Constructions of the raised beds are in place and some additional work and funds need to be generated to complete the work at the site. There will also be tables and benches at the site for people to use to sit and rest or have picnics. Two message-post kiosks will be placed at the site so passer-bys can pick up some educational material about the history of the site and will show various interpretations and vantage points of the old historical structures and the mine shaft. There is also hope of placing a nature trail around the wetlands near the site which will hopefully be linked to the Susquehanna Warrior Trail in the future.
EPCAMR hopes to make this project a success by having community involvement in the site preparation process and planting of the gardens. The community will also be called upon for the light maintenance and upkeep of the site after its revitalization. Robert Hughes, Executive Director for EPCAMR, and Avondale Hill resident, emphatically stated, ” For too many years now after having put in hundreds of volunteer hours alongside of Plymouth Township residents and like-minded historical preservation folks who want to see the Avondale Mine site properly remembered, it’s time to take back our community’s heritage and sense of pride. We have the location of the most significant Anthracite Mining Disaster in US History, right in our backyard, and I guarantee you that many of our children don’t know about it, many residents don’t know about it, and thousands of tourists and outdoor recreationists would love to hear about it.”
274 ARIPPA ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PLANTS RESTORE OVER 4500 ACRES OF AML IN 2008 2009-07-29 15:50:58
NEWS RELEASE ARIPPA
2015 Chestnut Street Camp Hill PA 17011
Fax: 717 763 7455
Email:office@arippa.org Web: www.arippa.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Jeff A McNelly, Executive Director,
Phone: 717 763 7635
ARIPPA ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PLANTS RESTORE OVER 4500 ACRES OF ABANDONED MINE LANDS AND MILES OF DEGRADED STREAMS IN 2008
Environmentally Beneficial Electric Generating plants remove waste coal and utilize beneficial use ash to reclaim lands back to their natural beauty”¦without any expenditure of tax dollars.
CAMP HILL , In recognition of Earth Week, ARIPPA’s Executive Director Jeff A McNelly reported today that the waste-coal-to-alternative-energy industry reached a significant milestone in its ongoing efforts to reclaim damaged abandoned mine reclamation lands. The industry now totals (data recording began in1988) over 4,500 acres of reclaimed mine-scarred lands which will also restore life to hundreds of miles of formerly dead streams.
McNelly said that he is proud that the industry has reached this significant milestone and is happy to add the industry’s successful efforts (without the use of tax dollars) with those of PADEP. PADEP recently announced that they had successfully restored 960 damaged acres at an approximate tax-payer cost of 32 million dollars.
“Our industry’s successful efforts without the use of tax dollars together with the Commonwealth’s tax-payer supported efforts add up to a dedicated and concentrated effort to rid our lands of the significant environmental hazards that abandoned mine lands have created” McNelly stated. “Such hazards endanger the public and limit economic development and recreational opportunities in mining communities”, he added.
“Reclamation efforts by our industry, valued at approximately 90 million dollars has positive effects not only on the directly improved community, but also on many other affect counties nearby, and government efforts which utilize tax-payer dollars”. McNelly emphasized.
CFB (Circulating Fluidized Bed) clean-coal technology, universally utilized by the industry, annually generates approximately 10% of the total electric generation in the Commonwealth of PA”¦supplying hundreds of thousands of homes and industry with much needed alternative energy, while at the same time directly and indirectly employing approximately 2500 workers and pumping millions of dollars into the economy.
Collectively the industry has removed and converted over 145 million tons of waste coal into alternative energy. Its removal and conversion efforts added together with the highly regulated use of beneficial ash to reclaim environmentally damaged lands makes it one of the few environmentally beneficial alternative energy industries in the world.
Pennsylvania has approximately 180,000 acres of abandoned mine lands dating back to when coal mining began in the commonwealth in the 1700s. More than two billion tons of waste coal sits in piles across the state and an estimated 4,600 miles of rivers and streams are degraded by mine drainage. PADEP has determined that it would cost approximately 10 billion dollars of tax-payer funds to correct these problems
Twenty years of operational and environmental industry data indicates that the conversion of waste coal into alternative energy is generated in a safe manner at near capacity levels with a high degree of availability.
In recognition of these factors ARIPPA, the non profit trade association representing the industry, annually recognizes and awards member plants with exceptional operational industry data results. Awards being announced today include availability, capacity, environmental achievement, and safety. The awards will be distributed at the annual ARIPPA Tech-Symposium Awards Luncheon held August 26, 2009 at the Sheraton Harrisburg-Hershey.
For more information, visit www.arippa.org
Editor’s note: The following is a list by county of the ARIPPA member plants and their correlating awards achieved in 2008. These awards will be presented at the annual ARIPPA Tech-Symposium Awards Luncheon held August 26, 2009 at the Sheraton Harrisburg-Hershey.
Capacity: Anthracite- Northampton County Northampton Generating Co (97.32%)
Bituminous- Cambria County Cambria CoGen Co (99.76%)
Availability: Anthracite- Northampton County Northampton Generating Co (97.51%) Single Boiler
Anthracite- Carbon County Panther Creek Partners (93.73%) Multiple Boilers
Bituminous-Clarion County Piney Creek, L.P. (94.82%) Single Boiler
Bituminous-Cambria County Cambria CoGen Co (99.76%) Multiple Boilers
Safety: Anthracite- Delaware County Kimberly Clark-Chester Plant
Carbon County Northeastern Power Co,
Schuylkill County WPS Westwood,
Schuylkill County Wheelabrator Frackville
Bituminous- Cambria County Cambria CoGen Co,
West Virginia American Bituminous Power,
Cambria County Inter-Power-Colver,
Clarion County Piney Creek, L.P
Environmental Achievement: Schuylkill County Schuylkill Energy Resources
273 Geothermal Energy Potential of Mine Pools Warm Cool Audience at PA Conference 2009-07-28 15:45:43
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact Robert Hughes-EPCAMR Executive Director
or Kyra Norton-EPCAMR Environmental Ed. Intern for details
570-371-3522 or 570-371-3523
This year’s conference was focused around the theme “Challenges and Opportunities in Interesting Times” and was held at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown’s Living and Learning Center. There was a total attendance this year of 168 people, 37 speakers, and 31 vendors over the four day Conference.
This year’s conference began with a tour of abandoned mine discharges in the Stonycreek Watershed on Monday afternoon. Sites visited on the tour ranged from recreational and economic benefits of upstream mine water treatment at Whitewater & Greenhouse Parks, windmills on reclaimed abandoned mine sites, to mine discharges and treatment systems throughout the Stonycreek Watershed. A very moving and solemn visit was also included on the tour to the Flight 93 temporary Memorial Site. The final stop on the tour was at the Windber Coal Heritage Center, where conference attendees learned about the coal mining heritage of Windber and the recent mining disaster at Quecreek.
The presentations began early Tuesday, July 14th. Bob Bastian, State Representative (retired) for Bedford and Somerset Counties, started the day off with some very good advice on how to reach your local representatives and his background growing up around AMD. The 37 speakers gave presentations based on two tracks: Abandoned Mine Reclamation or Coal Mining Heritage. The Abandoned Mine Reclamation presentations varied from topics such as Economic Impact of Abandoned Mine Drainage Cleanup, Geothermal projects, Manganese Oxide Recovery, Manure and Minelands, and panel discussions on funding, technical assistance, and grant writing assistance. The Coal Mining Heritage track had presentations that focused on the History of the Paint Creek Watershed, Taylor Colliery Historic Brownfields Redevelopment, Anthracite Coal Heritage, OSM/VISTAs in PA, and the Johnstown Area Heritage Association.
Tuesday evening was the formal dinner where the Annual Mayfly Award was presented to this year’s recipients: Bob Hedin, Hedin Environmental, and Dr. Art Rose, Emeritus Penn State professor. The Mayfly Award is presented to those who exhibit long term efforts in addressing mine drainage remediation projects in PA and has contributed greatly towards cleaning up PA’s environment from abandoned mine drainage impacts. Another announcement made at the dinner was that Joe Pizarchik from the Bureau of Mining and Reclamation will be appointed the next Director of the Office of Surface Mining by the Obama Administration. PA DEP Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation also highlighted the AMD Set Aside Program Implementation Guidelines and how watershed groups now must obtain a Hydrologic Unit Plan designation for their watersheds before becoming eligible to receive Set Aside funds. Many more topics of a wide variety were presented and the attention spent by the audience to the details of each of them was great.
