Carolyn assisted with the AMD Sampling with the EPCAMR Staff in the Loyalsock Creek Watershed.

EC worked with the King’s College Office of Career Planning to offer King’s students the opportunity to apply for one of two EC Summer 2026 Scholarships. This EC scholarship allows King’s students to gain hands-on experience through an internship which aligns with EC’s mission. Furthermore, the work that students do in this internship counts for three college credits, funded by the scholarship, which helps students work towards earning their degrees. Carolyn has been selected as a recipient of the Earth Conservancy Summer 2026 Scholarship and has chosen to return to work with EPCAMR for this internship opportunity.  You can read about Carolyn’s initial time with EPCAMR in this previous news article. 

Carolyn tells us, “I’m so honored that I was selected as a recipient of this amazing scholarship! I never would have expected that such an opportunity would have been made possible for me so early in my college career. Without this internship, I would have needed to wait until the fall semester of college to return to work with EPCAMR as a Community-Based Federal Work Study student intern. I would have missed getting involved with all the sampling and monitoring that EPCAMR does throughout the summer, which I’ve really wanted to be a part of! Now, thanks to Earth Conservancy, I can focus on getting out in the field without worrying about falling behind with course work!” 

“I really like how this internship is run differently from my other college courses. There are virtually no assignments, except for updating my supervising professor, Dr. Brain Mangan, on my tasks and activities each week. Instead of me taking a midterm and final exam, Bobby has to complete a midterm and final assessment of the quality of my work. It’s more like I’m giving him homework! I’ll have to work hard so that he has only good things to say about me!” Carolyn joked. 

Carolyn organized the Holy Cross Day of Service EPCAMR AMD Tie-Dye Activity on Campus in Wilkes-Barre just before the Spring Semester came to an end with Bobby and Maria.

Carolyn mentioned, “In all seriousness, I’m very grateful to have been chosen for this opportunity. There are a lot of people who helped me secure this internship. Dr. Brian Mangan, who is the Director of the Environmental Program at King’s and my supervising professor for this internship, informed me of the opportunity and encouraged me to apply. I am so thankful for his unwavering support. The Office of Career Planning was extremely helpful in the application process, answering any and all questions I had. They were also partly responsible for deciding which students would be awarded the scholarship, so I’m grateful they chose me. EPCAMR has my gratitude for welcoming me back so soon after I finished this semester’s Community-Based Federal Work Study with them. I look forward to continuing to be a part of the EPCAMR team! And finally, a big thank you to Earth Conservancy, who proposed and funded this scholarship. This scholarship truly reflects their efforts to increase involvement in similar causes to their own.”

Carolyn attended the Schuylkill River Watershed Congress at Alvernia College in Reading to be a Room Facilitator, along with Maria, while Bobby was there to present.

Bobby stated, “Carolyn has been a valuable member of the EPCAMR team through her involvement in the Communit-Based Federal Work Study Program. It is very beneficial to us, since we often do not have the funds to create paid internships, unless grant funds are budgeted and can be allocated to support the internship positions. The students are paid through the Work Study Program, I serve as their Supervisor and Mentor, and they follow our activity description of tasks and work projects that we are currently working on during the time that they are with us. She will continue to get lots of hands-on learning and applied science activities during her internship over the next 12 weeks. This scholarship from Earth Conservancy is wonderful for her and for us. They have been a very strong advocate and supporter of our work over our entire time we’ve existed and we’ve been a part of their work in many capacities and still are. Carolyn already works very well with the rest of the Staff and our community volunteers and has already gained a lot of knowledge on the work that we do in the region to assess and restore our watersheds impacted by legacy AMD. She’s been very instrumental in helping to categorize my Google Contacts list to help EPCAMR target reaching out to vendors and partners of ours to invite them to attend our Fall 30th Anniversary Banquet and Dinner/Reception to celebrate this amazing milestone of ours. That’s no easy task with over 7000 contacts to be sorted and labeled,” Bobby joked.

Carolyn lives in Shickshinny, at the southern part of the Wyoming Valley, where we are working on completing a Coldwater Conservation Plan for the Shickshinny Creek, Rocky Run, and Paddy Run watersheds. She’s familiar with the area and is currently reaching out to the Shickshinny Historical Society and Museum’s Director, Jimmy Bach, to research any historical mine maps of the area that EPCAMR can scan and utilize in our report. Jimmy has an amazing YouTube collection on the site and his History with Jimmy videos are great! We’ve offered to scan the maps for Jim and provide them to him digitally for allowing us to borrow the maps and scan them to get them into our report and possibly into the Mine Subsidence Insurance’s (MSI) Mine Map Atlas and PA Historical Underground Mine Map Inventory System (PHUMMIS). We will be scheduling some days in June for additional stream and culvert assessments in both the Shickshinny Creek and following up with our partners in the Bowman’s Creek watershed too! Welcome back Carolyn! 

The post Carolyn M. Phillips, returns to EPCAMR, sponsored by an Earth Conservancy Summer 2026Scholarship appeared first on epcamr.org.

LRCA has initiated a collaboration with the PA Anthracite Heritage Museum (PHMC), EPCAMR and the Lackawanna Historical Society (LHS) to conduct historical research and develop information about the cessation of underground mining and pumping operations in the Lackawanna Basin of the Northern Anthracite Field in 1961, the subsequent inundation of the mine void system causing a public safety emergency, and the construction of the Old Forge Borehole to stabilize the mine pool flooding in 1962.

The Old Forge AMD Borehole seen looking north from the Union Street Bridge in Old Forge as it enters the Lackawanna River polluting the lower 3 miles of the watershed before entering the N. Branch of the Susquehanna River.

Tara Jones, Executive Director, stated excitedly, in her application that “We will produce a White Paper that will serve as a primary document to inform the establishment of an exhibit kiosk to be installed in the Anthracite Heritage Museum in Scranton, as well as a summary poster to be available for onsite installation at the Borehole location at the Union Street Bridge in Old Forge, PA.”

LRCA will conduct historical research in local and state archives, newspaper records, and conduct key person interviews related to the cessation of mine water pumping in the Lackawanna Basin by the Moffat Coal Company on November 1, 1961. By January 1962, this caused flooding of the mine voids under the Lackawanna Valley and the surcharge of mine waters into ground waters and surface drainage that severely damaged private properties and public infrastructure across wide-spread areas between Old Forge, Scranton, Olyphant, and Carbondale.

The various agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Federal Government responded to design and construct a pressure relief borehole on the west bank of the Lackawanna River at the crest of the Moosic Saddle Anticline in Old Forge between May and September 1962. Since then, the Old Forge Borehole has been discharging polluting mine waters at an average of 60 million gallons per day into the Lackawanna River. Over 5,000 pounds of iron, manganese, sulfur, aluminum, and other trace elements precipitate out of this drainage. It may be the largest point source of mine drainage in North America.

Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director, emphasized with great pride, “There is no better mentor of mine, then our former Past President of EPCAMR, and co-founder of LRCA 32 years ago, Old Man River himself, and LRCA Senior Project Manager, Bernie McGurl to act as the Principal Investigator to conduct the research and draft the White Paper. Bernie and I have told thousands of students and visitors to the Old Forge AMD Borehole this story of its inception and legacy through our oral history and knowledge gained from just reading and researching about our fascinating Anthracite Mining heritage and history. It’s time we take that institutional knowledge and transferred it in a way that will captivate audiences young and old at the PA Anthracite Heritage Museum, where there are numerous opportunities for students and visitors alike to learn about our rich history in mining and how we are dealing with the legacy looking to the future. It starts with education.”

