Robert E. Hughes, Executive Director goes on to say, “We work with our underserved communities and school districts to provide environmental education programs, events, community cleanup projects, environmental restoration projects, and land and water remediation efforts to improve the community health and well-being of our region that have been underrepresented, underfunded, and not been prioritized strongly enough on the State level to receive the attention these communities deserve.”

Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director surrounded by 5th grade students from Heights Elementary at a Trout in the Classroom release event and AMD Education Program at Frances Slocum State Park.

EPCAMR agrees that environmental justice does embody the principles that coalfield communities should not be disproportionately exposed to adverse environmental impacts, yet, we continue to live in both urban and rural communities that are surrounded by 5,597 miles of streams and 178,537 acres of abandoned mine lands across PA that are impacted by abandoned mine drainage (AMD) that render our watersheds, rivers, and streams that are affected unable to be utilized for what many communities take for granted, such as fishing, boating, swimming, industrial use, and on the water outdoor recreational uses.

Below are EPCAMR’s Executive Director’s responses to the PA DEP Office of Environmental Justice’s specific questions.

Specific Questions

— What environmental justice concerns are most pressing in your community?

The most pressing environmental justice concerns in our community are non-point source pollution from abandoned mine lands in the form of abandoned mine drainage (AMD), the illegal dumping of household hazardous wastes, tires, trash, and drug paraphernalia on lands and along streams within the coalfield communities. Thousands of miles of streams are impacted and polluted by AMD. Thousands more are impacted by abandoned mine lands. Figure 1. was created by EPCAMR using PA’s 2017 Abandoned Mine Land Inventory System (AMLIS).

Figure 1. State of Abandoned Mine Lands in PA

Statistics on AML in PA

There is a lack of prioritization of funding under many of the State Programs for these communities. Many of the communities have designations within them under on the stream segments that on the Federal level and State Level which list them as on Federal List of Impaired Waters, making them eligible for funding, however they are not given priority, in many cases under the State’s Growing Greener Grant Program, for example. Many of the stream segments and watersheds throughout NE and NC PA are also not qualified to receive additional Federal funding under the State’s Set Aside Program, funded under the Surface Mining Reclamation Control & Reclamation Act’s Title IV Abandoned Mine Land Trust Fund yearly allocation because they are not designated as Qualified Hydrologic Units, nor do they have Qualified Hydrologic Unit Plans developed.

Figure 2. below shows that only 5 QHU Plans have been officially developed that EPCAMR is aware of and we understand that a few more are underway in some other coalfield impacted watersheds in the Southern Anthracite Coalfields and in the Eastern Middle Anthracite Region. EPCAMR has offered to provide the technical assistance to develop these plans for approval should funding become available to allow our organization to properly assess the watersheds and stream segments to meet the criteria under the Set Aside Program. We have proposed grants to perform such technical tasks in previous grant rounds and were denied funding for the opportunity to assist the State in the much-needed development of these QHUPs. The denial of funding could have been due to limited funds available under the Program.

Figure 2. Hydrologic Unit Plans Approved Across PA (PA DEP, 2009)

2016 Qualified Hydrologic Unit Plans in PA

Figure 3. shows the 39 locations that are designated Environmental Justice areas within the 16 County EPCAMR Region, where only 15 political municipal sub-divisions have been designated, within 15 unified places, in 11 School Districts. ~ 19,461.50 acres of land affected within this region. These numbers are grossly underreported and EPCAMR believes that many more communities and tracts need to be added and expanded to include additional coalfield communities throughout the EPCAMR Region. There are entire watersheds that are impacted by AMD that are not included in these areas, which means that they are not getting the attention that they deserve. The impacts of AMD and water pollution do not stop at political boundaries and Census Tracts. It may be more suitable to begin looking at increasing areas of Environmental Justice to watershed boundaries that are more clearly defined and then one can review the statistics to see where the concentration of the pollution problems are located.

One will find that in certain watersheds, the headwater areas will be unimpacted, with less dense populations affected, and then as you follow the streams and tributaries down into the Valley cities and municipalities, they areas become more impacted and areas are highly concentrated with larger populations that experience the environmental justice issues. Non-profit organizations like EPCAMR are always looking to secure funding to work with these communities because often times, there are no professionally staffed environmental organizations within these communities to do the research and are trained to perform the necessary assessments, grant writing, technical reporting, and monitoring that is required to secure funds to improve the overall quality and community health of their watersheds.

Our communities also lack large community foundations and access to funds to cleanup our communities.

Figure 3. Acreage, Poverty % Statistics, County Subdivision, and Unified School Districts in the EPCAMR Region (US Census, 2010)

— Do you feel that the current definition of an environmental justice community (20 percent poverty or 30 percent minority, or both) properly represents the needs of your community and the Commonwealth at large?

