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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Location of the whirlpool breakthrough into the Ewen Mine workings, beneath the Susquehanna River

The programs are sponsored by the Anthracite Heritage Museum, Anthracite Heritage Foundation, King’s College, Luzerne County Historical Society, Luzerne County Community College, Wilkes University, Huber Breaker Preservation Society, EPCAMR, Greater Pittston Historical Society, Anthracite Living History Group, Old Forge Coal Mine, and Knox Mine Disaster Memorial Committee.

All events are open to the public free of charge, except the first one.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR MINING HISTORY WEEK 2015

Jan. 10th, 8 am
Boy Scouts of America, “Mining in Society” Merit Badge Day, King’s College – open only to Boy Scout members of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Council; program ends at 6 pm

Jan. 15th, 7 pm 
Msgr. John J. Curran Annual Lecture, Prof. Walter T. Howard of Bloomsburg University, speaking on “Socialist and Communist Labor Organizers in the Wyoming and Lackawanna Coal Fields during the 1930s,” King’s College, Burke Auditorium, McGowan School of Business – refreshments served at 6:30 pm

Jan. 17th, 2 pm
Knox Mine Disaster Annual Remembrance Program, Anthracite Heritage Museum, McDade Park, Scranton: displays; music; special tribute to photographers, Steven and William Lukasik Sr., and news reporter, Jack Scanella; new segments of The Knox Disaster Documentary by David Brocca of Los Angeles, CA; commentary by Chester Kulesa, William Lukasik, Jr., and Robert Wolensky – refreshments provided

Jan. 18th, 10 am
Knox Mine Disaster Memorial Service, St. John the Evangelist Church, Pittston

Jan. 18th, 11:30 am 
Knox Mine Disaster Public Commemoration, PHMC Historical Marker in front of Baloga Funeral Home, Port Griffith – coffee provided, courtesy of Baloga Funeral Home

Jan. 20th, 6:30 pm
Huber Breaker Preservation Society, Atty. F. Charles Petrillo of Wilkes-Barre will present and discuss two classic Anthracite-related documentary films at Earth Conservancy, Ashley – refreshments provided

Jan. 22th, 6:30 pm 
Luzerne County Historical Society, William Hastie and Robert Wolensky will speak about their book, “Anthracite Labor Wars,” Wyoming Presbyterian Church, Wyoming – refreshments provided

Jan. 24th, 2-4 pm
Meet and Hear Local Authors, Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Wilkes-Barre Township: local authors will speak about their books, beginning at 2:30 pm, and meet and greet patrons before and afterwards; authors include William Conologue, John Dziak, William Hastie, William Kashatus, Kathleen Munley, Sheldon Spear, Kenneth Wolensky, and Robert Wolensky

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Denise Hernandez, EPCAMR’s Part-Time Bookkeeper and Community Service Volunteer

Denise comes to EPCAMR through a reference and Professor from Luzerne County Community College, Dr. Brooke Yeager, who is a long-time supporter and friend of EPCAMR’s. It’s a very small world. She even knows some colleagues of the EPCAMR Executive Director’s through some AAU Sports Programs that her son is involved with in the City of Wilkes-Barre and they have some close friends that are only six degrees of separation apart from one another. She has plenty of experience in the Microsoft Office Suite and QuickBooks, which is a bonus. Dierdre Jolley, our former Part-time Bookkeeper has moved on from EPCAMR in an amicable way to a more long-term full-time accounting position in the Back Mountain. Denise has been able to fill her shoes quite well. Denise also has some familiarity with ArcGIS Suite (ArcMap, ArcCatalog, ArcToolbox-Verson 10) and other geospatial data management tools. She’s looking forward to volunteering with EPCAMR to learn more about our use of GIS and 3D Modeling of our underground mines throughout the Anthracite Region as a Volunteer, while being paid for a few hours out of the month to assist EPCAMR with Accounting and Bookkeeping principles, reconciliations, invoices, reimbursements, and data entry into our QuickBooks for Non-Profits Accounting Software.

She has previously worked for the Institute for Public Policy and Development, Wilkes-Barre, PA in the Fall of 2013 as an Intern. She is currently also working for the Good Shepard Lutheran Church, Wilkes-Barre, PA from April of 2007 to the present, where she is a Parish Secretary. She has previously worked at the Luzerne County Community College, Nanticoke, PA as an Administrative Assistant/Receptionist, so EPCAMR’s clerical duties are nothing new to her, although the type of work that we do to restore the environment is. She previously had been a Receptionist/Administrative Assistant for the Times-Leader, Wilkes-Barre, PA as well. She has a very long and productive work history and is Bi-lingual in Spanish. EPCAMR is hoping to be able to provide her with some opportunities to work in the field with our Staff on projects and with students during some of our Summer and Fall Environmental Education Programs. Her ability to speak another language may come in handy as we continue to work with a very diverse student population within the coalfield communities and underserved school districts that we partner with. Denise excitedly said, “I am very excited to work with Robert and EPCAMR on environmental issues in the area that I’m not entirely familiar with. I’m like a sponge! I will eat up all the information that they will give me and experiences that the Staff are willing to share ! I’m looking forward to spending as much time with them over the Summer and Fall and hopefully thereafter, to gain some very valuable experiences and participate in some first hand community experiences to clean up the watersheds that have been impacted by AMD and abandoned mines”.

Robert stated, “I knew I liked her the second I met her because of her calm demeanor, her background, and her enthusiasm for wanting to obtain the position. I need someone who is as detail-oriented as I am for this position. We hit it off during the interview right away. She knew where I was coming from and I know where she wanted to go. Plus, it’s good to have another set of eyes on the books to cross-reference my check book register with the actual bank statements and Quickbooks, along with our Treasurer, and myself.” “Part-time work is just what she needed and we can provided her with a few hours a week, in addition to her wanting to become an active volunteer with EPCAMR because of her background and recent degree in Environmental Studies. I think she will benefit tremendously from working with EPCAMR and volunteering for other opportunities that we offer throughout the year where she can participate in to get a feel for the breadth and depth of work that a regional non-profit organization like ours does to improve our watersheds, rivers, streams, and land impacted by past mining practices.”

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