The paper will serve as the first phase of several intended outcomes: the development and interpretive exhibit on the end of underground mining in the Northern Field at the Anthracite Heritage Museum; the development of an educational information poster for students and the public; the Installation of a Pennsylvania Historic Marker at the Borehole site and the retrieval, and preservation of the 42-inch diameter stone core plug from the borehole drilling work that lies on the cobble bar in the riverbed adjacent to the borehole.

The sandstone core plug from the Old Forge Borehole currently sits along the western bank of the Lackawanna River adjacent to the box culvert that carries the AMD to the outlet just above the Union Street Bridge. It’s several thousand pounds and LRCA and EPCAMR are going to be looking for a solution on how to get it out of the River and up along the bank to be placed near a future planned Historic Marker at the site.

Check out a 2012 presentation put together by EPCAMR, LCRA, and the SRBC on the Lower Lackawanna River Watershed Assessment Plan. It gives you some insight into the historic conditions of of the water quality and flows below the Old Forge Borehole and it also gives you an idea of the extent of the underground mien pools that feed the voluminous discharge that Bernie often calls “the single largest source of AMD pollution in terms of iron loading and flow to the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The post Old Man River and the Lackawanna River Conservation Association (LRCA) Awarded $1945 ARIPPA EPCAMR Mini-Grant appeared first on epcamr.org.

Maria Gereda, Kingston, PA  from the Wyoming Valley, and Dennis Dukinas, Dallas, PA, from the Back Mountain, both natives of Luzerne County, will be hosted and supervised by EPCAMR until the end of December 2025 to work with us to provide volunteer services to add some capacity to the organization starting yesterday.

Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director exclaimed, “We are thrilled to have both of these environmental and conservation professionals join us for the 20 plus weeks through the end of the year to assist us with a number of direct service projects that we currently have underway with a limited staff, who have the passion and commitment to follow through on a number of our awarded grants and professional services throughout the EPCAMR Region.”

Bobby went on to say, “I can’t say enough about Conservation Legacy, OSMRE, and especially AmeriCorps (State and National) and AmeriCorps VISTA and their support for our work. April Elkins Badtke has been a long-time friend and colleague for over 2 decades when the original Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team was formed to provide similar support to non-profit environmental organizations that were and are still working in coal country up and down the Appalachian Mountain Range. She is a consummate professional at Conservation Legacy who never has had a problem responding to my emails or messages at all hours of the night or on weekends and listening to my concerns about AmeriCorps and the funding cuts that we had to endure several months ago. We currently have Morgan Romanowski, Scott Township, Lackawanna County working with us through the end of September 2025 to finish up her year term as an AmeriCorps (State and National) volunteer fellow GIS Watershed Outreach Specialist and Mark Jones, who initially was an Energy Community Assistance Program (ECAP) Community Development Coordinator volunteer with AmeriCorps VISTA, who had to placed into Conservation Legacy’s AmeriCorps VISTA Program. He will be volunteering with us until the end of December 2025.”

Maria will continue her work with EPCAMR as a GIS Watershed Outreach Specialist through the Stewards Individual Placement Program. In her new role, she will help promote food security by encouraging the creation of community gardens in coalfield communities and working with local organizations to plant, maintain, and harvest them as one project that EPCAMR has already started on with the distribution of biodegradable Waterboxxes from Groasis that we have been giving away for free to groups that are interested. Community gardens were very common in what were called “patches” in the coal towns around the Anthracite and Bituminous regions. She will also support affordable housing development by advocating for new housing developments to consider being built on reclaimed abandoned mine lands. She will also continue to engage and assist with  environmental education experiences for students in school districts throughout the region that are under the poverty level.

Dennis and Maria are “kicking for macroinvertebrates on Little Shickshinny Creek in Shickshinny Borough as a part of our Coldwater Heritage Conservation Plan where we are developing a watershed assessment for the Shickshinny Creek Watershed and Paddy and Rocky Run.

Bobby said, “Maria, a Luzerne County native, from Kingston, PA in the Wyoming Valley, joined EPCAMR just two months ago as a part-time Summer Watershed GIS Outreach and Education Intern. In that short time, she has gained a wide range of hands-on experience that will serve her well in her expanding role. She was a natural fit for this longer term position that could give her full-time hours under this program.” 

During her internship, Maria earned a certification in the Non-Tidal Streams Protocol through the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC). She worked closely with EPCAMR Staff to scan and catalog both surface and underground mine maps for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Mine Subsidence Insurance Program. She also participated in field watershed assessments, surveying bridges and culverts across the Shickshinny Creek, Paddy Run, and Rocky Run tributaries in the southern Wyoming Valley—work that directly supports EPCAMR’s ongoing watershed assessment efforts in the Northern Anthracite Coal Fields funded by the PA American Water Charitable Foundation and the PA Council of Trout Unlimited‘s Coldwater Heritage Planning grant program. 

Maria also contributed to community outreach by assisting with water quality monitoring, stream flow measurements, and abandoned mine drainage (AMD) evaluations. She also helped engage local youth in environmental learning during educational events like tie-dye workshops. Her professional network has expanded by attending conferences, including the Abandoned Mine Pools as Beneficial Resources event at Bucknell University and the 2025 ARIPPA Annual Conference.

EPCAMR Staff conducted an AMD Tie Dye T-shirt Workshop for PA Inclusive in Pittston with our recycled iron oxide pigment. Dennis assisted Morgan Romanowski, Mark Jones, and Bobby Hughes in putting on the workshop for the youth and adults.

In addition, Maria will contribute to the development of “land that channels rainfall” resource maps, combining data on demographics, economic indicators, and workforce development with information on local trade schools and community colleges. She will conduct short community surveys and polls via EPCAMR’s social media platforms, update and expand the EPCAMR Partnership Database across 16 counties within our region alone, with our Community Development Coordinator Mark Jones, and will assist in identifying grant opportunities and other organizations and foundations that might be suitable for preparing future grant applications. Her work as well and Dennis’s work will be closely aligned with the goals and objectives laid out by EPCAMR’s Strategic Planning and Education/Science Committees.

Currently enrolled in an online GIS course through Austin Community College, Maria is eager to apply what she’s learning to the real-world challenges facing Pennsylvania’s coalfield communities. Her passion, commitment, and growing expertise make her a valuable asset to EPCAMR’s mission of revitalizing the region through education, outreach, sustainable redevelopment of our abandoned mine lands, and restoration of our watersheds impacted by abandoned mine drainage (AMD).

Maria participated in an AMD Tour in Schuylkill County with EPCAMR where she was able to visit the infamous “Ashland Fountain”, which is a constantly overflowing AMD discharge from the Bast and Continental Collieries that drains to the Mahanoy Creek watershed as explained by Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director.

Dennis Dukinas, Dallas, PA, in the Back Mountain of Luzerne County is currently completing my final course at Bloomsburg University, where he is finishing his degree in Environmental, Geological, and Geographic Sciences with a Minor in Hydrology.

Bobby shared that “Throughout his academic career, he has gained valuable hands-on experience both outdoors as an Eagle Scout and indoors, working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) desktop environments. He has already used mapping technologies such as ArcGIS Pro and ERDAS Imagine remote sensing imagery and software to create various hypothetical scenarios in college and now gets to take those lessons learned from the hypothetical to the real world watersheds that EPCAMR works in throughout the coalfields. His experience already includes georeferencing, story mapping, census data analysis, and using tools like ArcGIS Pro Online’s ModelBuilder. He already has earned certifications through ArcGIS Online and holds a Watershed Management Training Certification. He’s also already received a free Aquatic Organism Protocol Training from EPCAMR while a volunteering two weeks before his official internship from NAACC. Maria already has this Certificate as well, however, both of them have to assess 20 culverts and or bridges before they can become a field Lead Observer.”

