In 1997 the Susquehanna was designated an “American Heritage River” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; an initiative that aimed to represent a diverse group of waterways in need of, or revitalized examples of, environmental restoration, cultural protection, and economic revitalization. The environmental nonprofit American Rivers named the Susquehanna the year’s “Most Endangered River” in 2005, and “#3 Most Endangered River” in 2016. This designation is in part due to the excessive amounts of pollution the river receives.

Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) impacts both branches of the Susquehanna River along their entire lengths. The Main Bituminous Coalfields (soft coal) drain polluted water to the west branch, and the Anthracite Coalfields (hard coal) drain polluted water to the eastern portion of the river basin. In Pennsylvania, AMD is the second highest cause of water pollution, behind only agricultural runoff. Only 30% of streams in the Susquehanna basin demonstrate the natural hydrological and ecological qualities of a healthy stream. Many outside of this 30% have been declared “biologically dead” as they support no aquatic life due to the level of pollution in the water.

Old Forge Borehole AMD picture as it flows into the Lackawanna River.

Aquatic organisms are only the “canary in the coal mine” in this situation. In addition to impacting alkalinity, which on either extreme of the spectrum will harm aquatic life, AMD releases sediments, dissolved metals, and unfriendly gasses. Released gasses, like CO2 and methane, attract mosquitoes which can cause further harm to organisms in the nearby environment. Sediments and dissolved metals such as aluminum clog the gills of organisms living in the polluted waters and can eventually drive these organisms out of the ecosystem. Downstream effects include the leaching of these dissolved metals (think lead, manganese, iron) into groundwater supplies, which are used for municipal drinking water. American Water Works Association raises awareness of impaired groundwater with Source Water Protection Week. This year, it begins on World Rivers Day!

Treatment of Abandoned Mine Lands takes years, millions of dollars, and continued maintenance efforts. Simply “waiting it out”, i.e. waiting for the underground pollutants to deplete, would likely take hundreds of years. Treatment of AMD runoff involves raising or lowering the pH (alkalinity) of the water and removing heavy metals to allow the waterway to return to a state that can again support aquatic life and natural biological processes.

Read about the professional services and technical assistance that EPCAMR provides across PA and our region impacted by AMD and abandoned mine lands in our EPCAMR presentation folder. You can also find out more about our work in our latest EPCAMR brochure 2026.

Learn more about AMD Treatment Systems here, or visit the “Fact Sheets” section of epcamr.org!

The post For World Rivers Day: Cleaning Up and Restoring AMD for the Susquehanna appeared first on epcamr.org.

Joining us on September 8, 2026 as an AmeriCorps VISTA, in partnership with Conservation Legacy Stewards Individual Placements, is Kali Mellin. Kali is an anthracite region local, having been born and raised in Jermyn, Pennsylvania. A graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania in December of 2021, Kali holds a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in STEM-H (the H stands for Humanities!). Her degree comes with three minors: Biology, Geography, and Science Education. She also holds a Certificate in Desktop GIS from Pace University as of 2025. Kali will serve as a Stewards VISTA: Digital Mobilization Coordinator for a one year term with the goal of building capacity for EPCAMR to expand their education and awareness efforts in relation to abandoned mine lands reclamation, watershed assessments, and abandoned mine drainage (AMD) monitoring of flows, chemistry, and macroinvertebrate populations and stream health around the EPCAMR Region. Storytelling about our work and building databases of regional artists that we’re looking to pull together in the future to utilize our iron oxide pigment to create enough pieces of work to hold an Art Show highlighting the various mediums used for art will are just two examples of service work that are in her Volunteer Activity Description (VAD).

Graphic by Kali Mellin. A rundown on how her position falls under all of these different organizations at one time.

EPCAMR actively works toward the reclamation and redevelopment of land affected by past mining practices. This includes reducing environmental hazards to health and safety and returning land affected by past mining practices to productive use, thereby improving the economy and livelihoods of those living in the region.

EPCAMR’s current initiatives include, but are not limited to, illegal dump site cleanups (with tire recycling!), Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful “Open Your Eyes to Litter” Program for elementary students, participation in Trout in the Classroom through a partnership with PA Fish and Boat Commission and PA Council of Trout Unlimited, and water quality monitoring programs such as that at the Rocky Run Headwaters in State Game Lands 260.

Clip originally from The Times-Tribune, October 2009. Scan courtesy of Scranton Public Library.