No. The definition should not define environmental justice solely by the 20% poverty rate or the 30% minority population because minority populations are not the only ones affected by environmental pollution. It should not matter what the percentage is if the pollution problem exists because the polluted lands and water don’t discriminate against population segments or Census defined categories of people based on their minority or ethnic backgrounds.

— Do you feel the Department is engaged with marginalized communities to ensure that they have a voice in the decision-making process? How can the Department be more engaged with these communities?

No. I have not seen the OEJ in our particular region of NE PA. We have many communities that are marginalized in our region and none of the listening sessions are even located in our area. EPCAMR is in an OEJ community and are not aware of any attempts to make the Borough of Ashley or a group such as ours aware of the impacts that certain projects may have on our community. We need to be able to provide easier access to the political process and be sure that our volunteers and members of the communities that we are serving are having their voice heard. We have no Regional Coordinator for the NE Region of PA.  The OEJ can make our organization more aware of projects and meetings and then we can let our community groups know about them through our network to encourage more participation and local involvement. Legal ads and public notices are not often seen by the communities that we work in if they are used to notify the public about permits, nor is the Federal Register. EPCAMR is a non-profit that could benefit from the support of industries that are coming into the area that want to have a positive impact on the surrounding communities if they were able to provide donations of services, grants, a volunteer incentive program, or opportunities for partnerships on projects that will improve the environment. Notification should include community centers, electronic notices to regional non-profit groups, and municipalities.

— What tools have you used to find out information on Department permitting/enforcement actions?

e-Facts (http://www.ahs.dep.pa.gov/eFACTSWeb/default.aspx). Review of Surface Mining Permits in the Pottsville or Moshannon District Mining Offices.

— What ways can the Department be more effective at sharing information with the public?

E-mails to the public who sign up to receive notifications of permitting and enforcement actions or new projects.

— How can the Department be more effective at receiving public input?

Provide notification to people who sign up through a website portal through the OEJ to receive additional input and notifications on public information for projects, permitting, or enforcement actions. Flyers should go to community centers and municipal buildings in the EJ areas.

— What resource is your community lacking that the Department can provide that would assist in efforts to ensure environmental equity?

Funding to be able to conduct outreach to the community members of the EJ areas to build capacity within the communities to allow them to have a voice.

— What additional steps can be taken by the Department to effectively reach out to these vulnerable communities to ensure that their concerns are taken into consideration?

Provide a Regional Coordinator for the NE Region.

Below is some information from the PA DEP OEJ Website.

Download the Listening Tour brochure 

PROVIDE US WITH YOUR COMMENTS & THOUGHTS BY MAY 25

• In person at one of the EJ listening tour stops
• Online at DEP-OEJ@pa.gov
• In writing at:

Rachel Carson State Ofce Building
Office of Environmental Justice
400 Market Street, 16th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17101

SESSION SCHEDULE REMAINING

May 11, 2017 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Lehigh County

Allentown Public Library

Community Room

1210 Hamilton Street

Allentown, PA 18102

May 15, 2017, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Lancaster County

HACC Lancaster Campus

East Building, Room 203

1641 Old Philadelphia Pike

Lancaster, PA 17602

May 23, 2017, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Delaware County

Chester City Hall Council Chambers

1 Fourth Street,

Chester, PA 19013

May 25, 2017, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Philadelphia County

Fairmount Water Works

640 Water Works Drive

Philadelphia, PA 19130

CONTACT US

Carl Jones, Jr., Esq. Director
caejone@pa.gov, (484) 250-5818

Nora Alwine, Regional Coordinator
nalwine@pa.gov, (412) 442-4137

John Brakeall, Regional Coordinator
jbrakeall@pa.gov, (717) 783-9731

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Ofce of Environmental Justice
P.O. Box 7732 Harrisburg, PA 17101
(484) 250-5942

The post EPCAMR Provides Public Comments and Perspective to PA Department of Environmental Justice on Coalfield Issues 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.

The post EPCAMR Creates Brochure to Create New Partnerships in Tioga & Dauphin Counties to Combat AMD appeared first on epcamr.org.

Rachael Grube will work with EPCAMR on our GIS mapping and 3-D mine pool modeling projects. She will also develop training workshops for AmeriCorps/OSMRE and assist in monitoring water elevation of mine pools, sampling water quality of mine pools, and monitoring flow and chemistry of regional abandoned mine discharges.

Rachael, in Iceland for her senior research thesis

The GIS work Rachael will help with is mine pool mapping in the Rausch Creel watershed and at the Mocanaqua AMD Tunnel within the Susquehanna River watershed, in partnership with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and others.

Originally from a farm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Rachael is a 2016 graduate of Gettysburg College with a degree in Environmental Science with a minor in Studio Art. Rachael’s studies focused heavily on Earth Systems Science and GIS, giving her a solid background in the mapping and AMD work EPCAMR does. Her field experience ranges from surveying the geology of abandoned strip mines in Central Pennsylvania to collecting elevations, coordinates, and sediment samples with her professor in Northern Iceland as part of her senior research thesis. Rachael spent the summer interning for the Lackawanna County Conservation District. In her free time, she enjoys painting, running, hiking, traveling, and playing with her cat, Ralph. “I am incredibly excited to put the skills I have learned in the classroom to use in a way that can actively help to improve my community,” Rachael stated.