In his role as a GIS Watershed Outreach Specialist, prior to his start today, he’s already gained valuable experience assessing water quality, conducting visual habitat assessments, identifying, counting, and classifying macroinvertebrates as a part of the biological assessment monitoring EPCAMR conducts for our watersheds assessments, and he’s learned how to use our field photometer and YSI Multi-parameter probe already to perform chemistry tests in-stream. He will be involved in a number of projects that were highlighted by Bobby Hughes on their first day of orientation, along with some training provided to them in EarthVision, where they will be helping to digitize mine maps for another project of ours in the Bear Creek Watershed, Dauphin County and creating 3D surface and underground mine pool models to help us calculate volumetrics of water and coal remaining a region of the Southern Anthracite Coalfields. 

Bobby joked with Dennis before this week to get as much sleep in over the Holiday Weekend because he will be shifting from volunteering a few days a week to a full 40 hours a week through the end of the year. “He was in this morning ready to go and get some administrative paperwork out of the way, hear about the myriad of projects that we are going to be working on, work on his background article notes for this release, and to begin his initial training on EarthVision with Mike. I’m really looking forward to the energy, enthusiasm, willingness to jump in and learn from the Staff about all of important work in the region and the value that their efforts are going to have in the communities that we are working in that we have maintained positive, trusting relationships with, for nearly 3 decades.”

Michael Hewitt, EPCAMR Program Manager and Frank Sindaco, GIS Watershed Outreach Specialist is teaching Maria and Dennis how to use our field monitoring equipment at the Askam AMD Maelstrom Oxidizer Treatment System on Earth Conservancy’s property along Dundee Road in the Nanticoke Creek watershed.

The post EPCAMR Hosts 2 Stewards Individual Placement Program (SIPP) GIS Watershed Outreach Specialist AmeriCorps (State and National) Interns Administered by Conservation Legacy through the end of December 2025 appeared first on epcamr.org.

The Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR) is sponsoring an AmeriCorps State and National Member Volunteer, Morgan Romanowski, until September 5, 2025, through a partnership between the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement (OSMRE),  AmeriCorps, and the Stewards Individual Placement Program (SIPP), a Program of Conservation Legacy. We’re proud to be a national non-profit partner in Pennsylvania.

“EPCAMR is excited to have Morgan on board for this next year to assist us as a volunteer to help us out with the numerous projects we have on our plate right now. We are striving for additional funding to provide increased organizational capacity for our organization. It’s been very difficult to secure funding to support full-time employment of a number of positions with EPCAMR through grants. Ultimately, we have to manage a large number of them to keep ourselves sustainable over the long-term. We’re very humbled to have been chosen once again for this position after speaking with a colleague of ours, April Elkins-Badtke, Executive Director for Stewards Individual Placements-East, in Beckley, West Virginia.” Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director and Morgan’s Supervisor, stated.

Back in June 2024, I had discussed with April our desire to host and sponsor a position or two if funding was available and Northeastern PA would be considered as a part of the larger Energy Community Areas in Pennsylvania. EPCAMR had worked with previously a number of years ago to support and host two other Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement (OSMRE) AmeriCorps volunteers and an 8-week summer internship position that turned into a year-long AmeriCorps Volunteer In Service to America (VISTA) position in 2020, funded through the Foundation for PA Watersheds and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)  Yolande Norman, Division Chief at OSMRE, has approved the placement of two national service members at EPCAMR! We are excited to be a part of the Energy Community AmeriCorps Program (ECAP) this fall to provide capacity to communities that are working hard every day like us to make our communities more resilient and able to enjoy a much better quality of life. EPCAMR is currently recruiting for the second Community Development Coordinator VISTA position that can be found at MyAmeriCorps,” Bobby passionately stated.

As an OSMRE AmeriCorps Fellow, Morgan will follow the similar paths of many of our previous seasonal internships, except instead of 12 weeks, it will be for 52 weeks! She has the flexibility to perform any tasks that pertain to abandoned mine land (AML) mapping, water quality monitoring, environmental education, outreach, and storytelling. EPCAMR will be creating some story maps on the work that is happening around the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, AMLER funding, and more that we are working on for the OSMRE. This position can be in the field, in AMD, in streams, in the woods, on public lands, and or gathering data, creating geographic information system (GIS) maps, assisting community watershed groups, conservation groups, Conservation Districts, and EPCAMR regional partners to advance our mission or reclaiming abandoned mine lands and restoring watersheds impacted by legacy abandoned mine drainage (AMD) pollution,” Bobby explained.

Morgan was measuring the strike and dip at the headwaters of Nanticoke Creek in the rain along Holly Street just on the other side of the road heading downstream.

Morgan graduated from Wilkes University on May 18^th 2024, with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and a minor in Geology. She is from Scott Township, Lackawanna County, just outside the Northern Anthracite Coalfields, in the Lackawanna Valley. During her time at Wilkes, she worked on a research project with her friend Hope Mullins and senior partner, and Dr. Karimi, PhD, that involved tracking the disappearing waters on the Nanticoke creek into mine pools below the surface, entitled, Feasibility Study Using Saline Tracers And Electrical Surveying To Track Disappearing Stream Waters In Luzerne County, PA. EPCAMR and the Earth Conservancy had provided her Professor, Dr. Boback Karimi, PhD, with some some surface and underground mine maps that were useful to their project. She also interned with the Department of Environmental Protection’s Clean Water Program from summer of 2023 up until she graduated in 2024. She has plenty of experience with some of the typical field monitoring equipment that EPCAMR uses already. 

The SIPP program is sponsored by the Conservation Legacy, a nonprofit that is dedicated to funding environmental stewardship throughout America. EPCAMR is looking forward to working with Patricia “Trish” Urquiza Silva, Program Manager, for the SIPP.

EPCAMR has developed a 1-year Project Plan outlining the volunteer project goals to be worked towards during Morgan’s time of service. Some of these projects include assisting in fundraising efforts, developing various resource maps using GIS, scanning and cataloging underground mine maps, watershed assessment work, monitoring water quality within the EPCAMR region, and providing educational experiences to underserved youth, camps, and school districts in the region as funding allows.

“I am looking forward to working with EPCAMR to help provide environmentally sustainable solutions to underserved communities within the eastern Pennsylvania region impacted by abandoned mine lands, whether it be through environmental education and outreach, creating GIS maps, conducting field assessments, or writing grant proposals,” said Morgan.

Severe streambank erosion along a section of the Nanticoke Creek showing a steep, highly eroded area with tree roots exposed and extreme undercutting of the bank.

One project she looks forward to is assisting EPCAMR with the monitoring of water quality, AMD, mine pool elevations, flow loss points, and stream flows within the Nanticoke Creek watershed in partnership with the Earth Conservancy. The Nanticoke Creek experiences flow loss from water flowing into mine pools beneath the surface. EPCAMR and Earth Conservancy will be continuing to conduct monitoring of the Creek and the local mine pool to help with their $17.5 million dollar Nanticoke Creek Watershed Restoration funded by the Inflation Reduction Act and other funding sources.

Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director, flying their DJI Mavic 2 Dual Enterprise drone upstream and over the abandoned culm banks and legacy Anthracite spoil material in the dry stream channel along Nanticoke Creek’s headwaters where the Earth Conservancy will be reclaiming the site and putting the creek back up on the surface.