Other activities that took place at the conference were Coal Mining Heritage videos after dinner on Tuesday, a Rockband2 competition led by the EPCAMR Staff, and an optional tour Thursday by PA Trout Unlimited, the Clearfield County Conservation District, the West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Coalition, and Cambria County Conservation & Recreation Authority took attendees to AMD Remediation sites in the West Branch of the Susquehanna River (Cambria County).
This years videos were “Hard Coal: Last of the Bootleg Miners” and Centralia “The Town that Was.” The Rockband2 Competition also took place Tuesday evening after dinner where teams competed for prizes.
Robert Hughes-Conference Coordinator-EPCAMR, and Andy McAllister-WPCAMR Watershed Outreach Coordinator were able to convince one of our international attendees to speak; an impromptu international speaker, Gerard Shaw, Corporate Legacy Manager from Canada’s Cape Breton Development Corporation. Robert stated enthusiastically, “Gerard was able to fill in for our opening speaker on Wednesday and talked about Canada’s abandoned mines, submarine mining and reclamation efforts off of the coast of Nova Scotia, and Canada’s interest in geothermal energy potential from mine pools. His presentation was well received and very interesting depicting pictures of the coal mining operations that proceed under the ocean to the length of 8 miles out to sea. Andy and Robert were able to talk to him on the tour and at the Conference to see if he’d like to have an opportunity to give a Canadian perspective on the work that we are doing here in PA and what they are doing up North. It was a good catch”
On Wednesday evening, the Johnstown Area Heritage Association welcomed attendees to a Mixer at the JAHA Discovery Center. The 5 story building was well preserved and many options for the attendees to visit were available during the 3 hour event. A rooftop natural biodiversity native plants garden was exhibited. The Children’s Museum was toured and attendees even were able to go down a large slide normally left for the amusement of children. Historical and cultural displays were abound. The mixer took place on the 5th Floor’s Ethnic Club where attendees gathered and networked around a very rustic mahogany bar.
On behalf of the 2009 AMR Conference Planning Committee, EPCAMR would like to thank everyone who attended this year’s conference, all of our sponsors, particularly, PA DEP, Foundation for PA Watersheds, US Department of Interior-Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement, PA Environmental Digest, Gander Mountain-Johnstown Store for their Gander bucks, Gannett Fleming, Mackin Engineering, Trout Unlimited, and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, our exhibitors, and vendors-Land & Mapping Services and Lime Doser Consulting. Without any of these people, the conference would not have been possible.
Pictures from the AMD Tours and Conference Happenings have been posted on EPCAMR’s Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/EPCAMR/95647429094) site and all conference presentations will be posted on the www.treatminewater.com website shortly. Hope to see everyone at next year’s conference, Bridging Reclamation, Science, & the Community at the Green Tree Hotel in Pittsburgh from June 5th , 11th, 2010.
The 12th Annual PA AMR Conference will be coordinated in partnership by the PA AMR Conference Planning Committee and the 27th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mining & Reclamation, Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement. Check out the link www.PghMiningReclamationConf.com for further details. The “Science, Community, and Reclamation (SCR)” Session will be particularly geared towards community watershed organizations working on AMD issues.
272 EPCAMR Goes Green with Orange Chalk Talks 2009-07-02 13:41:00
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact Robert Hughes-EPCAMR Executive Director
or Kyra Norton-EPCAMR Environmental Ed. Intern for details
570-371-3522 or 570-371-3523
Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation has taken large efforts towards cleaning up local streams affected by abandoned mine drainage throughout the Anthracite Region. Staff and interns from EPCAMR have developed alternative beneficial uses of Iron Oxide that is being recycled after harvesting, extraction, and drying from the Lackawanna and Susquehanna River tributary streams. A very popular program developed by EPCAMR is making recycled Iron Oxide chalk with local elementary students from what was once a pollutant in our local streams. Recent chalk programs with local schools were sponsored in part by the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resourced and the National Park Service. Funding from this grant allowed EPCAMR to reach out to over 1,400 students in 6 months and teach them how they can help in EPCAMR’s efforts to restore streams impacted by past mining practices.
LHVA granted EPCAMR $500 which went towards chalk molds, plaster of Paris, the printing of the chalk boxes created by the EPCAMR Staff and cups. These supplies were then used at several local schools to create the Iron Oxide Chalk. Robert E. Hughes, Executive Director of EPCAMR and author of the successful grant stated enthusiastically, “The Iron Oxide Chalk making process is relatively simple. Add dried Iron Oxide powder to a Dixie cup half full of Plaster of Paris, add tap water, and mix until smooth. Kids then can choose any kind of mold to pour to create the chalk which usually takes a few hours to set up and harden. Kids chose from molds that looked like stars, fruit, sports, fossils, trees, hearts, frogs, flowers, smiley faces, lady bugs, and peace signs. The grant paid for dozens of molds which can also be used for making chocolate candy. Sometimes, the kids want to eat the chalk because they look like candy, but we strongly advise against the temptation”, he says with a laugh.
The first program sponsored by the LHVA grant was with elementary aged students from Wilkes-Barre Boulevard Townhomes at the John B. McGlynn Learning Center for Martin Luther King Jr’s Holiday where approximately 23 kids participated. During Earth Week the chalk program was also conducted with 75 college students from Luzerne County Community College. On Earth Day, EPCAMR conducted another chalk program at Wilkes-Barre Riverfront Park with nearly 1,000 students from dozens of school districts in the area. There was a chalk program conducted at Bear Creek Elementary Charter School’s After School Program, Luzerne County, with 12 students. EPCAMR also reached out to Greater Nanticoke Area Elementary School where the entire 3rd grade class consisting of 200 students participated in an Iron Oxide Chalk Talk Program. Another program conducted through the LHVA grant was with John Marshall Elementary 4th Graders in Scranton, PA where 60 students participated. EPCAMR even got 25 Wilkes University Freshmen students involved in making chalk for EPCAMR while learning about service learning and volunteer opportunities with our non-profit organization.
Some of the chalk made at these programs was then donated back to EPCAMR. Some was donated back to the students who made the chalk, while the rest was donated to Malikar High School, overseas. Malikar High School is a new school opening in Afghanistan where EPCAMR has a friend in the Army who is helping to rebuild Afghanistan schools and infrastructure. A 10 pound box of Iron Oxide chalk containing over 1000 pieces has been donated to Malikar High School as an opening gift for the school and will be presented to the students during their dedication of the school Summer 2009. Students who participated in the Chalk Programs were told about the chalk donation to Malikar High School and were glad they could help other children who had no chalk or resources to learn.
EPCAMR expresses our greatest appreciation to all those who participated in our Iron Oxide Chalk Programs and a special thank you goes to the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the National Park Service for sponsoring these efforts to help clean up our streams by recycling the iron oxide by making chalk and conducting other children’s activities. EPCAMR plans on continuing to do the Iron Oxide Chalk Talk programs when school starts in the Fall 2009.
One 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Haarmeyer, from John Marshall Elementary, stated, “Thank you, Mr. Hughes, once again, for presenting to our 4th grade class. We welcome your return in the next school year, for the original program as well as AMD Tie Dyes. You take pollutants and transform them into an educational, artful experience for children. You were able to weave your scientific and geological knowledge of Northeastern PA into an exciting journey. Every 4th through 6TH grade student in the Lackawanna Valley should be encouraged to attend one of your AMD Iron Oxide Chalk Talks. Every business that relies on clean tap water should be encouraged to support Mr. Hughes’ Project at EPCAMR.”
271 Internship Program Brings Two Students on Board for the Summer 2009-06-03 18:09:32
Boost Outreach Efforts on AMD for EPCAMR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —May 18th, 2009
Contact: Robert E. Hughes
570-674-3411
SHAVERTOWN, PA ,
Kyra Norton, a senior at Bloomsburg University set to graduate in December 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography & Environmental Planning has joined the EPCAMR Summer Internship Program through a collaboration previously established with Bloomsburg University’s Career Placement Office. Kyra is from the Berwick area, is a member of the Geography Honor Society (Gamma Theta Upsilon) and the Geography & Planning Society. She has participated in previous illegal dump site cleanups, recycling efforts, and teaching students and others how they can do their part to help protect the environment. She has a background in landscape design, AUTOCAD, working with youth, and interacting with college students on a daily basis through her previous work in the Bloomsburg University’s Admissions Office.
