The Annual Pennsylvania Abandoned Mine Reclamation (AMR) Conference is now accepting proposals for presentations.  The 2017 PA AMR Conference will be held June 21-22, 2017 at the Best Western Plus Genetti Hotel and Conference Center, Wilkes-Barre.   Abstracts for presentations which revolve around this year’s theme of  “The Future of Reclamation” should be no longer than 1 page, contain the presenter’s name and title of presentation, and must be emailed by the close of business on March 21, 2017 to Anne Daymut, at anne@wpcamr.org.

The potential for the changing Federal environmental policies to influence abandoned mine reclamation in Pennsylvania is imminent.  The return to a focus on coal production, the proposed shifting of spending of the Abandoned Mine Land Fund through the RECLAIM initiative, and the expected expiration of the collection fees feeding the Abandoned Mine Land Fund could each have their own costs and benefits to Pennsylvania’s abandoned mine reclamation community.  The PA AMR Conference will explore these ideas with an emphasis on the future of reclamation and the benefits it provides.  We also welcome presentations on treatment system design, new technologies and tools, successes and lessons learned, or anything that is useful to the abandoned mine reclamation community.

The AMR conference is going to be located in the heart of the Wyoming Valley and the Northern Anthracite Coalfields. We have not been back to “The Diamond City” since our first regional conference that was held in June of 1996 at Wilkes University.  A full day tour of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys’ abandoned mine drainage and abandoned mine reclamation projects.  An alternative walking tour of Wilkes-Barre coal history, visits to an Anthracite Altar, an Anthracite art exhibit, and a film screening will also be offered, including the release of the full documentary, Centralia: PA’s Lost Town.

Visit our conference website HERE to find further details about this year’s conference, register to attend, or find links to previous conferences and examples of prior presentations.

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Director, Joe Sapienza II. Credit: Curtis Donar

Over a four-year period, they successfully completed a documentary that will tell Centralia’s fate through the perspective of Centralia’s former and current residents, the government’s own actions, and local news archives. Joe screened a private rough cut of the documentary twice in the fall of 2016 to former cast, crew, and residents of Centralia and Byrnesville. It received positive reviews with only minor cuts that will be removed from the film and with the addition of an extended introduction including author David DeKok and former resident Tom Dempsey before the opening credits roll.

Producer, Allyson Kircher

The documentary will go through the final stages of post-production with Melina Smith, one of the camera operators on the film and colorist at Company 3 in New York. She will color the entire feature giving the film its final beauty. Corey Branigan who works for a production company that specializes in motion graphics – Konrad & Paul in New York – will apply motion effects to the vintage photos, the animations of the mines and tunnels that run beneath Centralia, and the street sign markers that tell the viewer exactly where a scene was shot.

Colorist, Melina Smith

Motion graphics, Corey Branigan

Dominic Zappalla, a commercial freelance audio engineer in Philadelphia, will mix the entire feature with a music score and sound effects that were left out and not heard at the screenings. The music is essential and will add a complement to the narrative, correlating with the drama that unfolds during each scene. The music tracks were scored by John Avarese, a feature film composer and audio professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Audio mixer, Dominic Zappalla. Credit: Dan Leung

The opening title segment features a rare acoustic version of, “Ain’t It The Life?” by singer songwriter Erik Peterson of Mischief Brew. Erik and his wife Denise hold a special place in their hearts for Centralia and reached out to Joe last spring. Joe asked Erik to record an acoustic version of “Ain’t It The Life?” and loved it so much that he put it in the opening track of the film. Sadly, Erik Peterson passed away in July of 2016 and Joe has dedicated the film in his honor along with another close friend who introduced him to Centralia back in 2005, Sue “Suzie Q” Berkheimer, a resident of New Columbia, Pennsylvania.

After the film’s release in May, it will be screened at local theaters throughout Pennsylvania including Pottsville, Tamaqua, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Williamsport, Blue Bell, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia, among others. Check local theater listings for release dates in Pennsylvania. The documentary will also be submitted to over a thousand film festivals worldwide through 2017 and 2018. In addition, Joe is considering distributors such as Amazon Video Direct and Netflix in 2018 for final distribution release.