“I am excited about working on this particular project because it is a continuation of the research work I completed for my senior project at Wilkes University. Í have seen firsthand how the flow loss affects the Creek and how the water is negatively impacted from its journey through the mine pools until it eventually resurfaces through the Askam Borehole where abandoned mine drainage (AMD) impacts the lower reaches of the Nanticoke Creek and where an existing AMD Maelstrom Oxidizer Treatment System is in placed operated and maintained by the Earth Conservancy and monitored by EPCAMR.

The Maelstrom Oxidizer AMD Treatment System on Nanticoke Creek along Dundee Road owned and operated by the Earth Conservancy and monitored by EPCAMR.

Askam AMD discharge into the Nanticoke Creek along Dundee Road in Hanover Township, Luzerne County, PA.

It’s used as a outdoor environmental education learning center for experiential learning opportunities and tours throughout the year. Restoration of the stream channel help to reduce the formation of AMD downstream,” said Morgan.

Brookie the Trout, one of EPCAMR’s two puppets tagged along for an AMD Tie-Dye Workshop with the Lackawanna River Conservation Association and PA American Water, at their annual Water Camp in Peckville, PA at the Valley Library.

Morgan also looks forward to participating in the various education and outreach programs that EPCAMR provides which includes, but is not limited to, tabling at community environmental events, water camps, and AMD tie-dye workshops with the trout puppets.

“I cannot stress enough the importance of environmental outreach and education within a community. By providing educational outreach programs, EPCAMR is filling a gap that most elementary schools and high schools have in their education programs when it comes to the environmental sciences. Their trout puppets and Environmental Education Streamside Hub webpage complete with videos, activities, and teacher curriculums and lesson plans is phenomenal and every teacher and environmental educator should be looking into it and using what they can in the classroom since the information that is on the site meets PA State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. They are also spreading awareness of the issues that are caused by the abandoned mine lands that are right in people’s backyards,” said Morgan.

Morgan has already been a volunteer with EPCAMR since April of 2022 when she completed a Non-Tidal Streams Protocol Training with EPCAMR, where she learned about how to properly assess roads, bridges, pipes, culverts, and crossings for aquatic organism passage. The online training portion was in partnership with the UMass Extension, in the Center for Agriculture, Food, and Environment, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC).

The top of the Falls on Little Shickshinny Creek on State Game Lands 55 not far from the parking lot along Shickshinny Valley Road where the bedding plane of the rocks across the creek create an opening before the long drop to the plunge pool below.

“This fall, Morgan will be joining some of the EPCAMR Staff in the field to conduct aquatic organism passage surveys of many of the roads, bridges, culverts, and pipes in the Little Shickshinny Creek watershed, Paddy Run, and Rocky Run tributaries on the State Game Lands 260 and 55, in the southern tip of the northern Anthracite coalfields in the former Salem Coal Company and Stackhouse Colliery area and along other publicly accessible areas where the streams and their tributaries cross over these infrastructure features to determine how passable they are for fish and aquatic life. She will survey 20 culverts in the field with the EPCAMR Staff and Bobby, who is a volunteer Lead Observer Coordinator 1 for the NAACC and she will then become certified as a Lead Observer in Aquatic Organism Passage (AOP) through NAACC. She will be very busy over the next year. These projects mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg,” Bobby Hughes jokingly stated.

Looking downstream at the Falls on Little Shickshinny Creek on State Game Lands 55.

The post EPCAMR Welcomes and Hosts AmeriCorps State & National Member Volunteer Morgan Romanowski For A Year of Coalfield Community Service appeared first on epcamr.org.

The fundraiser and launch event will take place on February 26 from 5-9PM at Damenti’s Ice Bar located at 5 Bowman’s Mill Road (Exit 145, off Interstate I-81, West Hazleton, PA). [Get Google Maps Directions]

The event will feature a screening of the two new videos, hands-on demonstrations, and activities, and a photo booth with our trout puppets from the video. One video will follow Brooky the brook trout as he braves a storm and reconnects with his Auntie Rainbow. It will highlight AMD, blocked culverts, impediments to fish and aquatic life, fish ecology, AMD Treatment, and macroinvertebrate identification.

A take with Seven the Snail at the end of the Askam AMD Treatment System on Nanticoke Creek.

Auntie Rainbow Trout gazing into the clean stream upstream.

Brooky the Trout getting ready for his film debut at the Askam Maelstrom Oxidizer Treatment System on Nanticoke Creek.

Brooky the Trout and his puppeteer getting ready for some lines.

The second video will highlight the EPCAMR Staff taking two students on a tour of a local AMD discharge in South Wilkes-Barre, PA and walk them through how they monitor the locations for flow and chemistry. They will also learn how iron oxide is recycled and collected to create a pigment that EPCAMR processes to be used in various art forms and activities.

The youth actors and Laura are preparing for a scene along the Askam AMD discharge in the Nanticoke Creek watershed.

The students and the trout puppets will be featured in a three-station showcase of AMD Art, AMD Tie Dye Shirt Making, and AMD Chalk Making.

Brooky and Rainbow gather around the AMD Artwork at one of the EPCAMR Showcase Stations in the video.

This is one example of iron oxide pigment used for an AMD Tie Dye t-shirt.

EPCAMR’s Iron Oxide Chalk Making Station featured in one of the videos.

A meet and greet with producer Claudia Meglin, creative director for visual effect of the popular children’s show, Lazytown will also be happening and she will say a few words about working with EPCAMR over the last few years through ISI and funding provided by the Mental Insight Foundation, American Water Charitable Foundation, The Luzerne Foundation, and PA Council of Trout Unlimited’s Forever WILD funds and EPCAMR. Both videos were produced and co-directed by Centone Pictures and Reiner Productions.

Here are some of the crew and cast from the second EPCAMR video.

Here are some of the crew and cast for one of the videos.

There will also be a silent auction featuring some art made with recycled iron oxide from local streams.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to learn more about the organization’s mission and how they can get involved in their local community.

“We are excited to launch these new educational resources and provide young students with the knowledge and tools they need to positively impact the environment,” said Laura Rinehimer, EPCAMR’s Environmental Education Program Specialist. “Through this fundraiser and launch event, we hope to raise awareness and funds to support our continued efforts to educate and empower local children to become engaged locally in their watersheds.”

Since the pandemic, EPCAMR has tried to shift some of our educational focus toward creating short environmental education videos and virtual presentations and curricula that we could share with teachers and students across our region to reach a broader audience when we couldn’t get directly into the schools or conduct the outdoor watershed learning experiences we had commonly done in years past,” stated Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director. “We involved several excited local youths in the videos, voice actors and puppeteers, as well as all Staff in the combined video productions and aimed for fun, a little comedy, play on words, and some fishy humor.”

EPCAMR invites community members, educators, families, children, and anyone interested in environmental education to attend the event and support their mission. A $5 donation includes admission to Damenti’s Ice Exhibit, Animals on Parade, a drink, and admission to the film screenings. A portion of the ticket sales will be donated to a number of non-profits serving folks in the community and towards the production and distribution of future videos and curricula for local schools and community centers.

For more information about the fundraiser and launch event, or to learn more about the organization and its mission, please visit [EPCAMR.org]. Call 570-371-3523 for details.

The post EPCAMR, Launches Fundraiser and Premier Event for Children’s Environmental Education Videos and Curriculum appeared first on epcamr.org.

First and foremost, EPCAMR wants to acknowledge all of the coalition partners, reclamation-related industries, Conservation Districts, Trout Unlimited Chapters, watershed associations, and coalfield community groups that have been stepping up and standing up for their communities these last few months on the importance of the Reauthorization of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). The need is justified and the funding allocations are necessary to continue to reclaim our abandoned mine lands and to treat the AMD water pollution sources to help restore our watersheds.  We are sure that most of you are aware that a small fee is collected from the coal industries that remain on every ton of coal mined, both surface and underground, that gets set aside into the Federal Abandoned Mine Land Trust Fund. Those funds are vital to the remaining States like PA, and many others throughout Appalachia for reclamation and remediation of our past mining abandoned mine lands and polluted waterways.  Those funds get distributed to the abandoned mine land (AML) States in the form of yearly grants to help reclaim AML and treat polluted abandoned mine drainage (AMD) to help restore our watersheds.

