EPCAMR will be providing The Nanticoke Conservation Club with $500 to aid in the disposal costs and dumping fees of the trash. Community Aid, a committed partner of EPCAMR’s in the region, has provided $5000 in funds for EPCAMR to support the coordination and management of several cleanups around the coalfields. Several other cleanups are in the planning stages for later this year all the way through the Fall of 2017, including our annual cleanup of Centralia, PA. The City of Nanticoke, the Newport Township Crimewatch, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, NE Office, are all partners in the effort. The area of the cleanup, and along the mining impacted Newport Creek, which runs parallel to the road into the site will be the center point of the cleanup. They will just need to provide us with receipts and a tally of the number of bags and tires collected, number of volunteers and club members in attendance, along with the tonnage report for the two anticipated dumpsters that they will be getting so that we can provide a thorough report to Community Aid in the Fall 2017. EPCAMR has already reached out to our RECLAIM Crew volunteer database as well to see if they are interested in making it to this event and will be present to take some photos of the good work that they all will be doing in the Southern Wyoming Valley and along Newport Creek.

Gary Gronkowski, President, of the The Nanticoke Conservation Club estimates that 40 volunteers will commit at least 4 hours of their time on that Saturday morning to rid the community of the illegal dumping sites, valued at $3780.80, not including the use of the City’s Public Works equipment to transport trash to the dumpsters. “The entire Nanticoke Conservation Club thanks you for the support offered and to your ongoing dedication to our environment”, stated Gary Gronkowski, in his letter of request to EPCAMR for support. Chartered on April 4, 1951, The Nanticoke Conservation Club is an active organization comprised of hunters, fishermen and outdoor enthusiasts. Their goal is to protect, preserve, and manage their area’s wildlife and natural resources.

“Gary Gronkowski and I have been cleaning up trash for over 20 years together across the entire Southern Wyoming Valley. Our daughter’s went to elementary and high school together and played on many sports teams together, where we ended up seeing each other at a lot of events and began sharing our stories of our concern for our local environment, rivers, and streams. Long ago, we decided that we would make a commitment to conducting cleanups anywhere and everywhere that was necessary within our surrounding neighborhoods to rid the area of decades of past dumping on our environment.” recalls Robert Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director.

“I’m glad that EPCAMR with the support of Community Aid, can provide them with some funds to alleviate the costs of the hauling and dumping fees to remove the trash because it’s a local burden on the communities that we are serving to try and secure funds for these costs. The value of the time and effort that the volunteers put in on any given Saturday are staggering when you compare it to the actual cash that you have to seek and spend on the removal of the trash. Without the conservation-minded people that are members of The Nanticoke Conservation Club, and the other partners that we continue to work with and strengthen our relationships with over time, we would never be able to remove the sheer tonnage, tires, televisions, mattresses, and volume of household littered trash and debris from our coalfield communities. I can’t thank them enough!” exclaimed Robert.

On the same day at the other end of Newport Township, the Newport Township Crimewatch, led by Amy Saraka, there will be a similar cleanup effort going on with additional funds provided by EPCAMR through a small ARIPPA grant from last year that was awarded to them in the amount of $500 to support the cleanup efforts outside of Wanamie, along the Industrial Park (IP) road on abandoned mine lands too. The funds will go towards hauling, proper electronics waste disposal, dumpster, and cleanup supplies  on an abandoned mine land area in Newport Township, Luzerne County, PA where up to 40 tires will be removed and 10-12,000 pounds of illegally dumped trash, discarded furniture, construction waste, and household wastes will be removed, in partnership with Newport Township, , Newport Township Police Department, Nanticoke Conservation Club, and EPCAMR. 50 volunteers are expected to participate with their time value at $4726.00, not including support from the Newport Township Public Works Department. EPCAMR will administer the grant on behalf of the NTCW.