Kali’s first impression of EPCAMR was in October of 2009 when they attended Lakeland Elementary’s “Water Festival” and introduced 4th grade students to AMD with iron oxide tie-dye. She was re-introduced during the pandemic year of 2020 through a Facebook post from PA Environment Digest, then followed EPCAMR’s Facebook page to keep up with the great work they were doing locally with hopes to get involved. Building a career in an environmental field has been the natural progression of Kali’s life; she grew up in Pennsylvania’s forests, streams, and ponds getting dirty and, most importantly, asking questions. Most recently her education has continued through volunteering as a Penn State Extension Master Watershed Steward and substitute teaching at her local high school. Both opportunities have offered a wealth of experiences to “teach the teacher”! Kali considers her insatiable thirst for knowledge a main personality trait.

“I’m looking forward to assisting EPCAMR in serving my community by participating in education and outreach and building capacity by creating, improving, and expanding the reach of EPCAMR’s educational and informational materials” says Kali. “This opportunity allows me to use my strengths in research and organization combined with my passion for improving environmental literacy to serve my community in a way that can cause great impact.”

Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director went on to say, “I just love finding out that there are students that still remember pivotal core memories of working with us over the last 3 decades when we had conducted an outdoor environmental meaningful watershed experience when they were in elementary or high school and come to find that they continued to have a passion for the environment as they got older. Knowing that Kali was a part of a program that we ran 17 years ago is heartwarming and makes me feel very proud and happy to know that she’s found a way back to EPCAMR in this capacity as an AmeriCorps with us. She’s a coaltown kid herself. She can relate. She’s lived it and is still living with the legacy and now gets to play an active role in helping us to address these environmental issues within our most underserved communities by helping us build capacity, provide environmental education opportunities, and encourage environmental stewardship of our youth, much like I did for her when she was younger at Lakeland Elementary as a part of the Watershed Festival. She’s a natural teacher and I can see that already in her. I told her she has the same name as my only granddaughter, except she spells it with a C and not a K, and she has a lot more sass to her at the ripe old age of 6, and she gives my oldest and only daughter, Hayley, a run for her money. I’m looking forward to her service term with us over the next year and am excited that she’s hear with us. She’s off to a great start and has already become certified in our NAACC Stream Continuity Aquatic Organism Passage training program for when we go out and assess culverts and bridges for aquatic passage as a part of our development of coldwater conservation plans.”

Formed in 1995 by concerned conservation districts, EPCAMR represents a coalition of watershed organizations and reclamation partners. Members range from individuals to the active anthracite mining industry and co-generation power plants, to non-profit organizations, 16 county conservation districts, and other organizations in the anthracite and bituminous coal region of eastern Pennsylvania that are involved with abandoned mine reclamation issues. Counties covered by EPCAMR in Northeastern and North Central PA include: Bradford, Carbon, Columbia, Dauphin, Lackawanna, Lebanon, Luzerne, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Schuylkill, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wayne, and Wyoming. As of the last census (2020), the population we serve equates to approximately 1.7 million people. 

The post EPCAMR Brings on Kali Mellin as AmeriCorps VISTA Digital Mobilization Coordinator through Conservation Legacy and Stewards Individual Placement appeared first on epcamr.org.

Maria Gereda, Kingston, PA  from the Wyoming Valley, and Dennis Dukinas, Dallas, PA, from the Back Mountain, both natives of Luzerne County, will be hosted and supervised by EPCAMR until the end of December 2025 to work with us to provide volunteer services to add some capacity to the organization starting yesterday.

Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director exclaimed, “We are thrilled to have both of these environmental and conservation professionals join us for the 20 plus weeks through the end of the year to assist us with a number of direct service projects that we currently have underway with a limited staff, who have the passion and commitment to follow through on a number of our awarded grants and professional services throughout the EPCAMR Region.”

Bobby went on to say, “I can’t say enough about Conservation Legacy, OSMRE, and especially AmeriCorps (State and National) and AmeriCorps VISTA and their support for our work. April Elkins Badtke has been a long-time friend and colleague for over 2 decades when the original Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team was formed to provide similar support to non-profit environmental organizations that were and are still working in coal country up and down the Appalachian Mountain Range. She is a consummate professional at Conservation Legacy who never has had a problem responding to my emails or messages at all hours of the night or on weekends and listening to my concerns about AmeriCorps and the funding cuts that we had to endure several months ago. We currently have Morgan Romanowski, Scott Township, Lackawanna County working with us through the end of September 2025 to finish up her year term as an AmeriCorps (State and National) volunteer fellow GIS Watershed Outreach Specialist and Mark Jones, who initially was an Energy Community Assistance Program (ECAP) Community Development Coordinator volunteer with AmeriCorps VISTA, who had to placed into Conservation Legacy’s AmeriCorps VISTA Program. He will be volunteering with us until the end of December 2025.”