Today’s tour with James Bruggers, a  reporter from the Southeast, National Environment Reporting Network, from Louisville, KY, covering a story for Inside Climate News, was hosted by the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation (PA DEP BAMR). EPCAMR attended as well to provide valuable local insight into several of the sites with expertise and commentary provided by Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director since two of the three sites are abandoned mine land areas and an AMD site that we have been heavily involved with, along with many other local community partners. These types of projects could not happen without the support of the State and Federal Agencies such as the PA DEP BAMR and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) and the funding that is provided to reclaim these areas. Private landowner’s permission and approval are also integral to the success of each and every project. James’ full story will appear in a few weeks.

EPCAMR wanted to provide our view of the importance of today’s tour with him that we hope will get us some National media attention on the importance of Reauthorization sooner, rather than later, as the Infrastructure Bill ((HR 3684) is where a lot of the details are located related to SMCRA Reauthorization and funding for abandoned mine land reclamation and AMD remediation. Hopefully, his story will highlight the jobs that can be created in the Appalachian Coalfields for reclamation, the continued removal of the waste culm piles by our partnering Co-Generation Plants, like Panther Creek Partners, who are a part of the ARIPPA Trade Association and have been a partner of EPCAMR’s since the mid-90s.

The EPCAMR Executive Director discussed the possibilities of future AMD Treatment Plants around the Commonwealth that could create long-term jobs and investments in the coalfield communities that are still living with these large volume, acid-laden, mine waters that should be seen as public infrastructure projects with the added benefit of providing clean water and other recreational and industrial use-value to those who live along them and would ultimately benefit from the restoration of those impaired waters. EPCAMR and PA DEP BAMR both reference the SRBC’s Anthracite Region Mine Drainage Remediation Strategy on the Tour that discusses the potential for combining certain discharges to treat them more effectively.

The 3 Sites visited were:

• Swoyersville Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) Coal Refuse Reclamation and Community Athletic Area Project in Swoyersville Borough, Luzerne County
• Old Forge AMD Borehole discharge in the Lower Lackawanna River Watershed, just above the Connell Street Bridge in Old Forge Borough, Lackawanna County
• Sterry Creek South-Dolph Mine Fire Abandoned Mine Reclamation Project, Olyphant Borough, Lackawanna County

Photo 1. Equipment hauling and removing waste culm, fines, and silts that are several feet in depth from the former Harry E. Colliery abandoned mine land site at the beginning of the project near the Church Street tree line where Roosevelt Park is located just across the street from the Phase I Reclamation for the Community Athletic Area for Swoyersville Borough.

Photo 2. The former Harry E. Colliery Culm banks tower over the community of Swoyersville Borough where the residential homes surround the 55 acre abandoned mine lands in the Abraham Creek watershed on 3 sides. This 45 acre area is denoted as a Phase II site for future reclamation purposes and is not a part of the Phase I reclamation, due to the extensive reclamation costs needed and sheer amount of material that needs to be hauled, graded, and leveled for erosion and sedimentation control.

Photo 3. The Old Forge AMD Borehole as it discharges from the early 1960s concrete culvert diversion chamber that is several hundred feet downstream from the actual 42″ diameter borehole that is located along the Lackawanna River. Iron hydroxide staining is evident during typical lower flow conditions on the riverbed for the lower 3 miles of the Lackawanna River until it’s confluence with the North Branch Susquehanna River. The Connell Street Bridge in Old Forge can be seen from above.

Photo 4. Looking downstream on the Lackawanna River where the iron hydroxide staining is quite evident along the entire length of the river’s right bank. As the increased flows in the river drop from the recent storm events and remnants of Hurricane Ida and others, the muddied waters will turn back to orange and can be seen from Google Earth for the entire length of the lower 3 miles.

Photo 5. From left to right: Todd Wood-PA DEP BAMR NE Office, Bobby Hughes-EPCAMR Executive Director, Brian Bradley-PA DEP BAMR Harrisburg Office, and James Bruggers-Reporter for Inside Climate News, view the downstream impacts on the Lower Lackawanna River as Bobby discusses the impacts from past mining to the St. John’s Creek tributary that losing much of its water to the underground mine pool in the Scranton-Metro Mine Pool Complex.

Photo 6. A panoramic shot looking south taken by the EPCAMR Executive Director, Bobby Hughes, of the cutoff trench that was excavated to the base of the Dunmore No. 3 seam to isolate the mine fire and act as a barrier along the south, west, and north perimeters of the active fire zone and opposite high wall where the Dunmore No. 3 and Dunmore No. 2 (30-40′ below the No. 3) Anthracite veins were mined extensively.

Photo 7. Looking south across the cutoff trench that was excavated at the Dunmore No. 2 Anthracite vein in an anticline formation within the rock with the overburden seen from above in the tree line. You can notice the active venting of the mine gases in the left center of the photo seen as on this rainy day as smoke rising 10-14′ above the active fire zone.

Photo 8. James Bruggers, Reporter, Inside Climate News, captures some iPhone video footage of the venting gases coming from one of the many temperature monitoring boreholes within the active fire zone that is currently being reclaimed and extinguished.

Photo 9. Looking southwest along the isolation trench and vertical high wall opposite the trench where a few of the coal veins can be seen (Dunmore No. 2 and No. 3) and a little split or rider was noticed closer to the surface. Throop is down over the Valley horizon as well as the US Route 6 Highway.

Photo 10. Pinkish red ash from rock, waste culm, and coal that had previously been burned in the fire was excavated and placed along the cuts to create the roads to get around the mine fire site. It looks similar to what you would find in the ash content that you would find in your home if Anthracite coal had been used as a home heating fuel source for a furnace.

Photo 11. Pond 2 was constructed to hold the water supply that is necessary to extinguish the fire.

Photo 12. Looking down into the abyss and darkness of one of the temperature monitoring boreholes within the active fire zone.

Photo 13. Retired Mining Engineer, John Mack, formerly with the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Office that used to be located in Wilkes-Barre, PA gives James Brugger, Reporter, Inside Climate News, a historical overview of the project’s beginnings and initial funding sources, as well as the importance of the project due to the proximity of the Jefferson Township Sewer Authority’s infrastructure lines. Larry Dobash (white hat), Brian Bradley, and Tom Ludka-all from PA DEP Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation (PA DEP BAMR), and Bobby Hughes-(orange jacket) listen in on the conversation.

Photo 14. The temperature monitoring borehole capped at the surface within the Dolph Mine Fire zone.

Now that we’ve been able to provide you somewhat of a virtual tour for the day and some of the sites in Northeastern PA’s Anthracite Coal Region, there is a much greater sense of urgency in our work. The fee collection authority for the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) expires IN 2 DAYS (September 30th, 2021).  While there is language to renew the fee collection for several more years in the Infrastructure Bill that was passed by the Senate and is being considered by the House, all of us in the reclamation community are unsure as to whether the House of Representatives will pass that Bill.

If the Infrastructure Bill, which contains the SMCRA Reauthorization language, does not pass, then Congress has two options.  The first option is to let SMCRA fee collection sunset, or expire, which will put many State AML Programs and future reclamation and AMD remediation projects and treatment systems in serious jeopardy.  The second option is to provide a short-term extension to SMCRA fee collection until such time that Congress can agree on the details surrounding the Reauthorization.