Kyra, who started on May 11th has already assisted EPCAMR with conducting 5 Iron Oxide Chalk Talk presentations with the Greater Nanticoke Area 3rd Grade Class, where we made over 1000 pieces of recycled iron oxide chalk for sidewalk art and the classroom out of recovered mine drainage from within the GNA School District’s very own watershed, the Nanticoke Creek. So far, over 180 students have participated in the program. Several more programs area lined up before school is out in both Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties. Kyra has also learned how to process, dry, sift, and blend, our iron oxide into the fine powder form that allows us to sell it to groups who would like to conduct AMD Tie Dye T-shirt Workshops that EPCAMR has been doing for nearly 10 years. This past Sunday at the Bear Creek Festival in Schuylkill County, Summit Station, Kyra assisted EPCAMR Staff, Mahanoy Creek Watershed Association members, and Tamaqua Area High School students in our annual AMD Tie Dye T-shirt Workshop, where over 350 t-shirts, donated by ALCOA Aluminum Products Company, were hung to dry on a makeshift clothesline of twine and rope that extended twice up and down the one side of a 120′ long section of a pole building. Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director jokingly said, “She’s only a week into the internship! There is plenty more in store for her as the summer progresses! She’s been caught red-handed in our world of AMD already and I think that she really enjoys it.”
Shawn Jones, a sophomore this year at Montana State University is studying Land Rehabilitation and specializing in soils and hydrology, which no other university in the nation offers. He is also pursuing a double minor in Soil Science & Geographic Information Systems (GIS). He has taken a few courses on hydrologic principles, plant identification and basic soil texturing. This summer, while home from the West, he hopes to get his hands out of the books and into the dirt, well, abandoned mine drainage, and culm, to apply some of his classroom learning experiences. Shawn grew up in Wilkes-Barre and graduated from G.A.R High School.
Both students seem highly self motivated and are goal oriented people, who pay great attention to detail. Their work ethic should carry over nicely for the Summer with EPCAMR. We need team players. “We count on interns who are not afraid to take and show initiative to assist our organization with building local capacity in our coalfield communities given our limited resources, staff abilities, and budget,” emphasized Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director. “They give us a real shot in the air with some of our Summer Outreach and Education Programs,” he added.
Shawn has a passion and knowledge for digesting all kinds of information on the land and history of the Anthracite Coal Region of Northeastern PA. The coal mining heritage is something that runs deep in his family, as many of them were members involved in mining before the Knox Mine Disaster. With his major, he feels like he can continue carrying the torch, by helping reclaim the mine scarred lands damaged by his past family members without even realizing it, out of necessity. He mentions that he was inspired in his senior year at G.A.R. Memorial, through the Watershed Program coordinated by the PA DCNR Bureau of State Parks, the Luzerne & Lackawanna Intermediate Units, and EPCAMR, to go into the environmental field to seek out new ways to reclaim our environment, restore waterways impacted by mining pollution, and to clean up our coalfield communities littered with illegal dump sites. It wasn’t until he was mentored by the EPCAMR Executive Director that he really decided that EPCAMR’s line of work, our profession, project management, environmental education and outreach opportunities to teach and learn about local mining history was for him. “Most students in the Watersheds Program saw it as a ticket to get out of school for awhile, but it really made an impact in my life.” said Shawn enthusiastically.
Shawn’s first day consisted of putting together a list of 32 schools that EPCAMR has to send a box of donated iron oxide chalk to from a few weeks ago at an Earth Day Program where we promised students to deliver their teacher a surprise package. He also attended a two hour workshop on how to incorporate Social Marketing into your non-profit’s tool box and will be building a profile for EPCAMR on FACEBOOK, YOUTUBE, and Idealist.org.
270 Residents protest river cleanup 2009-06-03 17:58:03
Project will remove iron oxide from the mine water draining into the Lackawanna River.
RALPH NARDONE Times Leader Correspondent
DURYEA , Borough officials thought Friday’s meeting would involve taking a few minutes to authorize some bills.
But just before adjourning, council members were forced to respond to several protests from taxpayers who questioned council’s authority to proceed with a Lackawanna River cleanup project.
Council Chairman Alfred Akulonis fielded accusations from two former council members who claimed the borough moved ahead on a $790,000 mine water reclamation project without giving the public any say. Akulonis denied any breaches of proper procedure.
Audrey Marcinko, a former council member poised to retake a seat on council next year due to her win in the recent primary, admonished Akulonis for authorizing the project without doing the necessary research on its value to the community.
The project, funded by gambling grant money from the state Department of Community and Economic Development, will remove iron oxide from the mine water draining into the Lackawanna River from a bore hole in Old Forge, according to Akulonis.
Marcinko accused council of using grant money that could have been used for city streets and sidewalks for a project she called an “experiment.”
She said the value for the iron oxide has not been determined.
Akulonis pointed out the grant for the river project did not hinder acquiring sidewalk grants. They were two separate grant applications, he said, and the state decided “the river is more important.”
Akulonis accused Marcinko of not supporting cleaning up the river.
“You don’t want the water clean,” he said.
She fired back she has proven her support for river cleanup for years.
Akulonis said after the meeting the iron oxide taken from the river could be sold for up to $1 million annually. It is used in all types of wood-staining products, he said.
At the June 9 meeting, the borough will have a public hearing concerning the iron oxide removal.
Within six weeks, a trailer with equipment will be set up somewhere downriver from the Old Forge borehole to start testing the water to determine if it represents a good source of iron oxide. Akulonis said he is confident it is.
In other discussions, former council member Don MacRae questioned the council on the $27,000 authorized for a new park behind the borough building. Akulonis said the money was from another state grant and is not a cost to the borough.
268 Register for the Pennsylvania Statewide Conference on Abandoned Mine Reclamation 2009-05-22 12:09:57
Registration is now open for the Pennsylvania Statewide Conference on Abandoned Mine Reclamation and Coal Mining Heritage. Please visit www.treatminewater.com for more details.
2009 Theme: “Challenges and Opportunities in Interesting Times”
When: July 13-16, 2009
Where: The Living / Learning Center on the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown campus in Johnstown, PA.
This year’s conference will focus on the following topics:
* Renewable energy ties to abandoned mine lands and mine drainage
* Brownfields, grayfields and mine scarred lands redevelopment
* The implementation of SMCRA Title 4 and 30% Set-Aside Program
* Mine pool water reuse
* Policy dealing with abandoned mine lands and mine drainage
* How to prevent an AMD remediation project from being “railroaded” quickly
* Pennsylvania Coal Mining History
* Tour of local sites
267 Hard Coal Films to be Screened at the Anthracite Heritage Museum 2009-03-30 10:35:46
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Chester J. Kulesa
March 26, 2009 (570)963-4804
Calendar Notice:
When: Sunday, April 26, 2009, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
What: Anthracite Coal Films Screening
Where: Anthracite Heritage Museum, McDade Park, Scranton
On Sunday, April 26, 2009, at 1 p.m., the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum will screen two documentary films. These include Marc Brodzik’s film Hard Coal as well as Chris Perkel and Georgie Roland’s film The Town That Was. The program will be introduced by Dr. J. Philip Mosley, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Penn State Worthington Scranton and member of the Anthracite Heritage Museum and Iron Furnaces Associates. Dr. Mosley will also lead a discussion after each film. A mid-afternoon break will offer refreshments. This film program is free and open to the public.
The film Hard Coal: Last of the Bootleg Miners has won the Best Feature Documentary Award at the 2009 DIY Film Festival in Los Angeles, and an official selection of the 2009 Carolina Film Festival and 2009 Buffalo-Niagara Film Festival. The film The Town That Was is the story of the coal seam fire under the town of Centralia, and the efforts of the youngest remaining resident, John Lokitis, to keep his hometown alive.
The Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum is located in McDade Park, off Keyser Avenue, in Scranton (Exits 182 or 191-B off I-81, and Exit 122, Keyser Avenue, from I-476). OPEN HOURS: Monday through Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. Admission is charged for the Museum’s main exhibit, Anthracite People: Immigration & Ethnicity in Pennsylvania’s Hard Coal Region. Admission to a temporary exhibit, The Great Anthracite Coal Strike of 1902, is included. Call the Museum at 570-963-4804, or see www.anthracitemuseum.org, for more information.
This program is being held in conjunction with the 2009 theme of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) entitled Energy: Innovation and Impact. This theme focuses on energy and the effect it has had on the Commonwealth. See for yourself how energy fueled Pennsylvania and the developing nation by exploring PHMC historic sites and museums along the Energy Trail of History. For more information on stops along the Energy Trail of History, visit www.paenergytrail.com.
The Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Individuals with disabilities who need special assistance or accommodations to visit the Museum should call the Museum at 570-963-4804, in advance to discuss their needs. Pennsylvania TDD relay service is available at (800) 654-5984.
266 Projects vie for slice of stimulus 2009-03-30 10:32:06 
March 29, 2009
By Rory Sweeney rsweeney@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
For three straight years, Dallas resident Jim Abrams has attempted to land Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority funding for his biofuel-production company, and he’s been denied each time. But with the federal stimulus package pouring millions into the program’s coffers, the 2005 Kings College grad is confident this is the year.
“Oh definitely,” said Abrams, the director and, with his father, co-founder of EthosGen. “We fully believe, based on the technological progress we’ve made, increasing our revenue, increasing our staff in the past year on our own merits, we believe that can only be positive.”
Now focused on producing the ingredients needed to make biofuels , a sugar substrate and a high-energy cellulosic material , EthosGen has already signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to build one of its greenhouses. Requiring no resources from the soil, the scalable facilities are designed to grow a prolific, high-energy grass and then support the chemical reactions necessary to produce basic biofuel materials.
“We’re a little more of a hybrid farmer,” Abrams said, noting that he was able to sit down with Gov. Ed Rendell on Thursday to pitch his idea.
He said his idea fits in well with the stimulus’ goal.
“That’s one of the things about alternative fuels: You’re creating high-paying, sustainable jobs for the long term,” he said. “You can’t ship biofuels. These biomass jobs are going to be in the U.S. for the foreseeable future.”
Plus, he said, his project would make an impact immediately if it got funded. “We can use that money now. That’s one of the things we’ll use with our story to the state , we’re ready to go,” he said.
Christopher Gillis’ project isn’t as focused on energy and hasn’t progressed as far as EthosGen, but he’s still hoping to get a slice of the nearly $500 million being pumped into the state’s energy programs.
“We are anticipating that within the next year, some of that money will come through, and whether it comes through a federal agency, a state agency or a county block grant, we’re unsure,” he said.
The money is part of the $787 billion economic stimulus package passed by Congress and signed into law Feb. 17 by President Barack Obama. The program includes selected tax cuts and incentives to spur certain consumer and business spending.
Gillis has a private-equity firm monitoring the situation, and he’s staying in contact with state legislators and Lackawanna County and Luzerne County commissioners. “Just about at every level, if something comes through we’ll be alerted to it.”
Ostensibly, Gillis’ project would remove pollution from acid-mine drainage flowing into the Lackawanna River from an outfall in Old Forge, but several byproducts of the system , carbon dioxide and geothermal heat , can be exploited for energy. He hopes the process, for which he’s seeking patents, is innovative enough that he’ll get some money to start building the estimated $20 million plant.
The money isn’t just for energy startups, though.
Of the $454 million available for energy projects, $252 million is for building weatherization and $102 million is earmarked for energy-efficiency and conservation grants. Regionally, Scranton will receive $718,500 from the block grants, while Wilkes-Barre will get $192,300 and Luzerne County stands to receive $2,542,200.
265 Obama proposes mine cleanup reforms 2009-03-02 10:33:18
February 27, 2009
Legislation would stop coalfield states from diverting funding
By Ken Ward Jr.
Staff writer
Read more in the Coal Tattoo blog.
President Barack Obama wants to stop coalfield states from diverting money intended to clean up abandoned coal mines to other projects.
Obama plans to submit legislation to enact the change, and on Thursday submitted a budget proposal that includes language deleting the distribution of up to $200 million a year to states that have already reclaimed all of their abandoned coal sites.
The proposal is sure to generate controversy and receive significant opposition from states like Wyoming, which has cleaned up its abandoned coal mines, but still gets nearly $100 million a year from the federal Abandoned Mine Lands program.
“This is going to be huge,” said Greg Conrad, who follows the AML program for the Interstate Mining Compact Commission, which represents mining states on such issues.
Obama’s proposal could also affect Louisiana, Montana, Texas and three American Indian tribes. But the big loser by far would be Wyoming, the nation’s largest coal-producer, which stands to miss out on $100 million a year in AML funding.
The proposal goes against a political compromise forged in 2006. Legislation passed that year extended the coal production tax that funds AML cleanups and enacted some program reforms. But it also allowed states that have completed their coal cleanups to continue using the money for non-coal reclamation, road construction and even college campus expansions.
Under the AML program, coal operators nationwide pay a per-ton tax that funds the reclamation of mine sites that were abandoned before the federal strip mine law was passed in 1977. Also under the law, states that cleaned up all of their abandoned mines were to be “certified.” Theoretically, they would then receive less money, and be able to use that money for broader purposes. But some states that finished their cleanups were never formally certified. And others that were certified – such as Wyoming – continued to receive huge sums of AML money that they spent on projects that had nothing to do with coal.
Through the 2006 legislation, states like Wyoming lost an automatic 50 percent of future AML taxes paid by their coal industries. But, they continued to receive payments from their past AML taxes, and were given more leeway to spend the money however they wanted.
Now, Obama says he wants to eliminate all payments of AML money to certified states, according to his budget proposal documents.
“The goal is to stop payments to states where the job of reclaiming abandoned coal mines is done,” said Peter Mali, a spokesman for the U.S. Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement.
The president himself singled out the AML proposal when he announced his budget, saying that Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar “will save nearly $200 million by stopping wasteful payments to clean up abandoned coal mines that just happen to have already been cleaned up.”
Budget documents explain that the proposal “would eliminate these unrestricted payments to states that have completed cleanup, saving close to $200 million in 2014.”
Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kward@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1702.
263 11th Annual PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation & Coal History Conference set for July 2009-02-26 14:44:25 2-26-09
The Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation will be taking the lead on the coordination of the 11th Annual PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation & Coal History conference for 2009, with its western PA counterpart, WPCAMR, and other state-wide reclamation partners who make up the Conference Planning Committee. The AMR Conference is set for July 13-16th, 2009, hosted by the University of Pittsburgh, at Johnstown’s Living Learning Center at the heart of the campus. This year’s conference theme will be focused around renewing the collective energy of our state-wide patch town heritage and culture to become the new green communities of the future. Alternative renewable energy sources that can potentially be derived from abandoned mine sites and underground mine water pools are two of the focus areas that are being considered at this year’s conference. The Alternative Energy Investment Act and the Alternative Fuels Incentive Act, both signed by Governor Rendell in July 2008, will provide $665.9 million of state investment in alternative energy sources, is expected to attract up to $3.5 billion in private investment in alternative energy in Pennsylvania, and 10,000 jobs.
With the national economy falling into a recession, consumers need to begin to think about leaning towards greater fuel efficiencies and more conservative energy consumption. Corporate responsibilities lie on the ability to find alternative clean energy sources that can diversify their portfolios and the need for consumptive use of our Commonwealth’s rivers and streams for purposes in the industrial gas & oil fields development. There is a growing national support for economic redevelopment that will create green jobs related to infrastructure development. PA’s abandoned mine lands and mining impacted waterways are now poised to become some of our greatest assets in our environment.
Our community watersheds have the opportunity to partner with companies that are interested in our Commonwealth’s resources on our abandoned mine lands. These problem areas could one day create sustainable communities that could decrease our carbon footprint utilizing solar, wind, hydro-electric, geothermal, and the Marcellus Shale oil & gas energy, as opposed to increasing our overall footprint based solely on fossil fuel alone. Attendees will hopefully be able to come away from this year’s conference with information not only on alternative energy sources, but on ways in which they can begin to reduce costs to their overall operation & maintenance of AMD treatment systems, reclaim additional acres of abandoned mine lands through public-private partnerships through the various power industries that will be invited, and to establish relationships with corporations from within and outside of PA. It will be incumbent upon the watershed stewards to stress and inform these corporation of the importance of maintaining our coal heritage while still shaping our communities future in our modern day society.