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George Ellis, Executive Director of ARIPPA, sent us a note along with the donation stating, “Your passion and dedication to reclaiming and redeveloping lands and streams affected by historic mining practices is admirable and truly makes a significant impact on PA’s environment. Accordingly, ARIPPA is proud to contribute to your AML/AMD efforts by making a monetary donation in the amount of $2500. While it is a relatively small amount, we hope that it will make a difference in the environmental remediation work that you continue to perform. We genuinely appreciate your continuous support and look forward to working with you in the years to come”.

This year, EPCAMR has selected the following recipients for the AML/AMD Mini-Grant Program.

Newport Township CrimeWatch Organization–$500 towards hauling, proper electronics waste disposal, dumpster, and cleanup supplies for a planned 2017 Spring Cleanup (between April and May 2017), on an abandoned mine land area in Newport Township, Luzerne County, PA where up to 40 tires will be removed and 10-12,000 pounds of illegally dumped trash, discarded furniture, construction waste, and household wastes will be removed, in partnership with Newport Township, Newport Township Community Organization, Greater Nanticoke Area Community Garden, Newport Township Police Department, Nanticoke Conservation Club, EPCAMR, and the Spooky Off-Road Club. 50 volunteers are expected to participate. EPCAMR will administer the grant on behalf of the NTCO.

Illegal dumping in Newport Township.

Mehoopany Creek Watershed Association–$800 towards the purchase of lime to be placed on food plots on State Game Lands #57, adjacent to the Mehoopany Creek, Wyoming County, PA  in partnership with the Whitetails Unlimited, PA Game Commission, who will be donating machinery to spread the lime, and EPCAMR. During rain events, lime will eventually reach the stream, having already benefited the food plots, and will increase the pH of the acid mine water entering the watershed. The liming will occur in the Fall of 2016.

Lime pile

Luzerne Conservation District–$700 towards a pressure transducer that will be installed at the Plainsville AMD Borehole in Plains Township, Luzerne County, PA to obtain real-time data that will allow for the Luzerne Conservation District, Plains Township, EPCAMR, and the landowner, Mr. Greg Price, to gain a better understanding of the actual flows, chemical loadings of iron and other trace metals reaching the Susquehanna River, and to help learn more about the underground mine pool complex in that area of the Wyoming Valley. EPCAMR and the Luzerne Conservation District will be taking the lead on the monitoring of the Plainsville AMD Borehole discharge and have developed a feasibility study that they are going to be submitting for grants to perform the necessary background data collection to begin looking at AMD Treatment options and finding ways to improve the water quality of the Susquehanna River.

Plainsville AMD Borehole

EPCAMR–$500 towards the cost of hauling trash to the landfill to cover the tipping fees and for supplies to assist with the third cleanup of Centralia on September 24, 2016, led by EPCAMR Staff, former and current residents of Centralia, Pagnotti Enterprises, Centralia Hose Company No. 1, Wicked Jeeps of Central PA, Joe Sapienza, II, and nearly two dozen other contributors of funds to support the annual cleanup on the abandoned mine lands, roads, and streets throughout the Borough. Dozens of volunteers are expected to turnout at the annual event. Sexy Pig BBQ will be providing lunches for the volunteers. TARGET donated funds towards the cleanup. Community Aid donated funds towards the cleanup and will be picking up any donated clothes that volunteers would like to bring to the event. See the event details here. To donate towards the cleanup, go to EPCAMR’s “Cleanup Centralia for Centralians, Past and Present!” GiveGab Online Campaign!

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T.R.A.I.L.S. stands for:

• T = Trail Development
• R = Responsible Riding
• A = Access
• I = Initiatives
• L = Lobbying
• S = Safety

Polaris’s grant program encompasses two main objectives – promoting safe and responsible riding, and preserving access. Funds can be used by organizations for trail development and maintenance projects, safety and education initiatives, and other projects to increase and maintain land access.