Should it come to an extension, we hope that the House members will vote for that. Individuals who live in our coalfield communities that want to continue to see our land and waterways improved need to continue to have ongoing communications with their respective US State Representatives and Senators regarding the importance of the SMCRA Reauthorization. NOW, more than ever, as the days close in on the sunset date for the fee collection, communications with your local political leaders in the legislature will take on an even more important role.

Please contact your US Representatives, Senator Toomey, and Senator Casey, if you are a PA resident, and let them know of the importance of Reauthorization and Abandoned Mine Reclamation in Pennsylvania and that if it should come to the question of an extension, we hope the House of Representatives will vote for that.

For more information and videos related to the Abandoned Mine Land Trust Fund and Reauthorization, see the PA AML Campaign page, WPCAMR’s and EPCAMR’s YouTube video channels that are relatively new, where some videos can be found of interviews that we’ve had around the State with our partners to emphasize the importance of the work that we do and that all of our partners are doing to reclaim our abandoned mine lands and to clean up and restore our polluted waterways by creating jobs and economic development opportunities on these formerly abandoned mine lands once they are reclaimed and alternative energy uses continue to be developed for both the land, underground mine pool water, and the AMD.

If you are interested in learning more, join us for our 2021 PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation Virtual Conference that will be from October 27-29th.

The post PA DEP Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation and EPCAMR Highlight Legacy Abandoned Mine Lands & AMD with Inside Climate News Reporter appeared first on epcamr.org.

• reimburse states and tribal governments from the fund for the emergency restoration, reclamation, abatement, control, or prevention of adverse effects of coal mining practices;
• extend the authority for Interior to collect reclamation fees through FY2036; and

• increase the minimum amount of funds from $3-$5 million to states and Indian tribes who have an approved abandoned mine reclamation program

The RECLAIM Act (H.R. 2156) passed the U.S. House of Representatives as part of The Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2), a bill to address America’s infrastructure needs and create jobs in the wake of the economic and health crisis caused by COVID-19.

The RECLAIM Act would invest $1 billion in projects ($200 million/year for 5 years) that:

• clean up abandoned coal mines
• restore polluted rivers and streams known as watersheds suffering from abandoned mine drainage (AMD); and
• catalyze community economic development projects on or near reclaimed sites that can leverage additional private sector investment that can lead to more jobs and infrastructure development

These funds would be invested in over 20 states across the country. “Congressman Matt Cartwright’s original co-sponsorship of the Reauthorization Amendments and RECLAIM Act bills were instrumental as well as bipartisan support and leadership from Congressman Glenn Thompson (central PA), an early supporter, and Congressman Dan Meuser (eastern PA). Brian Fitzpatrick deserves a special thanks for being the only PA Republican to vote for the final passage of H.R. 2. However, EPCAMR still would like to thank our PA Republicans who co-sponsored HR 4248 and HR 2156,” Hughes emphasized.

Back in April, EPCAMR led a tour of PA Congressmen, Senator John Yudichak, and supporting partners, including the State PA DEP Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, to the Swoyersville Culm Bank Pilot Project in Luzerne County, for a press conference on the need for the continued support and co-sponsorship of the RECLAIM Act and Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act Reauthorization Amendments of 2019. Both are now folded into HR 2, The Moving Forward Act.

For years, EPCAMR has advocated for these bills as job creation measures to support coal communities as we have faced job loss and economic decline due to the disappearing coal industry and the need for additional land reclamation of abandoned mine sites. According to a recent study, in combination, these two bills would create over 13,000 jobs per year restoring abandoned mine lands and waters in Appalachia. These jobs are even more critical for coalfield communities as they grapple with the further economic decline due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The types of jobs that could be created are very similar to the jobs of laid-off mine workers who have operated heavy equipment to move dirt and backfill, revegetate, create ponds, plant trees, run treatment plants, restore waterways, and reclaim mine lands as a part of their mining permits. Abandoned mine land reclamation projects aren’t that different. The transition into these types of jobs could be seamless for operators of heavy equipment like bulldozers, excavators, plows, hydroseeders, water trucks, tree planting machines, surveyors, engineers, and fuel managers.

Here is an example of the construction equipment that are commonly found both on active mining sites as well as on abandoned mine land reclamation projects. They are the same type of jobs that could be created under Hr 2, The Moving Forward Act.

These jobs don’t even include the other potential jobs that are going to be necessary to assess the environmental conditions of the lands and water affected by past mining practices. Water monitors, underground mine pool modelers, land surveyors, plant specialists, field technicians, fishery biologists, stream consultants, GIS technicians and specialists, hydrologists, hydrogeologists, drone operators, foresters, and plant biologists are all jobs that could be supported.

Askam AMD Treatment Facility Maelstrom Oxidizers treating mine water in the Nanticoke Creek Watershed along Dundee Road, Hanover Township, PA, Luzerne County, owned and operated by the Earth Conservancy and monitored by EPCAMR.

                                                                                                                                                                        Infrastructure development could be a big part of the use of these funds as well. “Building an AMD water treatment plant is infrastructure development in my eyes because it is very similar to operating a sewage or municipal water authority treatment plant. It takes capital, concrete, outbuildings, roads, clarifiers, aerators, pipes, augers, screens, grit chambers, metal removal processes, sludge management, and full-time jobs to run the plants. There will always be a need for long-term operation and maintenance. Sounds like job security to me. That’s an investment in the communities that are heavily impacted by AMD!” exclaimed Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director. The bill Invests $40 billion in new wastewater infrastructure to encourage efficiency and affordability and helps communities address stormwater needs, preventing pollution in local rivers, like the Susquehanna. The WVSA and the DAMA are just two authorities that might be able to leverage additional funds in the Wyoming Valley to reduce costs for the ratepayers and municipalities who lay within their sewersheds under their Municipal Stormwater Separation System (MS4) Programs.

“New roads to access these abandoned mine lands will be necessary, culverts and bridges will need to be replaced and enlarged or retrofitted to allow for the passage of new surface water that normally had gone into the underground mine pool complexes leading to the creation of AMD. It is not just to be considered infrastructure from a development standpoint, it can also provide huge environmental benefits in our surrounding watersheds that would allow for the passage of aquatic organisms like various fish species, including wild and native brook trout that we’ve surveyed and have found to be isolated in the headwater streams and tributaries above the mining-impacted areas throughout our Ridges and Valleys in Northeastern PA” Hughes said, who also happens to be a long-time member of the Stanley Cooper Chapter of Trout Unlimited and is the Eastern Region Vice-President of the PA Council of Trout Unlimited. Trout Unlimited’s CEO, Chris Wood has also supported HR 2 this week with a letter to House Leadership and call to the 370,000 members and supporters, of which, in PA alone, there are over 14,000.

EPCAMR and TU Staff and volunteers assessing the native wild brown trout habitat in the Toby Creek Watershed as a part of their completion of the Coldwater Conservation Plan for the Upper Toby Creek Watershed.

“We want to see AMD streams cleaned up and improved habitats for fisheries returned to our region”, desired Hughes. New rules will make it a lot easier for third-party community groups, normally called “Good Samaritans” to take on additional work with a lot less concern for various liability issues in order to improve streams and improve aquatic connections to streams that had been lost and disconnected to due past mining practices.

EPCAMR Executive Director Bobby Hughes teaching students who are interested in becoming volunteers with EPCAMR about the impacts of AMD on the Solomon Creek Watershed in the Wyoming Valley’s Hanover Township location, where the Solomon Creek Boreholes pollute the Creek with iron-laden mine water. They are also collecting iron hydroxide for harvesting, processing, and recycling into iron oxide pigment as a recoverable resource and to demonstrate its use for education purposes with youth in the underserved coalfield communities.