We are looking for industry leaders to come and exhibit and speak to PA’s community leaders and state-wide organizations that are interested in creating a marriage between these new “green jobs” that will stimulate the local economies of these watersheds, while at the same time protecting and reclaiming the sins of past mining practices on these former industrial brownfields of the mining industry. While our community leaders are stewards of our local watersheds impacted by mining, we need to work with our economic and private sector leaders to become engaged in corporate citizenship on a local level, particularly with new industry leaders who are coming into PA. We are encouraging those industry leaders to become a vendor or a sponsor and have an opportunity to speak at the conference about your corporation interests and future innovative technologies in the field of abandoned mine reclamation.
Planning for topics is ongoing as we speak. There will be a half-day tour on the 13th in and around the Greater Johnstown Area to AMD Sites, reclamation projects, municipal wastewater treatment technologies using hydroelectric generation, and other significant places of interest to remind us of our coal heritage and culture. The Johnstown Area Heritage Association is going to play a key role in this year’s conference. There will be a day and a half of abandoned mine reclamation and AMD topics as well as a day and a half of coal heritage and history topics. We are also looking for speakers related to PA coal history to provide the historical context to base future decisions upon. The last day, on the 16th will be a half day, with an optional tour planned for the PA Coal Heritage Museum in Johnstown.
The AMR conference will also focus on receiving an update from the PA Department of Environmental Protection on the status of the Title IV Surface Mining Control & Reclamation implementation plans, Set-Aside funding for AMD remediation projects, and the AMD Treatability Criteria Selection for AMD remediation projects. Can black culm banks and orange streams in our mining impacted watersheds becoming the “new green communities” of the future? Join us and find out for yourself, if you would like to become a part of the solution to our mine water pollution. Check out the conference website at 2009.treatminewater.com
CONTACT:
Robert Hughes
EPCAMR Executive Director
570-0674-3411
rhughes@epcamr.org
262 Avondale Hill reclamation project nearly done 2009-02-23 15:43:30
BY ELIZABETH SKRAPITS STAFF WRITER
Published: Monday, February 16, 2009 4:06 AM EST
Although the project is running behind schedule, the formerly trash-strewn pit on Avondale Hill in Plymouth Township is almost filled in and 136 acres of mine-scarred land have been cleared in a swath visible from the South Cross Valley Expressway.
The non-profit Earth Conservancy, which owns the land, would like it to be used for housing at some point.
“We have plans that area could be used for a residential kind of development,” Earth Conservancy Executive Director Mike Dziak said. “There certainly are no immediate plans. With the market conditions and the timing, that could be years.”
The key part of the project was filling in the 200-foot deep strip-mining hole, said Mike Korb of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation.
“The pit pretty much is not there anymore. We left a small portion of it open for drainage,” said Tony Popple, vice president of Napcon, the company contracted to do the work.
It took about 5,134,800 cubic yards of material to fill the pit; there were 112,400 cubic yards of rock to excavate, and 136 acres’ worth of trees to be removed, he said.
“To be able to do the grading on the material, you have to take the trees off,” Korb said.
After the pit is completely filled in, Napcon will put in large drainage swales to control stormwater. Seventeen thousand square yards of rock will prevent erosion as the water runs down, Popple said. Since it drains toward state Route 11, it requires installation of a concrete-lined channel that runs under the road and into the Susquehanna River, he said.
The last step of the project will be to seed the entire area with grass and trees, “put in a mix of the kinds of plants animals like to eat,” Popple said. A gravel road will be put in from one end of the project to the other, he said.
The Avondale pit was a souvenir of coal strip-mining from the 1940s. Over the years it became a notorious illegal dump site, especially for used tires and large items. A tire fire in the pit in November 2001 rekindled concern about it being a health and safety hazard.
The Earth Conservancy had been trying to do something about the pit for years. In 1995, the organization proposed filling it with tons of fly ash that would be imported from around the country. It didn’t fly.
After convincing the Department of Environmental Protection the Avondale reclamation project was worthwhile, the Earth Conservancy ended up getting a $3.9 million federal abandoned mine land grant, administered through DEP.
Groundbreaking for the project was in September 2004. Completion, originally slated for October 2007, was moved to October 2008.
The safety issues at the Avondale site are remedied, but the rest of the project has fallen behind, DEP spokesman Mark Carmon said.
“The job still has some time to go. Our estimate is that we’re about 60 percent completed. We really don’t have an idea of a completion date,” Korb said.
Popple blames the delay on fuel prices. Off-road vehicle fuel is a bit less expensive than regular diesel fuel because no road taxes are imposed on it, Popple said.
When Napcon bid for the project, off-road fuel was $1 gallon, Popple said. It shot up to almost $4 a gallon and, even though it has gone down to $2 a gallon, that’s still double what the contractor expected, he said.
Not only is Napcon paying the higher fuel prices out of pocket, but the company is being penalized $950 a day for going over the deadline, Popple said.
“They don’t have any problem with the quality of our work, but we can only afford to do what we can with the fuel, then they hinder us with the penalty,” he said.
Asked for comment from DEP, Carmon said, “We’re in litigation with this contractor, so all we can say is that he fell behind on the contract and wasn’t even considered for other projects because of his past problems.”
eskrapits@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2072
261 GROWING GREENER PROJECTS (2008) 2009-02-20 18:00:56
N E W S R E L E A S E COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2/20/2009
CONTACT:
Teresa Candori, DEP
Phone: (717) 787-1323
GOVERNOR RENDELL ANNOUNCES MORE THAN $21.5 MILLION INVESTMENT IN 144 GROWING GREENER PROJECTS TO IMPROVE WATER QUALITY
HARRISBURG , Governor Edward G. Rendell today announced the investment of more than $21.5 million in 144 Growing Greener projects to reduce pollution from stormwater runoff and farms, treat acid mine drainage, reduce flooding and improve water quality across the commonwealth.
The funds are being distributed to non-profit organizations, watershed groups and county and municipal governments to address local and regional water quality issues.
“The vast majority of the work to improve water quality and treat Pennsylvania’s mine drainage and pollution problems is done by community volunteers and local governments, and the role of the Growing Greener program is to provide support to these organizations so that this work can continue,” Governor Rendell said. “Many of these projects are modest in size but they make significant contributions to the health of our waterways, which improves our quality of life and creates opportunities for economic development in communities affected by historic pollution or flooding problems.”
Funded projects include educational programs, scientific studies and youth volunteer opportunities such as an ongoing program that enlists local high school students to perform riparian buffer planting on local farms and streams in Crawford County. Dam removal projects that will improve streamflow and aquatic habitat will be funded in Chester, Lycoming and Montgomery counties, and funding is provided for repairs, upgrades and improvements to urban stormwater control infrastructure.
“The Growing Greener program has been a tremendous success for Pennsylvania, investing millions of dollars to help communities and local residents fix historic problems and take on new challenges in all 67 counties,” Rendell said.
Growing Greener 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.
A detailed list of the projects is available online at www.growinggreener2.com.
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The Rendell administration is committed to creating a first-rate public education system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens and continuing economic investment to support our communities and businesses. To find out more about Governor Rendell’s initiatives and to sign up for his weekly newsletter, visit www.governor.state.pa.us.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a list by county of the $3.7 million in Growing Greener Non-Point Source Pollution Control grants:
ALLEGHENY COUNTY
Pine Creek Land Conservation Trust — $46,641 for the Crouse Run stream restoration project.
BEDFORD COUNTY
Broad Top Township — $49,500 for design and construction of a passive mine drainage treatment system on Brewster Hollow Run to improve water quality in Six Mile Run.
BUTLER COUNTY
Stream Restoration Incorporated — $720,245 for design and construction of a passive mine drainage treatment system at the McIntyre discharge on the headwaters of Blacks Creek.
CLEARFIELD COUNTY
Lawrence Township — $47,465 for design and permitting of a passive mine drainage treatment system to treat three mine discharges from abandoned underground mines that pollute Montgomery Creek which supplies drinking water to the city of Clearfield.