Maria will continue her work with EPCAMR as a GIS Watershed Outreach Specialist through the Stewards Individual Placement Program. In her new role, she will help promote food security by encouraging the creation of community gardens in coalfield communities and working with local organizations to plant, maintain, and harvest them as one project that EPCAMR has already started on with the distribution of biodegradable Waterboxxes from Groasis that we have been giving away for free to groups that are interested. Community gardens were very common in what were called “patches” in the coal towns around the Anthracite and Bituminous regions. She will also support affordable housing development by advocating for new housing developments to consider being built on reclaimed abandoned mine lands. She will also continue to engage and assist with  environmental education experiences for students in school districts throughout the region that are under the poverty level.

Dennis and Maria are “kicking for macroinvertebrates on Little Shickshinny Creek in Shickshinny Borough as a part of our Coldwater Heritage Conservation Plan where we are developing a watershed assessment for the Shickshinny Creek Watershed and Paddy and Rocky Run.

Bobby said, “Maria, a Luzerne County native, from Kingston, PA in the Wyoming Valley, joined EPCAMR just two months ago as a part-time Summer Watershed GIS Outreach and Education Intern. In that short time, she has gained a wide range of hands-on experience that will serve her well in her expanding role. She was a natural fit for this longer term position that could give her full-time hours under this program.” 

During her internship, Maria earned a certification in the Non-Tidal Streams Protocol through the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC). She worked closely with EPCAMR Staff to scan and catalog both surface and underground mine maps for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Mine Subsidence Insurance Program. She also participated in field watershed assessments, surveying bridges and culverts across the Shickshinny Creek, Paddy Run, and Rocky Run tributaries in the southern Wyoming Valley—work that directly supports EPCAMR’s ongoing watershed assessment efforts in the Northern Anthracite Coal Fields funded by the PA American Water Charitable Foundation and the PA Council of Trout Unlimited‘s Coldwater Heritage Planning grant program. 

Maria also contributed to community outreach by assisting with water quality monitoring, stream flow measurements, and abandoned mine drainage (AMD) evaluations. She also helped engage local youth in environmental learning during educational events like tie-dye workshops. Her professional network has expanded by attending conferences, including the Abandoned Mine Pools as Beneficial Resources event at Bucknell University and the 2025 ARIPPA Annual Conference.

EPCAMR Staff conducted an AMD Tie Dye T-shirt Workshop for PA Inclusive in Pittston with our recycled iron oxide pigment. Dennis assisted Morgan Romanowski, Mark Jones, and Bobby Hughes in putting on the workshop for the youth and adults.

In addition, Maria will contribute to the development of “land that channels rainfall” resource maps, combining data on demographics, economic indicators, and workforce development with information on local trade schools and community colleges. She will conduct short community surveys and polls via EPCAMR’s social media platforms, update and expand the EPCAMR Partnership Database across 16 counties within our region alone, with our Community Development Coordinator Mark Jones, and will assist in identifying grant opportunities and other organizations and foundations that might be suitable for preparing future grant applications. Her work as well and Dennis’s work will be closely aligned with the goals and objectives laid out by EPCAMR’s Strategic Planning and Education/Science Committees.

Currently enrolled in an online GIS course through Austin Community College, Maria is eager to apply what she’s learning to the real-world challenges facing Pennsylvania’s coalfield communities. Her passion, commitment, and growing expertise make her a valuable asset to EPCAMR’s mission of revitalizing the region through education, outreach, sustainable redevelopment of our abandoned mine lands, and restoration of our watersheds impacted by abandoned mine drainage (AMD).

Maria participated in an AMD Tour in Schuylkill County with EPCAMR where she was able to visit the infamous “Ashland Fountain”, which is a constantly overflowing AMD discharge from the Bast and Continental Collieries that drains to the Mahanoy Creek watershed as explained by Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director.