Now that the House has passed The Moving Forward Act, the bills will be sent to the Senate for consideration. “I am cautiously optimistic now that Congress has finally listened to the tens of thousands of coalfield citizens, including myself, who has tried to represent our Northern Appalachian Region of PA’s coalfields and community groups for over 25 years. It has been an ongoing and continuous effort to do justice and speak honestly and candidly in the Halls of Congress during several Hearings with the House Natural Resources Committee and with Staffers of legislators to give examples of potential innovative solutions to reclamation, environmental restoration, workforce development, and job creation and provide each of them with statistics for their own legislative, Congressional and Senatorial Districts on the impacts and inventory they each have a responsibility to ensure that the areas are cleaned up.”

EPCAMR Executive Director, Bobby Hughes, having a few minutes to thank Congressman Cartwright for allowing him to speak on behalf of the coalfield communities of Northeastern and Northcentral PA on Reauthorization, the RECLAIM Act, and Innovative Mine Reclamation solutions following his testimony with the House Natural Resources Committee in Washington DC in 2019.

“I have never forgotten where I was born and raised and am determined like so many others across the country living with AMD and blighted landscapes from past mining to finally have the means and continued funding to help clean up our mining-impacted watersheds and promote opportunities for sustainable economic redevelopment of our mine lands that could market them in a way that solar or geothermal companies and or resource recovery firms could come here and now leverage their investments with these funds under the RECLAIM Act portion of this bill,” a hopeful Hughes stated.

EPCAMR Executive Director, Bobby Hughes surveys the vast 55 acres of abandoned mine lands that are several hundred feet below the location of the waste culm piles and former silt basins in Swoyersville, PA Luzerne County, that are being reclaimed as a part of the PA Abandoned Mine Land Pilot Program to be converted into a community recreational area through a private donation from Pagnotti Enterprises in partnership with the Borough of Swoyersville, the ARIPPA trade association of independent power producers, Keystone Reclamation Fuels Management LLC, PA DEP, PA DEP Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, PA DEP Pottsville District Mining Office, and the Federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement. The surface drainages are divided into both the Abraham Creek and Toby Creek watersheds.

“The RECLAIM Act will focus on those areas and will also allow community members to play a role in determining what areas and projects receive support and I won’t let them forget that the local communities voices and concerns need to be heard in order to ensure transparency and necessary accommodations and compromises that will allow for greater community support on the front end of projects that will ultimately benefit the greater coalfield communities,” Hughes emphasized.

“House passage is great news for PA’s coalfield communities, new investors, developers, and alternative renewable and green energy companies, which are eager to get to work reclaiming abandoned mining sites and working with EPCAMR to assist them with siting areas, evaluating underground mine pools for use, recovery of rare earth elements, and the resource recovery of metals for future projects,” said Michael Hewitt, EPCAMR Program Manager.

“We look forward to working with Senator Manchin (WV), who has been a champion on these issues, to promote Senate passage, Senator Capito (WV), as well as our State Senators, Robert P. Casey Jr. and Pat Toomey to continue to let them know how strong and diverse our support has been. There are reclamation projects that are ‘shovel-ready’, AMD discharges waiting to be treated, willing investors looking to leverage the funds for private sector development, available funding, and all we need now is for the Senate to vote”, stated simply,  Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director.

This legislation is a critical step for coal community recovery after the decline of the coal industry the economic effects of COVID-19, and a transitioning into a new energy economy. The RECLAIM Act and reauthorization of the abandoned mine reclamation fee was recently endorsed by over 100 organizations across the United States in a letter to congressional leadership, including EPCAMR.

The post The Surface Mining Reclamation Control Act Amendments of 2019 authorizes 15-year extension and the RECLAIM Act Passes the House as part of H.R. 2, The Moving Forward Act appeared first on epcamr.org.

Since that time, the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR), a 25 year regional environmental non-profit organization based out of Northeastern PA’s Anthracite Region, has continued to provide feedback and continued support to legislators and potential co-sponsors of the bill. We have been in collaboration with National and State experts in the reclamation and administrative processes that are paramount and essential to strengthen the bill and its effectiveness in seeing to it that reclamation and economic development of our abandoned mine lands get reclaimed.

EPCAMR providing students with a tour of the Old Forge AMD Borehole that pollutes the lower 3 miles of the Lackawanna River since the early 1960s.

There needs to be even broader support for HR 4248 (Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act Amendments of 2019) that needs to be extended to 2036 that was introduced by Congressman Matt Cartwright. It currently has 28 co-sponsors. EPCAMR is a part of a group of organizations in PA that are in the PA Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Campaign that is a no-budget, no-letterhead group of organizations and individuals advocating for policies and programs that benefit the coal-impacted communities of PA and beyond.

EPCAMR would like to see the Abandoned Mine Land mandatory distribution funds be exempt from sequestration under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act and have the funds that have been sequestered during the Fiscal Years 2013-2018 be returned for utilization by States impacted by abandoned mines.

EPCAMR supports the waiver language being added into the Senate version of the RECLAIM Act because it will be key to the successful implementation of its passage. The funds should be allocated to distressed communities as a priority. We support extensions of projects knowing that the permitting process, review process, weather, construction site conditions, market conditions, executing contracting agreements, and grants can take some time to become fully executed. This does not mean that potential projects should become bogged down in bureaucratic and administrative paperwork to slow down the implementation process to get the money on the ground and shovels into the ground. We believe there should be a reasonable amount of time for the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Field Offices to review, vet and approve project proposals so that they don’t overlook details in the permits or put unnecessary pressure on Staff or reduce opportunities for stakeholder involvement.

PA and other States and Tribes will incur costs to implement the RECLAIM Act and the Reauthorization of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, which needs to be extended another 15 years, at least, to address our concerns with abandoned mine lands and polluted mine water from abandoned mine drainage (AMD). A portion of these funds is important for our agencies to utilize to plan, design, construct, and administer projects. Contracts that will go out for bid will also create more local jobs for the economies that need the infusion of additional work opportunities in multiple service sectors that will help to reduce unemployment and the loss of even more employment opportunities that we currently are experiencing since the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread in the Spring, not only affecting the health and lives of our communities but their jobs, businesses, and livelihoods as well.

EPCAMR led a tour of PA Congressmen, Senator John Yudichak, and supporting partners, including the State PA DEP Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, Swoyersville Mayor, Keystone Reclamation Fuels Management LLC, Olympus Power, Northampton Generating, and Staff to the Swoyersville Culm Bank Pilot Reclamation and Community Athletic Area Project in Luzerne County, for a press conference and media event on the need for the continued support and co-sponsorship of the RECLAIM Act and Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act Reauthorization Amendments of 2019.

We believe that public meetings are likely not required for every project, however, we do encourage engagement with community stakeholders of a proposed project prior to State agencies submitting proposals to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement for approval. This will ensure accountability and oversight on the local level, which includes the ability to request a public hearing and that the public is notified through local newspapers, the internet/agency websites, and through email notification. These methods of communication are important to community stakeholders and residents. The opportunity to submit comments and request a hearing, if necessary, within a reasonable time-frame promotes transparency and accountability.

The Hughes Family out on a hike on a former abandoned mine site that is now a recreational area that has been taken in by many outdoor recreational enthusiasts due to COVID-19 for family time and to reconnect with nature.