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Robert Hughes-EPCAMR Executive Director and Andy McAllister-WPCAMR Regional Coordinator accept the $5000 check from ARIPPA

ARIPPA awarded $5,000 in August at their Annual Awards Luncheon and $45,000 in the past to watershed organizations performing Abandoned Mine Land (AML) and/or Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) remediation improvements that are partners of EPCAMR and WPCAMR. Award recipients have included: Allegheny Valley Land Trust, Altman Run-Watershed, Babb Creek Watershed, Blackleggs Creek Watershed, Chestnut Ridge Chapter Trout Unlimited, Clearfield Creek Watershed, Earth Conservancy, Eastern Middle Anthracite Region Recovery, Evergreen Conservancy, Huber Breaker Preservation Society, Lackawanna River Corridor Association, Loyalsock Creek Watershed, Luzerne Conservation District, Mehoopany Creek Watershed Association, Plymouth Historical Society, Schuylkill Headwaters Association, Sewickley Creek Watershed, and the Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance.

Awards are granted under the guidance and administration of Eastern and Western Pennsylvania Coalitions for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR and WPCAMR respectively). EPCAMR and WPCAMR are the two leading, regional environmental non-profit associations organized to encourage the reclamation, remediation, and redevelopment of lands and streams impacted by past mining practices. “EPCAMR and WPCAMR oversee the solicitation of proposals each year, review them, recommend them for awards, and then provide the selected award winners with checks following the ARIPPA Annual Awards Luncheon in August. Each year we publicize the request for applications a few times a year and usually look forward to at least 4-6 applications knowing that we only $2500 per Coalition to distribute. It’s a very simple application process. I’m surprised there aren’t more applications, honestly. Hopefully in 2015, we’ll get more. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. That hasn’t stopped us from redistributing the donation from ARIPPA at all. 100% of the funding goes out each and every year and we are proud of the projects that we can support on the ground in partnership with ARIPPA,” stated Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director. ARIPPA is also represented on the EPCAMR Board of Directors as an Industry Trade Association representative.

The 3 EPCAMR Award Winning Projects for 2014 are as follows:

$ 1300 will go to the Babb Creek Watershed Association (BCWA) for the cost of 1 of the 2 replacement stainless steel runners that are needed for the Antrim AMD MicroHydroPower Treatment Plant.

Corroded Runner at the Antrim MicroHydro Turbine AMD Treatment Plant

New Runner at the Antrim MicroHydro Turbine AMD Treatment Plant

$ 700 will be administered by EPCAMR on behalf of a group of volunteers led by Joe Sapienza Jr., Director of a recent short documentary on Centralia, who sought EPCAMR’s technical assistance to coordinate a large illegal dumpsite cleanup effort, called Cleanup Centralia! on October 25^th, 2014 this Fall to fund the hauling of waste and debris from three locations in and around Centralia, Byrnesville, and along Big Mine Run Road. Cleanup supplies, shovels, rakes, grass seed, wildflower mix, and NO DUMPING signs will also be picked up and housed with EPCAMR.

Illegal Dump Pile in Centralia near the Odd Fellows Cemetery that will be one of the sites cleaned up on October 25th

$  500 will go to the Mehoopany Creek Watershed Association (MCWA) for the purchase of 17 Tons of limestone sand to treat the acidic conditions of the South Branch Mehoopany Creek that will be placed in the Spring of 2015 ahead of the melt of from the Winter.

Rock Vein Construction on Mehoopany Creek

Confluence of the S. Branch and N. Branch of the Mehoopany Creek that will benefit from the limestone sand dosing

Watershed protection and abandoned mine land reclamation are two of the fastest growing areas of community-based collaboration in the Commonwealth of PA. Throughout the country, watershed groups are playing an increasingly prominent role in environmental management. Remediation projects are costly and long-term endeavors with costs averaging between $10-20,000 per acre, according to the Pennsylvania Mining Reclamation Advisory Board. The ARIPPA Reclamation Awards partnership with EPCAMR/WPCAMR are designed to help watershed groups and community groups continue their volunteer efforts toward improving our environment.

Organized in 1988, ARIPPA is a non-profit trade association representing alternative energy plants that remove coal refuse from AML areas, convert it into alternative energy, and beneficially utilize the ash by-product to reclaim thousands of acres of mine-scarred lands and hundreds of miles of formerly dead streams back to their natural state; without any expenditure of tax dollars. To date over 212 million tons of coal refuse has been converted into alternative energy by member plants. Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) technology (one of the cleanest methods available today) is used to convert coal refuse into electricity and an alkaline-rich ash by-products utilized for decades in a highly regulated, safe, and beneficial manner to: fill and reclaim unsafe, abandoned mine lands; to remediate streams damaged by acid mine drainage; amend soil at mining sites, and serve as an additive in concrete/asphalt for construction and roadways.