EPCAMR will be assessing the safety and future potential trail development on abandoned mine lands throughout Northeastern and NorthCentral PA in partnership with the Earth Conservancy , PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (PA DCNR), PA Game Commission (PGC), and other private landowners including County Governments that we work with on reclaiming abandoned mine sites remediating streams impacted by polluted mine water and the creation of trails and open space areas. EPCAMR will be assessing and surveying the potential hazards around the development maintenance and construction of trails on these abandoned mine sites to increase the public’s knowledge of them potential for future access and to justify the need for State or Federal funding to improve the health and safety aspects on many of these sites, including the identification of illegal dump sites and recommendations for future cleanup. EPCAMR will also be better suited to access areas where we currently are monitoring abandoned mine discharges at tunnel locations, shafts, slopes, breaches, and other surface water impoundments that are contributing abandoned mine drainage (AMD) into the surrounding watersheds and communities that we serve.

EPCAMR has been in need of an ATV to access these sites for years to get our field monitoring equipment maintenance equipment, spray paint for the various trails, supplies, cameras, GPS units, and water monitoring equipment that often times have to be backpacked in and out of these sites on the back’s of Staff that can way upwards of 30-40 pounds. The funds would be used to purchase an ATV or ATVs with enough space to transport a few staff and the necessary equipment to conduct all of our field work. It will also support other outreach and education materials that will be developed by the EPCAMR Staff over the course of the year, including posters, trail maps, additional partnerships with private landowners to discuss access issues, coordination of illegal dump site cleanups on abandoned mine lands, and the health and safety factors present on these sites that EPCAMR is all too familiar with. EPCAMR in the past has been an active member of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Outdoor Recreational Committee and is very familiar with issues surrounding ATVs public access for ATV users and other forms of recreational trail user groups. EPCAMR also has a long-standing relationship with many coal land operators, coal companies, large landowners, and other regional non-profit conservancy groups throughout Northeastern and NorthCentral PA.

The benefits of this project will be that more miles of trails, streams impacted by AMD, and abandoned mine lands can be surveyed and assessed more quickly and with the proper equipment being able to be brought in and out of the sites to perform the necessary site surveys for public health and safety. No organization is doing this right now in Northeastern PA on abandoned mine lands that we are aware of and EPCAMR has a 20 year history of working on abandoned mine land reclamation trail projects, stream restoration projects, community outreach, and environmental education programs in our coalfield communities. We have existing relationships with Off-Road Vehicle Clubs 4X4 Clubs and Off-Road Magazines that can help us promote our work and the Polaris T.R.A.I.L.S. program. Currently our regional non-profit lacks the transportation to get to these sites to properly assess and survey them other than hiking and walking in to them for miles with heavy backpacks and numerous trips due to the inability to get in and out with everything we need in one trip, therefore creating additional time that is necessary to double back and walk in and out of these areas over and over again.

EPCAMR will list the Polaris T.R.A.I.L.S. Grant Program on our website (epcamr.org), FaceBook (EPCAMR), and on our PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation Community Facebook Group page. EPCAMR will be incorporating the Polaris logo with permission into our trail maps and other reports that are likely to be produced. EPCAMR will shoot our own HD video and create a poster of us performing maintenance surveys and taking photographs of scenic vistas, AMD, illegal dumping sites, before and after photos of anticipated cleanups, potential hazards, and vertical mine openings or water-filled stripping pits often located on these properties to increase the education outreach and awareness that is necessary to promote safety on these trails, haul roads, and abandoned railroad grades.

EPCAMR Executive Director, Robert E. Hughes, who wrote the grant application on a lead from EPCAMR’s Community Development Coordinator Volunteer, Frank Knorek, who did some initial homework on potential sources of funding such as this application program that would be able to assist EPCAMR in fulfilling it’s mission. “I appreciate Frank’s due diligence and investigative abilities to find us the source of grant funds that were out there.” Most of the time, it’s the wee hours in the morning, when I have the time that is completely uninterrupted where I can focus on writing down what EPCAMR needs that will at the same time fulfill the needs of the grantors. This grant was no different. Earlier in the Summer, on June 29th, I sat down that evening and within a few hours had plugged in to the online application why we needed this grant for these types of vehicles and field monitoring equipment. I was pleasantly surprised when I got a call two days ago from Jennifer Kuzma, Polaris Industries Inc.-Marketing & Event Coordinator from Medina, Minnesota. These funds will be put to good use.”

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