Pike Township — $110,022 to design a mine drainage treatment system on the first and most damaging set of discharges on Little Anderson Creek. The six-phase project will take three years to complete.
DAUPHIN COUNTY
Dauphin County Conservation District — $75,000 to install a liner in the final polishing pond at the Bear Creek mine drainage system to eliminate leaks.
Dauphin County Conservation District — $52,500 to install agricultural best management practices as part of the Phase II restoration of Conewago Creek.
ERIE COUNTY
Erie County Conservation District — $150,000 to implement nutrient and sediment loading reductions to improve water quality in the Trout Run watershed.
JEFFERSON COUNTY
Jefferson County Conservation District — $30,300 to complete final design of a passive mine drainage treatment system on the headwaters of the Nye Branch, a tributary in the headwaters of Pine Run watershed.
Jefferson County Conservation District — $25,300 to re-design the mine drainage treatment system for numerous mine discharges on Caylor Run.
LANCASTER COUNTY
Lancaster County Conservation District — $101,187 to stabilize 3,200 feet of eroding streambank on Mill Creek and install cattle-exclusion fencing and riparian buffers on four farms as part of Phase 1 of the Mill Creek stream restoration project.
LUZERNE COUNTY
Harveys Lake Borough — $262,534 to reduce non-point source pollution into Pennsylvania’s largest natural lake.
MIFFLIN COUNTY
Mifflin County Conservation District — $414,229 to implement cost-effective agricultural best management practices to reduce nutrient and sediment impairment in the Upper Kishacoquillas Creek watershed.
Mifflin County Conservation District — $220,084 to implement cost-effective agricultural Best Management Practices to reduce nutrient and sediment impairment in the Hungry Run Watershed.
MULTIPLE COUNTIES
League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Citizen Education Fund — $95,000 for Water Resources Education Network Grants to fund local watershed initiatives by community-based partnerships.
Luzerne Conservation District – $123,500 to provide technical advice and services to watershed groups through the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation
Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts — $143,700 to continue support of the Pennsylvania Nonpoint Source Pollution Education Office which provides education and financial support to municipalities, watershed groups, conservation districts and the general public.
Tri-County Conewago Creek Association — $222,000 for Phase II of the Hershey Meadows Stream Restoration Project to restore 2,700 feet of the Conewago Creek and create 15 acres of wetlands.
Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation — $123,500 to provide technical advice and services to watershed groups through the Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation.
WESTMORELAND COUNTY
Borough of Mount Pleasant — $475,250 to retrofit commercial and residential stormwater systems with volume control and infiltration best management practices in a priority watershed impaired by urban stormwater runoff.
Jacobs Creek Watershed Association — $167,500 to design and install bio-retention stormwater volume control on municipal and commercial parking lots as part of the Scottdale Stormwater Retrofit Project.
###
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a list by county of the $3 million in Growing Greener Abandoned Mine Drainage / Abandoned Mine Lands Reclamation grants:
ALLEGHENY COUNTY
Horticultural Society of Western Pennsylvania — $226,300 to design a network of underground drains and ponds to collect and treat mine drainage discharges for use in irrigation at the Botanic Garden of Western Pennsylvania.
BUTLER COUNTY
Bear Creek Watershed Association — $393,986 for Phase 1 and 2 restoration of the Young Mine Complex.
CLEARFIELD COUNTY
Clearfield County Conservation District — $300,699 for construction of a mine drainage treatment system on Morgan Run.
Emigh Run/Lakeside Watershed Association — $374,945 to construct a passive mine drainage treatment system to treat two mine discharges on Emigh Run.
CLINTON COUNTY
Clinton County Conservation District — $148,528 to expand and improve an existing mine drainage treatment system to improve system performance and treat additional mine discharges on the South Fork Tangascootack, a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna.
LUZERNE COUNTY
Earth Conservancy — $400,000 to partly fund reclamation of a former strip mine to reduce acid mine drainage to the Nanticoke Creek watershed and prepare the land for residential, recreational and economic uses.
MULTIPLE COUNTIES
Altoona City Authority — $27,000 to install a spillway at the Bells Gap Run watershed improvement project that diverts a stream away from abandoned mine into the Bellwood Reservoir for use as public drinking water.
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
Slate Belt Council of Governments — $1,000,000 to reclaim a hazardous abandoned slate quarry using 1.4 million cubic yards of on-site slate refuse, and prepare the site for commercial purposes.
WESTMORELAND COUNTY
Saint Vincent College — $128,542 to design and construct an iron sludge dewatering basin at the Monastery Run mine drainage system to improve system performance and allow for the recovery and sale of iron oxide.
###
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a list by county of the $6.8 million in Growing Greener II Watershed Protection grants:
ARMSTRONG COUNTY
Armstrong Conservation District — $479,017 to install agricultural best management practices to reduce pollution in Patterson Run.
BERKS COUNTY
Berks County Conservation District — $90,435 to install agricultural best management practices including a manure storage facility on three farms in the Maiden Creek watershed.
Borough of Kutztown — $54,932 to install agricultural best management practices to protect the borough’s drinking water wells.
BLAIR COUNTY
Logan Township — $120,000 for stream bank restoration along 4,900 feet of Mill Run.
BRADFORD COUNTY
Canton Township — $230,000 to stabilize stream banks, install agricultural best management practices and institute nutrient management plans on farms in the Towanda Creek watershed.
BUTLER COUNTY
Butler County Conservation District — $78,750 to install agricultural best management practices in the Buffalo Creek watershed.
Butler County Conservation District — $41,580 to install agricultural best management practices in the Connoquenessing Creek watershed.
CENTRE COUNTY
Centre County Conservation District — $198,884 to install sediment and nutrient reducing best management practices in the headwaters of Penns Creek.
Centre County Conservation District — $16,500 to install sediment and nutrient reducing best management practices
CHESTER COUNTY
Brandywine Conservancy — $107,228 to breach and remove Copola Mill Dam and Lewis Mill Dam across East Branch Brandywine Creek.
Chester County Conservation District — $141,720 for streambank restoration, in-stream improvements, stream corridor restoration including buffer plantings, and stormwater management projects in the Plum Run watershed.
CLEARFIELD COUNTY
Mosquito Creek Sportsmen’s Association — $70,000 to resurface roads and ditches with limestone to add alkalinity to runoff waters from roads that parallel Mosquito Creek, an acid precipitation impaired watershed.
CRAWFORD COUNTY
Allegheny College — $36,595 to create rain gardens at the new Admissions Center of Allegheny College to control stormwater run off to reduce silt and sediment entering French Creek.
DELAWARE COUNTY
Lansdowne Borough — $87,060 for construction of channel improvements, bank restoration, riparian plantings, and stormwater management improvements to Hoffman Park.
Springfield Township — $63,096 to construct stormwater management controls at the township municipal complex.
ELK COUNTY
Elk County Freshwater Association — $393,000 to design and construct two acid remediation systems to improve water quality in tributaries of Big Mill Creek.
ERIE COUNTY
Erie County Conservation District — $200,000 to restore 500 feet of streambank and institute stormwater best management practices within the Cascade Creek watershed. Stabilization will be conducted in Frontier Park which will improve water quality, reduce erosion and sedimentation, provide aesthetic improvements, and serve as an education and promotion tool for the thousands of park visitors every year.
GREENE COUNTY
Greene County Conservation District — $97,721 for stream bank stabilization and protection along Whiteley Creek.
LACKAWANNA COUNTY
Lake Wallenpaupack Watershed Management District — $40,530 to install agricultural best management practices in the Wallenpaupack Creek watershed.
LAWRENCE COUNTY
Lawrence County Conservation District — $16,950 for restoration of the nutrient-impaired Deer Creek using natural stream channel design, riparian buffer, and aquatic habitat structures.
LEHIGH COUNTY
Upper Macungie Township — $78,081 to develop and restore a riparian buffer along Schaefer Run.
LUZERNE COUNTY
West Wyoming Borough — $151,750 to provide a stable, properly sized stormwater channel and culvert system along West Wyoming/Exeter Boroughs property to convey stormwater flows from a low lying area to an existing pump station.
LYCOMING COUNTY
Black Hole Creek Watershed Association — $108,522 to breach and remove the Allenwood Federal Prison Dam and restore the stream to a free-flowing condition.
