Figure 1. Aspect Raster Layer of a portion of the Northern Anthracite Coalfields

Suitability Layer of a portion of the Northern Anthracite Coalfields related to Solar within coalfield communities and the potential siting on formerly reclaimed abandoned mine lands

The post The Just Transition Fund Awards EPCAMR $25K Planning and Outreach Grant to Reach New Partners in the Solar Markets to Discuss Future Development Opportunities on Reclaimed Abandoned Mine Lands in PA Coalfield Communities appeared first on epcamr.org.

The grant program provides assistance to the region’s watershed groups. This year’s awards cover program expenses in three areas: water quality monitoring, watershed restoration, and organizational promotion and outreach. Since 2005, WPC and the Dominion Foundation have collaborated to help enhance water quality and watershed initiatives through this grant program, which has awarded $313,475 to more than 110 organizations.

“The Mini Grant Program offers invaluable funding for smaller volunteer-based organizations and helps them to administer and complete a variety of projects – like tree plantings and water monitoring – that are important to sustaining and enhancing local watersheds,” said Don Houser, Dominion’s Director of Government Affairs.

Robert Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director receiving an Mini-Grant Award Plaque from Don Houser, Director of Regional Federal, State, and Local Affairs for Dominion to support the development and creation of a new EPCAMR Brochure.

Our original request was for $2000. The brochure describes EPCAMR’s intentions to look to create new partnerships with community groups working on abandoned mine drainage (AMD), abandoned mine reclamation, and outdoor environmental education efforts in the Bituminous Coalfields Northern Tier county of Tioga, and in Dauphin county, located in the Southern Anthracite Coalfields. Dominion Energy services both of these counties throughout NorthCentral and Northeastern PA  and they overlap with the EPCAMR Region as our polar opposites, in terms of the counties furthest to our north and furthest to our south of our centrally located office in Ashley, PA, Luzerne County.

EPCAMR intends to support organizational promotion and awareness of our non-profit environmental group in the two targeted coverage areas. Travel budgets sometimes limit our physical presence in these areas, however, EPCAMR believes that we need to become a more involved and engaged partner on abandoned mine reclamation and AMD remediation projects in these counties, specifically.

This grant helped EPCAMR to attain its primary goals and objectives by allowing us to: 1) reach out to additional partners and make them aware of our Coalition’s efforts and technical services offered in the region, in those two respective counties where we work, 2) update them on regional projects and technical assistance of importance to their watersheds, and 3) offer additional free technical and assistance and services to those community leaders and groups with similar goals and desires to clean up their mining impacted watersheds.

Word Cloud describing some of the actions that EPCAMR can provide to community groups.

EPCAMR has some existing partnerships in those counties with the County Conservation Districts and a few community groups, however, we would like to dedicate some time and effort to creating more awareness and outreach efforts within these two vital counties in our region that have experienced their share of abandoned mine problems and water quality issues dealing with AMD. Both the Tioga County Conservation District and Dauphin County Conservation District are active member organizations to EPCAMR and have been long-time Coalition partners.

Bear Creek AMD seeps that eventually flow into the Wiconisco Creek.

EPCAMR works with the Tioga County Concerned Citizens Committee, Tioga River Watershed Reclamation Projects Inc., PA DEP Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, PA DEP Moshannon District Mining Office, Hillside Rod and Gun Club, and Blossburg Elementary School. EPCAMR hopes to make contact with the Cowanesque Valley Watershed Association, Kettle Creek Watershed Association, Pine Creek Headwaters Protection Group, Ellen Run Watershed Projects, Corey Creek Watershed Association, Mill Cove Association, Crooked Creek Coalition, and the Sugar Branch Lake Watershed Association to determine if they have any abandoned mine impacts where we could assist them in the future. We will be sharing our brochure with these organizations in the hopes that they can help to disseminate them within their watersheds.

Bear Creek AMD confluence with the Wiconisco Creek.

EPCAMR works with the Wiconisco Creek Watershed Association, SRBC, PA DEP Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, PA Game Commission, PA DEP Pottsville District Mining Office, Doc Fritchey Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Schuylkill County Conservation District, and the Rausch Creek Partners, in the Dauphin County area. EPCAMR hopes to make contact with the Tri-Valley Watershed Association, Swatara Creek Watershed Association, and any efforts in the Clark and Stony Creek Watersheds in Dauphin County.

Bear Creek AMD Treatment Pond A designed and constructed by Skelly & Loy in partnership with EPCAMR and the Dauphin County Conservation District.

As a regional service provider, with a small professional staff, that are entirely grant funded, it is rare that EPCAMR secures all of the funding necessary that could support our outreach and organizational promotion throughout the year. EPCAMR will spend some staff time researching the groups and organizations that we would like to reach out to in order to promote our technical assistance and public services, create a database from which we can work from, and provide them resources on EPCAMR that will allow us to build up our Coalition’s presence and support in those respective counties. We utilized the portion of the grant funds that we were awarded to create an updated brochure, will be making poster boards for outreach and awareness of EPCAMR’s work in the region, and will be adding additional elements or links to our existing website at www.epcamr.org that will allow us to direct groups to our page for additional resources, outreach materials, or technical assistance.

We have an outreach campaign idea that we would like to expand on called “Actions Speak Louder than Words” that will allow us to create posters and pictures of EPCAMR Staff and volunteers doing various work in our field of interest through the depiction of environmental action across the region in our mining impacted watersheds and abandoned mine landscapes. EPCAMR would like to use action verbs to promote our organization and the photos to back up those actions since a picture is worth a thousand words. It will also help us regionally develop a presence as well beyond the two targeted counties in Dominion’s service area as a secondary benefit. Although, EPCAMR does not cover many of the other counties listed in the grant application that are primarily found in Western and Central PA, we do service many of them through our existing partnership with the WPCAMR, during our annual PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference, that has been held yearly for the last 19 years (www.treatminewater.com).

About Dominion:

Dominion and the Dominion Foundation are dedicated to improving the physical, social and economic well-being of the communities served by Dominion companies. Dominion and the Dominion Foundation support nonprofit causes that meet basic human needs, protect the environment, support education and promote community vitality.

About the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy:

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) enhances the region’s quality of life by protecting and restoring exceptional places. A private nonprofit conservation organization founded in 1932, WPC has helped to establish ten state parks, conserved more than a quarter million acres of natural lands and protected or restored more than 3,000 miles of rivers and streams. The Conservancy owns and operates Fallingwater, which symbolizes people living in harmony with nature. In addition, WPC enriches our region’s cities and towns through 130 community gardens and other green spaces that are planted with the help of about 12,000 volunteers. The work of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy is accomplished through the support of more than 10,000 members. For more information, visit WaterLandLife.org.

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