Dennis Dukinas, Dallas, PA, in the Back Mountain of Luzerne County is currently completing my final course at Bloomsburg University, where he is finishing his degree in Environmental, Geological, and Geographic Sciences with a Minor in Hydrology.

Bobby shared that “Throughout his academic career, he has gained valuable hands-on experience both outdoors as an Eagle Scout and indoors, working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) desktop environments. He has already used mapping technologies such as ArcGIS Pro and ERDAS Imagine remote sensing imagery and software to create various hypothetical scenarios in college and now gets to take those lessons learned from the hypothetical to the real world watersheds that EPCAMR works in throughout the coalfields. His experience already includes georeferencing, story mapping, census data analysis, and using tools like ArcGIS Pro Online’s ModelBuilder. He already has earned certifications through ArcGIS Online and holds a Watershed Management Training Certification. He’s also already received a free Aquatic Organism Protocol Training from EPCAMR while a volunteering two weeks before his official internship from NAACC. Maria already has this Certificate as well, however, both of them have to assess 20 culverts and or bridges before they can become a field Lead Observer.”

In his role as a GIS Watershed Outreach Specialist, prior to his start today, he’s already gained valuable experience assessing water quality, conducting visual habitat assessments, identifying, counting, and classifying macroinvertebrates as a part of the biological assessment monitoring EPCAMR conducts for our watersheds assessments, and he’s learned how to use our field photometer and YSI Multi-parameter probe already to perform chemistry tests in-stream. He will be involved in a number of projects that were highlighted by Bobby Hughes on their first day of orientation, along with some training provided to them in EarthVision, where they will be helping to digitize mine maps for another project of ours in the Bear Creek Watershed, Dauphin County and creating 3D surface and underground mine pool models to help us calculate volumetrics of water and coal remaining a region of the Southern Anthracite Coalfields. 

Bobby joked with Dennis before this week to get as much sleep in over the Holiday Weekend because he will be shifting from volunteering a few days a week to a full 40 hours a week through the end of the year. “He was in this morning ready to go and get some administrative paperwork out of the way, hear about the myriad of projects that we are going to be working on, work on his background article notes for this release, and to begin his initial training on EarthVision with Mike. I’m really looking forward to the energy, enthusiasm, willingness to jump in and learn from the Staff about all of important work in the region and the value that their efforts are going to have in the communities that we are working in that we have maintained positive, trusting relationships with, for nearly 3 decades.”

Michael Hewitt, EPCAMR Program Manager and Frank Sindaco, GIS Watershed Outreach Specialist is teaching Maria and Dennis how to use our field monitoring equipment at the Askam AMD Maelstrom Oxidizer Treatment System on Earth Conservancy’s property along Dundee Road in the Nanticoke Creek watershed.

The post EPCAMR Hosts 2 Stewards Individual Placement Program (SIPP) GIS Watershed Outreach Specialist AmeriCorps (State and National) Interns Administered by Conservation Legacy through the end of December 2025 appeared first on epcamr.org.

• reimburse states and tribal governments from the fund for the emergency restoration, reclamation, abatement, control, or prevention of adverse effects of coal mining practices;
• extend the authority for Interior to collect reclamation fees through FY2036; and

• increase the minimum amount of funds from $3-$5 million to states and Indian tribes who have an approved abandoned mine reclamation program

The RECLAIM Act (H.R. 2156) passed the U.S. House of Representatives as part of The Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2), a bill to address America’s infrastructure needs and create jobs in the wake of the economic and health crisis caused by COVID-19.

The RECLAIM Act would invest $1 billion in projects ($200 million/year for 5 years) that:

• clean up abandoned coal mines
• restore polluted rivers and streams known as watersheds suffering from abandoned mine drainage (AMD); and
• catalyze community economic development projects on or near reclaimed sites that can leverage additional private sector investment that can lead to more jobs and infrastructure development

These funds would be invested in over 20 states across the country. “Congressman Matt Cartwright’s original co-sponsorship of the Reauthorization Amendments and RECLAIM Act bills were instrumental as well as bipartisan support and leadership from Congressman Glenn Thompson (central PA), an early supporter, and Congressman Dan Meuser (eastern PA). Brian Fitzpatrick deserves a special thanks for being the only PA Republican to vote for the final passage of H.R. 2. However, EPCAMR still would like to thank our PA Republicans who co-sponsored HR 4248 and HR 2156,” Hughes emphasized.