Lycoming County Commissioners — $66,000 to restore 1,300 feet of Lycoming Creek to its original location through the use of channel blocks. The original location will be enhanced through the use of habitat improvement structures, which will make the creek deeper, narrower and more shaded. The existing wide, shallow location will be developed into step pools to provide habitat and flood mitigation
MERCER COUNTY
Mercer County Conservation District — $102,622 for stabilization of severely eroded stream banks on Powdermill Run.
Shenango River Watchers — $24,634 for installation of a pervious gravel drive to reduce erosion at the Riverside Park canoe launch.
Shenango River Watchers — $18,709 for bank stabilization of former illegal dump along Shenango River and creation of riparian buffer.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Lower Providence Township — $18,935 to retro-fit and naturalize three township owned stormwater detention basins in residential areas in the Perkiomen Creek watershed in Lower Providence Township.
Montgomery County Conservation District — $69,735 to complete the retro-fit of the Plymouth Regional Stormwater Basin including design and construction of several sediment forebays and conversion of one acre of turfgrass to meadow.
Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy — $106,705 to design and construct a wetland to manage stormwater on township property in the Scioto Creek watershed in Upper Frederick Township.
Upper Merion Township — $483,402 to remove the partially breached Sumner Dam and remove impounded sediments, restoring approximately 1600 feet of stream channel and riparian habitat.
MONTOUR COUNTY
Montour County Conservation District — $61,434 to install agricultural best management practices on three farms within the Chillisquaque Creek watershed to reduce sediment and nutrient impacts.
MULTIPLE COUNTIES
Schrader Creek Watershed Association , $414,260 for construction of two mine drainage treatment systems and application of lime and limestone to restore the headwaters of Schrader Creek and its tributaries.
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy — $248,654 to address agriculturally impaired watersheds through best management practices in large areas of northern Bedford and southern Blair counties.
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy — $103,650 to augment other funding in order to address excessive sedimentation and nutrient loading on farms in the Little Mahoning Creek Watershed.
NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY
Northumberland County Conservation District — $36,000 to construct roofed poultry manure storage in the Chillisquaque watershed.
PHILADELPHIA COUNTY
Friends of the Wissahickon — $100,000 for forest habitat reclamation and a comprehensive renovation of the hiking and biking trail network in the Wissahickon Valley Park.
New Kensington Community Development Corporation — $112,000 to design and install in-street vegetated stormwater collectors to reduce stormwater volume entering the local combined sewer system as part of the Columbia Avenue Green Corridor project.
SOMERSET COUNTY
Somerset County Conservation District — $182,078 to install agricultural best management practices to address sediment problems in Glades Creek.
TIOGA COUNTY
Tioga County Concerned Citizens Committee — $295,000 to construct passive alkalinity generating systems to address non-mine drainage pollution caused primarily by acid rain that impacts the headwaters of the Fall Brook watershed.
Tioga County Conservation District — $227,107 to improve dirt and gravel roads within the headwaters of Wilson Creek.
Tioga County Conservation District — $175,000 to install agricultural best management practices to reduce sediment and nutrient runoff to Wilson Creek.
WARREN COUNTY
Warren County Conservation District — $175,550 to implement the Small Farm Agricultural Stewardship Program and install agricultural best management practices.
WESTMORELAND COUNTY
Pucketa & Chartiers Watershed Association — $73,975 for stream restoration on Chartiers Run in Wolfpack Park.
Westmoreland County Conservation District — $133,485 to implement agricultural best management practices in the Stony Run watershed including fencing, stream crossings, water troughs, stream stabilization, grassed waterways, and spring development.
WYOMING COUNTY
Lake Carey Welfare Association — $308,939 for installation of stormwater best management practices to reduce total phosphorus loading to Lake Carey.
YORK COUNTY
Izaak Walton League of America, Inc., York Chapter 67 — $100,000 for installation of best management practices on the Nixon Park tributary to the East Branch Codorus Creek.
Watershed Alliance of York County — $268,537 to continue stream restoration work in the Pine Run tributary to the North Branch Muddy Creek Watershed.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a list by county of the $8 million in Growing Greener Watershed Protection grants:
ALLEGHENY COUNTY
Borough of Plum — $104,862 to evaluate and develop a stormwater management retrofitting program for approximately 32 stormwater basins within the borough.
South Fayette Conservation Group — $14,537 to conduct a visual assessment of the Millers Run, Robinson Run and Coal Run watersheds within South Fayette Township.
ARMSTRONG COUNTY
Armstrong Conservation District — $29,300 to stabilize an active landslide approximately 150 feet in length on Scrubgrass Creek.
BRADFORD COUNTY
Sugar Creek Watershed Association — $78,530 to construct stream stabilization structures to reduce sediment loading on Wallace Run.
BUCKS COUNTY
Bucks County Conservation District — $47,000 for an assessment of the Aquetong watershed.
BUTLER COUNTY
Butler County Conservation District — $78,750 for installation of agricultural best management practices to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus runoff in the Connoquenessing Creek.
CAMBRIA COUNTY
Cambria County Conservation District — $43,500 stabilize 2000 feet of eroded shoreline along Glendale Lake.
Clearfield Creek Watershed Association , $43,000 to design and permit a mine drainage treatment system to treat the third largest acidic discharge on the upper reaches of Clearfield Creek.
CARBON COUNTY
Jim Thorpe Borough — $263,870 for reconstruction of Slaughterhouse Creek.
CENTRE COUNTY
Beech Creek Watershed Association, Inc. — $47,028 to develop a completed design package ready for construction bidding, as well as all necessary permitting for reclamation of an abandoned mine.
Centre County Conservation District — $135,319 to install agricultural best management practices in the Little Fishing Creek watershed.
CHESTER COUNTY
Brandywine Valley Association — $95,000 for restoration of the Leadline Lane stream.
Natural Lands Trust — $185,500 to remove the Stroud Dam across a tributary to East Branch Brandywine Creek and restore approximately 1,800 feet of stream habitat.
Stroud Water Research Center — $239,179 to install stormwater best management practices, water reuse practices and on-site treatment of sewerage at the Stroud Water Research Center.
Tredyffrin Township — $210,326 to construct a green roof at the existing Hillside Elementary School.
West Chester University — $22,000 to provide data, education, and outreach about constructed ponds in the Brandywine watershed to planning organizations, students, and the public.
CLEARFIELD COUNTY
Clearfield County Conservation District — $47,465 for design, mapping and permitting for the Dimeling Discharge mine drainage treatment system.
Clearfield County Conservation District — $2,000 for sample collection and analysis, design, permitting and bid document preparation for construction of a mine drainage treatment system on Morgan Run.
CRAWFORD COUNTY
Crawford County Conservation District — $35,000 to reduce phosphorus loading and stormwater volume entering Conneaut Lake.
Crawford County Conservation District — $15,778 to continue an initiative that enlists local high school students to perform riparian buffer planting on local farms and streams.
DAUPHIN COUNTY
City of Harrisburg — $300,000 to design, permit and construct a stream corridor rehabilitation project along the lower reaches of Asylum Run, a tributary of Paxton Creek.
Dauphin County Conservation District — $105,000 to install agricultural best management practices as part of the Phase III restoration of the Little Wiconisco Creek.
Dauphin County Conservation District — $52,500 to install agricultural best management practices to reduce sediment and nutrient pollution on a tributary of Bow Creek.
DELAWARE COUNTY
Delaware County Executive Director — $167,597 to stabilize approximately 1,000 feet of streambank as part of the construction of the Chester Creek Trail.
Villanova University — $251,672 to evaluate, assess and monitor the benefits of evapotranspiration in several existing stormwater best management practices at Villanova University.
ELK COUNTY
Toby Creek Watershed Association — $40,000 to retrofit the Blue Valley facility to treat water with Activated Iron Solids instead of the high cost chemical oxidant potassium permanganate.
ERIE COUNTY
Erie County Conservation District — $65,000 to conduct on-lot septic system education and outreach in the Walnut Creek watershed.
Penn State University — $91,900 to restore or protect over 40 acres of riparian buffer in the Bear Run watershed.
Redevelopment Authority of the City of Erie — $64,846 to incorporate innovative stormwater best management practices into a redevelopment project in the City of Erie.