The unique nature of ARIPPA’s environmental efforts combined with the desire to coordinate these efforts with “hands-on” environmentally oriented groups and governmental agencies symbolizes its commitment to improving our nation’s landscape and environment.

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Robert showing the EPCAMR Staff, Interns, and Film Crew of the many piles around town.

On Tuesday, July 15th, EPCAMR headed out to Centralia to assess the amount of trash and illegal dumping sites in the area for a possible Fall Cleanup around the now-barren town. With volunteers, interns, and one of our partners–  The Pennsylvania Environmental Council, NE Office (PEC) in tow,  the group met up with the Director of  “Centralia: America’s Lost Town” , Joe Sapienza II, recent graduate, and some of his film crew members from Drexel University, for a tour and to get a site assessment of the area– the first step in cleaning up Centralia!

Old Route 61

Our first stop to survey for trash was where the original fire in Centralia started near the Odd Fellows Cemetery. At this location, we found a few old mattresses and a large illegal dump and burn site with piles of litter, as well as, the start of many illegally-dumped auto tires.  Towards the other end of town, off Meyers Street, the crew walked down an abandoned road or  rail line which was once headed towards Mt. Carmel, to find more illegal dumping going on. The abandoned area was strewn with several wood piles, garbage bags full of household items, many more tires, furniture, and even the front bumper of a JEEP. The crew then parked in an empty lot where the famous Coddington’s Gas Station once stood (one of the main areas for tourists to park their cars in Centralia) and walked down along an abandoned road surrounded by culm  banks. Here, we found even more piles of trash scattered throughout the landscape.

The July 15th  site assessment showed that there is a strong need for a future cleanup in Centralia. EPCAMR has gotten approval of the State to move along with the cleanup  project. We are confident that we can accomplish this effort as we have completed hundreds of cleanups for nearly the last two decades and are already making contacts to put the wheels in motion.  During the site assessment, the group ran into at least 12 other tourists in the area. EPCAMR Executive Director, Robert Hughes, had a conversation with a few of the individuals about Centralia and the Fall Cleanup EPCAMR was planning on doing. Several of the tourists were happy to hear about the initiative and were willing to help as future volunteers with EPCAMR. Many folks were also interested in a possible future historical interpretive project EPCAMR was also considering for Centralia. We would love to see small wooden plaques with historical information around Centralia for tourists to read about the town and what happened in 1962 that left it abandoned. A handful of people EPCAMR spoke with were also excited about the idea of adding  picnic tables or benches in Centralia for the tourists that visit this historic site. We hope people interested in Centralia and working with EPCAMR will join us as future volunteers for a Fall Cleanup in Centralia set for October 25th from 9am-4pm with a 10am start and a 9am volunteer registration!

EPCAMR Staff and Joe Sapienza II will be coordinating a Fall 2014 Community Cleanup at the location of PA’s most historic mine fire in the Town of Centralia, PA on Saturday, October 25th. Recent film graduate students Joe Sapienza (Director) and friends from Drexel University, have been working with us to coordinate a cleanup in the Town that is pretty barren right now and isolated from the world, except for a handful (3 families) of residents that remain. We’ll be registering volunteers at 9am near the former Coddington Gas Station, just down the street from the St. Ignatius Cemetery.

We are looking for dozens of volunteers for the cleanup that will help EPCAMR to set the wheels in motion for a possible future historical interpretive project that we’re considering for the Town, if we can get the State behind us. Hear stories from the EPCAMR Executive Director on his internship days with the PA DEP some 20 years ago, as he monitored around the Town for mine gases in one of the Churches and along the coal banks that were on fire in the Buck Mountain Vein. Get a chance to meet the Director of the short film on Centralia that has been just recently released. Hear more on a full length documentary on Centralia that Joe is beginning to work on too.

An IndieGoGo fundraising effort is going to go live to assist us with funds for supplies, refreshments for the volunteers, water, tools, and to assist with paying for dumpsters and some wildflower seeds for the areas that we will be cleaning up. IF YOU DONATE, there are SWAG gifts in return, so please check out the link. EPCAMR is committing $700 towards the effort up front, plus Staff and other resources. http://vimeo.com/104065441

We have permission from one of the property owners (Pagnotti Enterprises) to place a dumpster on their property near the Odd Fellows Cemetery at the one cleanup location and we are actively working on securing permission from Blaschok Coal Company to place a dumpster in another area that can be seen in our Vimeo Cleanup Centralia Project video.

Follow the link on Facebook to join the effort as an EPCAMR Volunteer! https://www.facebook.com/events/628137517302486/?ref=22&source=1

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