Abigail Keefe, born and raised in Mountain Top, Pennsylvania, has always had a love for being creative and a passion for environmental issues ever since she could remember, so you can imagine her excitement when learning about the Outreach & Education position with EPCAMR and Americorps/OSMRE. “Combining a position with communication and environmental outreach opportunities? What could be better? I’m very excited and can’t wait to help create programs and educate the community on how much of an impact elements from our historical past has on today’s local environment and society,” Abbie enthusiastically stated.  

Abigail on a hiking adventure with her boyfriend, Nick

Abbie received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from a small social justice institution in suburban Philadelphia, Cabrini College. She dedicated her time to serving as the Managing and News Editor of the student-run newspaper, the Loquitur. She also lobbied at the nation’s capital for poverty-focused international assistance, with an emphasis on natural disasters. After graduating in May of 2016, she traveled to Arbolito, Ecuador for a service trip, where she aided in after-school programs and community activities. There, she learned first-hand about the hardships the impoverished community faced, such as the lack of clean water. Abbie’s love for animals is perpetual, as she spends most of her free time hanging out with her furry white feline, rescued pit bull, leopard gecko, among others. When she’s not home with he pets, you can assume she is hiking, kayaking, painting, eating pizza, or taking pictures.

Abbie will assist EPCAMR with our social media presence, telling stories about and taking pictures of the lands we’ve reclaimed and restored in our mining-impacted region. She will also be reviewing our marketing, branding, and recently updated Strategic Plan to see how she can build on EPCAMR’s mission and to let our mining-impacted communities know we are here to assist them. Finally, she will help organize education, outreach, and community events around AMD and watershed restoration for our partners and community volunteers. Hopefully, we can build on our RECLAIM Crew volunteer program that encourages volunteers to not only come to our community cleanup events, but also allow them to ultimately spearhead their own environmental volunteer projects.

Welcome aboard, Rachael and Abbie!

The post EPCAMR Hosts Two AmeriCorps/OSMRE Positions to Help Build Capacity in Coalfield Communities appeared first on epcamr.org.

EPCAMR is helping to put the word out about a full-time opening in Wilkes-Barre for one of our regional partners.

Job Description: Northeast PA Outreach Coordinator (Wilkes-Barre)

The Outreach Coordinator educates PennFuture members, the environmental advocacy community, and decision makers about environmental and conservation issues with an emphasis on climate, water, and energy-related policies. He or she is responsible for building and maintaining relationships with PennFuture constituents, including coalition partners, and representing PennFuture’s positions to the general public. The Outreach Coordinator works with a team of professionals including attorneys, policy experts, media professionals and other outreach staff and is the public face of the organization in northeast Pennsylvania.

Job Duties:

• Implement environmental issue campaigns by defining and managing objectives, recruiting coalition members, and coordinating meetings and events
• Work with other environmental advocacy organizations to organize and facilitate meetings and events – occasional evening and weekend hours
• Community outreach, event tabling, public speaking
• Recruit and manage members, supporters, and volunteers
• Manage and implement a range of grant deliverables and campaign activities
• Assist with grant writing, editing, and reporting
• Craft campaign e-mails, action alerts, blog and social media posts
• Draft, edit, and submit letters to the editor and other opinion pieces
• Build support for local, state, and federal legislative priorities
• Occasional lobbying of public officials and government agencies
• Draft and present testimony at public hearings pertaining to environmental issues
• Work with law staff to develop cases for litigation and respond to requests for assistance as well as general inquiries
• Conduct reporter interviews by phone and in person, speak at press conferences and other media events
• Steer our regional climate, water, clean-energy, and sustainability work and assist with other initiatives
• Perform office administrative duties, including member data entry, as directed

Qualifications:

Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Excellent social media skills.

Enthusiasm for PennFuture, its mission, and its brand.

Detail oriented and highly organized.

Driver License.

Familiarity with non-profit organizations is preferred though not required.

Education and experience:

Bachelor’s degree.

3-5+ years in outreach, advocacy, or organizing.

Deep understanding of conservation, environmental, and energy issues.

Strong leadership skills and ability to work with staff on site and remotely.

Understanding of Pennsylvania’s environmental/conservation landscape.

Location, Compensation and Timeline:

The position is based in Wilkes-Barre. Competitive salary based on experience. Generous benefits package includes health care, dental, life insurance and paid time off.

Submission:

Please submit your cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references to the Director of Outreach at andrews@pennfuture.org. Please write “Northeast PA Outreach Coordinator” in the subject line. The application deadline is September 26, 2016.

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