HUNTINGDON COUNTY
Huntingdon County Conservation District — $54,671 to install agricultural best management practices.
INDIANA COUNTY
Blackleggs Watershed Association, Inc. — $225,000 to permit and construct a mine drainage treatment system on Whisky Run within the Blackleggs Creek watershed.
LEBANON COUNTY
Lebanon Valley Conservancy — $90,000 for the Quittie Creek Nature Park stream restoration project.
LUZERNE COUNTY
West Wyoming Borough — $80,005 to create a watershed management plan for Abrahams Creek focused on reducing future flood risk, stream erosion and standing water problems.
Exeter Borough — $120,750 for Slocum Basin bank stabilization to minimize streambank erosion and its impact on water quality.
Wyoming Borough — $177,135 for restoration and stream bank stabilization of Abrahams Creek.
MIFFLIN COUNTY
Mifflin County Conservation District — $226,763 to implement grazing best management practices for five farms.
Mifflin County Conservation District — $79,177 to address non-point source pollution on Tea Creek.
MONROE COUNTY
Brodhead Watershed Association — $116,008 to design and permit natural stream channel restoration on Paradise Creek near Red Rock Road.
MULTIPLE COUNTIES Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay — $106,500 to partner with DEP and DCNR to establish or improve Forest Riparian Buffers, encourage permanent protection of buffers and plant 225 large urban trees in DEP priority watersheds within metropolitan areas.
American Farmland Trust — $300,000 to expand on a pilot project that demonstrated reductions in nitrogen applications to farmlands via an incentive program.
Appalachian Mountain Club — $37,500 to promote the water model, develop a clearinghouse for watershed planning, map lands in need of protection, and identify indicators of watershed health in the federally designated Appalachian Highlands.
Chesapeake Bay Foundation — $246,600 for demonstration projects to address livestock nutrient best management practices and techniques for improved survival of tree seedlings.
Clarion County Commissioners — $100,000 to help fund water quality improvement activities in priority watersheds throughout the eight county Northwest Commission territory.
Columbia County Conservation District — $10,437 for creation and support of the Briar Creek Association for Watershed Solutions.
EMARR Inc. — $235,000 to design a system to treat mine water from the Green Mountain and Audenried discharges to create a potable water supply for the Humboldt Industrial Park and power a hydroelectric plant to operate the treatment system.
Endless Mountains Resource Conservation and Development Council, Inc. — $74,550 to host nine stormwater and floodplain related workshops, produce at least two informal publications and implement one demonstration project in each county to educate the public and municipalities about proactive approaches to flooding.
Foundation for PA Watersheds — $100,000 to create a Watershed Advocacy Center to help watershed associations address organizational development and capacity building issues.
Moshannon Creek Watershed Coalition — $39,190 to design, permit, and engineer a mine drainage treatment system to treat a mine discharge at the headwaters of Moshannon Creek, a major tributary to the West Branch Susquehanna.
Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, Inc. — $443,750 to provide engineering assistance to entities developing or implementing watershed protection or restoration plans.
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society — $250,000 to continue support for TreeVitalize, a public/private partnership that is restoring tree cover in the 5-county area of southeastern PA.
Pennsylvania State University — $61,869 to replace Unpaved Road Assessment software that is no longer supported.
Pocono Northeast Resource Conservation & Development Council — $350,000 to fund the Consortium for Scientific Assistance to Watersheds, a collaboration of service providers who provide services to watershed organizations and municipalities to assist groups in building sustainability.
Schrader Creek Watershed Association — $31,000 to investigate the effects of landscape liming on acid rain impacts in Schrader Creek.
The Nature Conservancy — $236,903 to develop a GIS based tool to simulate baseline streamflow conditions to compare with current and future conditions and to assess the impacts of human activities on streamflow.
Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation — $130,000 to provide funding for emergency repairs of eligible best management practices.
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy — $125,000 to continue their technical assistance program to watershed groups, conservation districts, schools and other organizations.
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy — $47,087 to develop a guide for Wetland Community identification.
POTTER COUNTY
Potter County Conservation District — $10,860 to fund startup of the First Fork Sinnemahoning Watershed Association.
SOMERSET COUNTY
Somerset County Conservation District — $240,240 to collect and analyze data to determine where sediment pollution in the Laurel Hill Creek is originating, in what amounts and its relationship to high stream flow levels.
Somerset County Conservation District — $30,900 to fund Phase II of the Laurel Hill Creek Water Resource Management Plan.
Somerset County Conservation District — $25,935 to limestone sand-dose two acidic tributaries to Elklick Creek in order to counteract natural and mine drainage acidity within the stream system. This added alkalinity will boost productivity within the trout fishery on Elklick Creek.
SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY
Susquehanna County Conservation District — $74,278 to conduct a biological and physical assessment of the Dubois Creek and develop a restoration plan to address flood damages from the June 2006 flood.
TIOGA COUNTY
Tioga County Conservation District — $102,297 to create a stable channel on Roaring Branch that will transport sediment under the Route 4 bridge and prevent scour of the bridge abutments and footings.
WESTMORELAND COUNTY
Turtle Creek Watershed Association — $370,446 for the design and permitting of a passive mine drainage treatment system to treat the Irwin discharge, the largest acid mine discharge in Westmoreland County.
YORK COUNTY
Watershed Alliance of York County — $57,138 to reduce the volume of stormwater entering Tyler Run as well as increase water quality through the stabilization of stream banks in the Tyler Run Greenway.
York Township — $200,000 to reduce sediment erosion, and reduce sediment and nutrients from Mill Creek entering the Chesapeake Bay, reduce land loss, install riparian buffers, reconnect the stream to a functioning flood plain and educate municipalities on the importance of collaborative environmental preservation and restoration at the municipal level.
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260 Wonders of Our Watershed Forum 2009-02-11 10:18:59
The Jeddo/Nescopeck Partnership will be hosting a “Wonders of Our Watershed” Forum
Saturday May 9th 2009
10AM to 5PM
Penn State Hazleton
Activities include:
Rain Garden / Compost Workshops
Local History / Heritage Displays
Children’s Activities
Artisans and Crafters
Rain Barrel / Compost Bin Giveaways
Environmental Displays
Public Opinion / Question Section
Entertainment
Please see the flier for more information.
259 Application Announced for the 2009 NCAC Community Awards 2009-02-02 08:47:48
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 20, 2009
Contact Information:
-
- Kurt Bauman, (570) 655-5581, ext. 237
- Kate Feissner, (570) 655-5581, ext. 264
Pittston, PA – January 20, 2009 – The Northeastern Pennsylvania Nonprofit & Community Assistance Center (NCAC) has announced an application round for the 2009 NCAC Community Awards.
This awards event was established to highlight those nonprofit organizations that make an extraordinary impact on the quality of life within our seven county region, which includes Carbon, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Schuylkill and Wayne. A first and second place award will be presented for each of the six categories including: Arts & Culture, Children & Youth, Community Development, Education, Environmental Action/Animal Welfare and Health & Human Services.
The 2009 NCAC Community Awards mark the third year for the Ted Daniels Community Development Award. This award category is memorialized in honor of Ted Daniels, former President of the NCAC Board of Directors and V.P. of Business Development for Pennstar Bank, who passed away on November 7, 2006.
According to Charles Barber, NCAC Board Chairman, “The foundation of any community is built upon the many nonprofit and community groups who continually offer new and innovative services that meet the ever changing needs of society. The Community Awards event enables us to recognize the accomplishments of many nonprofit and community minded groups that are all working together toward a common goal. They strive to improve the day-to-day life of all citizens in the region.”
Entries may be submitted by nonprofit organizations, political subdivisions, chambers of commerce, industrial development groups, school districts, colleges or universities, social clubs, business or industry, media organizations and other organizations involved in community improvement.
Award recipients do not need to be a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. First place award winners will receive a donation of $250 to $500 for their organization and second place award winners will receive a free NCAC membership. All entrants must submit a completed application form, which can be found at www.nepa-alliance.org/ncac.htm, to NCAC, 1151 Oak Street, Pittston by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, February 20, 2009.
For more information about the 2009 NCAC Community Awards, please contact Kurt Bauman or Kate Feissner at 570-655-5581, by email at ncac@nepa-alliance.org or visit the NCAC website at www.nepa-alliance.org/ncac.htm.