More and more people during this pandemic have been escaping to nature to just get away and relieve some stress and to calm themselves down from the anxiety that COVID-19 has created in our communities to where it has led to the point of mental exhaustion. People, like myself, have gone to refuges that were formerly abandoned mine lands that are now green spaces and trails within the lower Wyoming Valley to take my children for walks, to hike, to get back to nature and out of our stay at home orders and somewhat restricted environments of our homes.

Ethan Hughes enjoying the outdoors after hiking along the Penobscot Ridge Mountain Bike Trail constructed by the Earth Conservancy and funds from the Abandoned Mine Land Trust Fund to reclaim the former mine site in Wanamie, Newport Township, Luzerne County, PA.

A photo of a natural area that has grown up around the former AMD Wetlands Treatment System operated by the Earth Conservancy, along Dundee Road in Hanover Township, Luzerne County, PA.

Reclamation of our abandoned mine lands and improvements to restore the water quality of our rivers and streams that have been devastated by the impacts of our past mining legacy can now become destinations and outdoor recreational opportunities while creating jobs at the same time to reclaim and restore them. The time is now to pass these bills and move Appalachia and other coal impacted communities forward across the Country. Place RECLAIM Act and the AML Reauthorization Act in a near term stimulus-related recovery package.  Representatives Matt Cartwright (PA-08), Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-03), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), Deb Haaland (NM-01), Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-At Large) and Ruben Gallego (AZ-07) urged House Leadership to include a “Restoration and Resilience Jobs” program in future economic recovery packages back in May of this year signed by 79 members of Congress. Please get your legislators to co-sponsor both important bills.

Bobby Hughes, Executive Director-EPCAMR

(This letter without photos has been submitted to several newspapers for consideration for publication in their Letter to the Editors digital and print media sections.)

The post Pass the RECLAIM Act and the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act Amendments of 2019 appeared first on epcamr.org.

EPCAMR’s grant coordination will be conducted in the Fall of 2020 with students from the Wilkes-Barre Area School District as we continue to work with Mike Corcoran, who has been a long-time partner with EPCAMR on many grants over the last few decades.  Mike will help to decide which classes can participate in the grant in the Elementary School System.

“This grant will help us build stewardship for our watersheds in our local youth and their families. We recognize that children are our future leaders, so it is crucial to teach them about local environmental issues and help them understand they have the power to directly help,” says Environmental Educator at EPCAMR, Laura Rinehimer, who is leading the project. EPCAMR Program Manager Michael Hewitt added, “It’s important for kids to understand what they do. Their habits can greatly impact our environment and society, in general. If we learn good habits early, it’s not so hard for us to change them later.” 

The original grant, which consisted of students going on an interactive field trip and leading their own action project, needed to be changed due to Covid-19. Instead of being able to physically take students to locations in our watersheds, EPCAMR will be creating boxed kits to send to the students with everything they need for a virtual tour. Accompanying videos will be created to allow students to “visit” the locations from the safety of their homes. These boxes include an informative guided nature journal, an original board game created by EPCAMR staff, and other materials to complete science exploration activities. Laura Rinehimer stated, “We want the kits to be a hands-on way for children to have fun exploring and learning about their local environment so that they can fall in love with nature in their own communities and feel empowered to protect it.”

Students from the Bear Creek Charter School learning about how to identify macroinvertebrates with EPCAMR.

The kits will teach children about the different types of pollution impacting our watersheds, emphasizing abandoned mine discharge (AMD) leading to iron oxide deposits in our water. This is harmful to aquatic life, coating the gills of small fish, inadvertent drinking of the polluted mine water by small animals, reducing light needed for photosynthesis in aquatic plants and algae, and leading to sediment buildup which smothers food sources and spawning beds. The emphasis, however, will be about the solutions to our environmental problems. Michael Hewitt stated, “We find it important to treat mine drainage and other nonpoint source pollution at its source in the headwater tributaries to limit the impacts of dead zones and sediment downstream and eventually to the Chesapeake Bay.”

EPCAMR Executive Director Bobby Hughes with some excited and enthused fellow students from the Heights Murray Elementary School in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District at an outdoor Environmental Education Program at Francis Slocum State Park.

Students will learn about active and passive treatment systems used to reduce the AMD entering our waterways. They will also learn about ways to directly help keep our waters clean, such as protecting and planting riparian buffer zones, conducting streamside cleanups, and making their voices heard in future environmental litigation. Cleanup materials will be included in the kits so that students can make a difference in their own communities. Families are encouraged to send footage of litter cleanups so that EPCAMR can compile them into one video showing the powerful synergistic impact of many people making small positive changes.

Students on an AMD Tour to the Audenreid AMD Treatment System in the Catawissa Creek Watershed.

Executive Director of EPCAMR, Bobby Hughes said, “EPCAMR teaches area youth that their local neighborhoods are a part of nature and the environment when they don’t often see “outside” as a part of their watershed address. We do our best to give them our place-based education philosophy. Our goal is to provide them meaningful outdoor learning experiences so that they can connect with their surrounding landscapes. No matter where they live in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District they are indirectly tied to the Chesapeake Bay through the Susquehanna River and its headwater tributaries.” 

Contact Laura Rinehimer, EPCAMR Environmental Educator for project details @ 570-371-3522 or lrinehimer@epcamr.org.

The post Chesapeake Bay Foundation Awards EPCAMR $5000 Watershed Education Experience Grant to Provide Virtual Watershed Tours in a Box to Wilkes-Barre Area School District Students appeared first on epcamr.org.

Steve Cornia, EPCAMR’s recent hire as a GIS Watershed Outreach Technician grabbing a water level sample.

He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Geology from Lock Haven University after spending two years at LCCC. While attending Lock Haven, he managed the university’s soils and water lab. It was during his time working in the lab where he was first exposed to the true effects of AMD while working on a water quality projects testing the effectiveness of a passive AMD treatment plant. Under his supervisor, Dr. Khalequzzaman, Steve also helped implement several baseline water quality monitoring projects in watersheds in the Marcellus Shale drilling regions. His hard work and dedication in the lab earned him the Lock Haven University Environmental Stewardship award. From there, he completed his geology field camp in the Black Hills through the South Dakota School of Mines, where he honed in his field techniques.

He attended graduate school at Shippensburg University for Geoenvironmental studies, working as a Graduate Assistant in the Technology Student/Faculty Helpdesk. It is at Shippensburg where Steve gained most of his formal training in GIS and where he learned how to apply the technology to suite a wide range of different projects.

In his spare time, you can find Steve outside hiking or biking the local trails, fishing, playing music with his friends, or relaxing by a campfire.

“I am looking forward to the opportunity to be able to contribute my skills and knowledge of GIS, geology, and hydrology to the many exciting projects that EPCAMR is involved with. It is exciting to be part of a team of like-minded individuals with the common goal of building a cleaner and safer environment and giving back to our community through our many educational outreach programs.”

“EPCAMR is looking forward to bringing Steve on board with his background and experience in GIS and field monitoring to help us continue to provide the much needed technical assistance that we are currently giving to our coalfield community groups and State and Federal agencies that have partnered with us for over the last 20 plus years”, enthusiastically said, Robert Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director. “From day one, we have him jumping right in once his initial orientation to the office was held and some administrative duties, to scanning mine underground mine maps and cataloging them from Western Middle Anthracite Coal fields and learning the process of inputting the data fields we need to collect to submit to the PA Historic Underground Mine Mapping System (PHUMMIS) and he’s picked it up pretty quickly. While admitting that he’s a little rusty on ArcGIS, he’s looking forward to learning how to navigate ArcGIS 10.6 and ArcGIS Pro with EPCAMR to help us create mine map mosaics, digitize, and geo-reference the thousands of maps that we are inventorying for the State’s Mine Subsidence Insurance Program.”

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