Back in April, EPCAMR led a tour of PA Congressmen, Senator John Yudichak, and supporting partners, including the State PA DEP Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, to the Swoyersville Culm Bank Pilot Project in Luzerne County, for a press conference on the need for the continued support and co-sponsorship of the RECLAIM Act and Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act Reauthorization Amendments of 2019. Both are now folded into HR 2, The Moving Forward Act.

For years, EPCAMR has advocated for these bills as job creation measures to support coal communities as we have faced job loss and economic decline due to the disappearing coal industry and the need for additional land reclamation of abandoned mine sites. According to a recent study, in combination, these two bills would create over 13,000 jobs per year restoring abandoned mine lands and waters in Appalachia. These jobs are even more critical for coalfield communities as they grapple with the further economic decline due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The types of jobs that could be created are very similar to the jobs of laid-off mine workers who have operated heavy equipment to move dirt and backfill, revegetate, create ponds, plant trees, run treatment plants, restore waterways, and reclaim mine lands as a part of their mining permits. Abandoned mine land reclamation projects aren’t that different. The transition into these types of jobs could be seamless for operators of heavy equipment like bulldozers, excavators, plows, hydroseeders, water trucks, tree planting machines, surveyors, engineers, and fuel managers.

Here is an example of the construction equipment that are commonly found both on active mining sites as well as on abandoned mine land reclamation projects. They are the same type of jobs that could be created under Hr 2, The Moving Forward Act.

These jobs don’t even include the other potential jobs that are going to be necessary to assess the environmental conditions of the lands and water affected by past mining practices. Water monitors, underground mine pool modelers, land surveyors, plant specialists, field technicians, fishery biologists, stream consultants, GIS technicians and specialists, hydrologists, hydrogeologists, drone operators, foresters, and plant biologists are all jobs that could be supported.

Askam AMD Treatment Facility Maelstrom Oxidizers treating mine water in the Nanticoke Creek Watershed along Dundee Road, Hanover Township, PA, Luzerne County, owned and operated by the Earth Conservancy and monitored by EPCAMR.

                                                                                                                                                                        Infrastructure development could be a big part of the use of these funds as well. “Building an AMD water treatment plant is infrastructure development in my eyes because it is very similar to operating a sewage or municipal water authority treatment plant. It takes capital, concrete, outbuildings, roads, clarifiers, aerators, pipes, augers, screens, grit chambers, metal removal processes, sludge management, and full-time jobs to run the plants. There will always be a need for long-term operation and maintenance. Sounds like job security to me. That’s an investment in the communities that are heavily impacted by AMD!” exclaimed Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director. The bill Invests $40 billion in new wastewater infrastructure to encourage efficiency and affordability and helps communities address stormwater needs, preventing pollution in local rivers, like the Susquehanna. The WVSA and the DAMA are just two authorities that might be able to leverage additional funds in the Wyoming Valley to reduce costs for the ratepayers and municipalities who lay within their sewersheds under their Municipal Stormwater Separation System (MS4) Programs.

“New roads to access these abandoned mine lands will be necessary, culverts and bridges will need to be replaced and enlarged or retrofitted to allow for the passage of new surface water that normally had gone into the underground mine pool complexes leading to the creation of AMD. It is not just to be considered infrastructure from a development standpoint, it can also provide huge environmental benefits in our surrounding watersheds that would allow for the passage of aquatic organisms like various fish species, including wild and native brook trout that we’ve surveyed and have found to be isolated in the headwater streams and tributaries above the mining-impacted areas throughout our Ridges and Valleys in Northeastern PA” Hughes said, who also happens to be a long-time member of the Stanley Cooper Chapter of Trout Unlimited and is the Eastern Region Vice-President of the PA Council of Trout Unlimited. Trout Unlimited’s CEO, Chris Wood has also supported HR 2 this week with a letter to House Leadership and call to the 370,000 members and supporters, of which, in PA alone, there are over 14,000.

EPCAMR and TU Staff and volunteers assessing the native wild brown trout habitat in the Toby Creek Watershed as a part of their completion of the Coldwater Conservation Plan for the Upper Toby Creek Watershed.

“We want to see AMD streams cleaned up and improved habitats for fisheries returned to our region”, desired Hughes. New rules will make it a lot easier for third-party community groups, normally called “Good Samaritans” to take on additional work with a lot less concern for various liability issues in order to improve streams and improve aquatic connections to streams that had been lost and disconnected to due past mining practices.

EPCAMR Executive Director Bobby Hughes teaching students who are interested in becoming volunteers with EPCAMR about the impacts of AMD on the Solomon Creek Watershed in the Wyoming Valley’s Hanover Township location, where the Solomon Creek Boreholes pollute the Creek with iron-laden mine water. They are also collecting iron hydroxide for harvesting, processing, and recycling into iron oxide pigment as a recoverable resource and to demonstrate its use for education purposes with youth in the underserved coalfield communities.

Now that the House has passed The Moving Forward Act, the bills will be sent to the Senate for consideration. “I am cautiously optimistic now that Congress has finally listened to the tens of thousands of coalfield citizens, including myself, who has tried to represent our Northern Appalachian Region of PA’s coalfields and community groups for over 25 years. It has been an ongoing and continuous effort to do justice and speak honestly and candidly in the Halls of Congress during several Hearings with the House Natural Resources Committee and with Staffers of legislators to give examples of potential innovative solutions to reclamation, environmental restoration, workforce development, and job creation and provide each of them with statistics for their own legislative, Congressional and Senatorial Districts on the impacts and inventory they each have a responsibility to ensure that the areas are cleaned up.”

EPCAMR Executive Director, Bobby Hughes, having a few minutes to thank Congressman Cartwright for allowing him to speak on behalf of the coalfield communities of Northeastern and Northcentral PA on Reauthorization, the RECLAIM Act, and Innovative Mine Reclamation solutions following his testimony with the House Natural Resources Committee in Washington DC in 2019.

“I have never forgotten where I was born and raised and am determined like so many others across the country living with AMD and blighted landscapes from past mining to finally have the means and continued funding to help clean up our mining-impacted watersheds and promote opportunities for sustainable economic redevelopment of our mine lands that could market them in a way that solar or geothermal companies and or resource recovery firms could come here and now leverage their investments with these funds under the RECLAIM Act portion of this bill,” a hopeful Hughes stated.

EPCAMR Executive Director, Bobby Hughes surveys the vast 55 acres of abandoned mine lands that are several hundred feet below the location of the waste culm piles and former silt basins in Swoyersville, PA Luzerne County, that are being reclaimed as a part of the PA Abandoned Mine Land Pilot Program to be converted into a community recreational area through a private donation from Pagnotti Enterprises in partnership with the Borough of Swoyersville, the ARIPPA trade association of independent power producers, Keystone Reclamation Fuels Management LLC, PA DEP, PA DEP Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, PA DEP Pottsville District Mining Office, and the Federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement. The surface drainages are divided into both the Abraham Creek and Toby Creek watersheds.

“The RECLAIM Act will focus on those areas and will also allow community members to play a role in determining what areas and projects receive support and I won’t let them forget that the local communities voices and concerns need to be heard in order to ensure transparency and necessary accommodations and compromises that will allow for greater community support on the front end of projects that will ultimately benefit the greater coalfield communities,” Hughes emphasized.

“House passage is great news for PA’s coalfield communities, new investors, developers, and alternative renewable and green energy companies, which are eager to get to work reclaiming abandoned mining sites and working with EPCAMR to assist them with siting areas, evaluating underground mine pools for use, recovery of rare earth elements, and the resource recovery of metals for future projects,” said Michael Hewitt, EPCAMR Program Manager.

“We look forward to working with Senator Manchin (WV), who has been a champion on these issues, to promote Senate passage, Senator Capito (WV), as well as our State Senators, Robert P. Casey Jr. and Pat Toomey to continue to let them know how strong and diverse our support has been. There are reclamation projects that are ‘shovel-ready’, AMD discharges waiting to be treated, willing investors looking to leverage the funds for private sector development, available funding, and all we need now is for the Senate to vote”, stated simply,  Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director.

This legislation is a critical step for coal community recovery after the decline of the coal industry the economic effects of COVID-19, and a transitioning into a new energy economy. The RECLAIM Act and reauthorization of the abandoned mine reclamation fee was recently endorsed by over 100 organizations across the United States in a letter to congressional leadership, including EPCAMR.

The post The Surface Mining Reclamation Control Act Amendments of 2019 authorizes 15-year extension and the RECLAIM Act Passes the House as part of H.R. 2, The Moving Forward Act appeared first on epcamr.org.

Apply now for the $5,000 ARIPPA AML/AMD Mini-grant award program through EPCAMR.  EPCAMR and WPCAMR have partnered with the Anthracite Region Independent Power Producer’s Association (ARIPPA) to offer a competitive award to watershed organizations working on Abandoned Mine Land (AML) and/or Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) remediation projects.

Grants at a maximum of $2,500 will be awarded to at least one eligible environmental organization or Conservation District in the Anthracite Region and one eligible environmental organization or Conservation District in the Bituminous Region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania actively working on AML/AMD issues. Smaller grants are encouraged. Grant proposals should be for on-the-ground AML/AMD projects with a completion date between July 2017 and June 2018. Proposals are due July 7th. The amount granted is dependent upon demonstrated need. Applying organizations must support the mission of ARIPPA, including the removal and conversion of waste coal into alternative energy and the beneficial use of CFB ash for AML/AMD reclamation. You can obtain the official Request for Proposals and supporting documents here. EPCAMR will be receiving the $5000 donation on August 16th at their annual Technical Convention in Harrisburg, PA.

“EPCAMR has been able to leverage over hundreds of thousands of dollars in total over the last decade or more throughout our region in support of reclamation, education, and remediation projects on small scale projects thanks to the donations of the member Co-Gen plants of ARIPPA. Coalition partners that we work with tend to make a little bit of money go a long way in the coal region. We wouldn’t  be able to support our community efforts to reclaim abandoned mine lands without them as our long-term partner. We’re very appreciative of the efforts of George Ellis, ARIPPA Executive Director and his Staff, Cristy Doyle, and his member plants who have been great partners over the long term with EPCAMR,” emphasized Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director.

Due in part to ARIPPA member activities, unsightly coal refuse piles and the problems associated with them are gradually disappearing. Thousands of acres of land have been and continue to be reclaimed to a natural state or for productive use and future development. ARIPPA facilities remove and utilize coal refuse from both past and current mining activities, thereby abating acid mine drainage from coal refuse piles. Further, the technology used to convert coal refuse to electricity, known as Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) technology, produces alkaline-rich ash by-products. There are many beneficial uses for CFB ash, including filling mine pits, replacement for lime (for AMD remediation), a soil amendment at mining sites, and a concrete additive for roadways.

The unique nature of ARIPPA’s work, combined with the desire to coordinate efforts with environmentally-oriented groups and governmental agencies, symbolizes a commitment to improving the landscape and environment of our nation. If waste coal-fired plants are forced to close due to unreasonable regulations, streams will continue to be contaminated, public safety will continue to be at risk due to the dangers the piles pose, piles will continue to self-ignite and spew the same pollutants into the air that the regulations are trying to curtail, and communities will continue to be shadowed by the unsightly black mountains. All of this would be a tax-payer burden. EPCAMR has been a long-time partner of the Co-Generation Industry that has been reclaimed waste coal piles throughout PA for nearly 20 years. To review all of the work that they have completed and reclaimed, please read the following recently released Coal Refuse to Energy Summary.

Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director giving testimony in support of the Waste Coal Industry (ARIPPA) at the PA Senate Environmental Resource Committee Hearing in Jim Thorpe, PA.

To read, our EPCAMR Director’s Public Hearing Comments to the House SubCommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources-Committee on Natural Resources, read his Testimony, in support of the Waste Coal Industry.

The post ARIPPA Awards EPCAMR Another $5000 for Support of AMD & Reclamation-related Projects Across the Region appeared first on epcamr.org.

Alexandria, PA (March 28, 2017) Members of the Pennsylvania Coalitions for Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation today thanked Congressmen Thompson and Cartwright for their support for the federal RECLAIM Act. If enacted, RECLAIM will speed as much as $300 million in funding from the Abandoned Mine Land Fund for projects that restore mine-scarred land and enhance local economic development in coal field communities.

The RECLAIM Act was introduced in both the House and Senate yesterday with bi-partisan support in both chambers, including the support of Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. It would speed $1 billion in funding already available in the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund over the next five years to communities struggling with the impacts of the downturn of the coal industry and the scars of historic coal mining.

Espy Run AMD Treatment System in Hanover Township, operated and maintained by EC and monitored by EPCAMR.

“Representative Thompson, whose district contains the largest number of unrestored abandoned mine sites in the nation, knows all too well how these damaged lands hinder economic opportunity in the coal fields,” said John Dawes, executive director of the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds. “RECLAIM would put out-of-work coal miners back to work restoring abandoned mine lands and readying them for uses that will attract business and create permanent jobs.”

AML Fund Distribution Graphic

“We are ready to go, and greatly appreciate Congressman Cartwright’s ongoing support of our work,” said Robert Hughes Executive Director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR). “EPCAMR and other reclamation-related groups have successfully completed abandoned mine land reclamation and mine drainage cleanup projects for decades. We already have the expertise, partnerships, and a long list of projects ready to be implemented. These projects will improve our region’s economic attractiveness, bring dead acres of land and streams back to life, and create sustainable jobs for those displaced by coal mine and coal-fired power plant closings and coal company bankruptcies. All we need is the boost in funding that RECLAIM would deliver directly to our communities to help us leverage other funds to create a just transition in our under-served coalfields of Pennsylvania. Our region and local economies are hurting and are in need of a jump-start to turn our black banks and orange streams into more productive greener landscapes and cleaner watersheds to improve our quality of life in the coalfields.”

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

“Reclamation of abandoned mine sites has been an integral part of our organization’s work since we were founded in 1994,” said Bev Braverman, executive director of Mountain Watershed Association. “In the 125-square-mile Indian Creek watershed there are over 130 known mine discharges which foul water, contaminate private drinking water supplies, and hinder tourism and economic development. Our vision is to treat the 11 worst discharges in the watershed which will result in restoration of over 95% of Indian Creek. Our analysis has shown that every dollar invested in mine drainage cleanup in the Indian Creek watershed results in a $2.40 return to the local economy in terms of recreational fishing alone. Clean water makes good economic sense, and the RECLAIM Act promises to help expedite this vital work.”

“We look forward to Congressmen Thompson’s and Cartwright’s leadership in building further support among Pennsylvania’s Congressional delegation as well as their colleagues in other coal mining states,” said Dawes. “And we stand ready to ensure this legislation helps the communities it’s intended to help and get RECLAIM through Congress to President Trump’s desk.”

Jan Jarrett, Ad Hoc, LLC

Land Line: 717-697-2111

Cell: 717-503-1647

Read her blog: http://jjadhoc.blogspot.com/

Follow her on Twitter @JanJarrett

Find her on Facebook

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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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Apply now for the $5,000 ARIPPA AML/AMD Award.  EPCAMR and WPCAMR have partnered with the Anthracite Region Independent Power Producer’s Association (ARIPPA) to offer a competitive award to watershed organizations working on Abandoned Mine Land (AML) and/or Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) remediation projects. Grants at a maximum of $2,500 will be awarded to at least one eligible environmental organization or Conservation District in the Anthracite Region and one eligible environmental organization or Conservation District in the Bituminous Region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania actively working on AML/AMD issues. Grant proposals should be for on-the-ground AML/AMD construction projects with a completion date between August 2016 and August 2017. Proposals are due July 8th. The amount granted is dependent upon demonstrated need. Applying organizations must support the mission of ARIPPA, including the removal and conversion of waste coal into alternative energy and the beneficial use of CFB ash for AML/AMD reclamation. You can obtain the official Request for Proposals and supporting documents here.

The post 2016 ARIPPA Award Request for Proposals and Other News from the Waste Coal Industry appeared first on epcamr.org.

Video by Michael Hewitt

Article By Paul Golias, Correspondent

The massive water pools under the Wyoming Valley are both a potential blessing and a curse.

The topmost level of the stratified 274.3 billion gallons of water is useable for industrial and commercial applications. The water could be purified for drinking if a drought emergency required such actions. That is the blessing.

The curse is the potential for subsidence is the pool is so dramatically disturbed that the ebb and flow of water causes surface problems ranging from flooding to serious subsidence that damages homes and businesses. Additionally, tapping the topmost strata of water would leave polluted water for potential future uses.

“Is there a danger? Yes.” said Robert Hughes, Executive Director of EPCAMR. “We need to focus on quality and stratification,” he said.

We know more about the water pool today than any period in the history of heavily-mined Wyoming Valley due to the extensive pool mapping work of EPCAMR. Hughes said EPCAMR used surface mine maps, underground mine maps, and cross section maps withing municipal boundaries obtained from the now-closed Federal Office of Surface Mining Folio Maps. The maps had been housed in the Stegmaier Building, Wilkes-Barre.

In addition, EPCAMR staff has monitored mine pool levels through boreholes around the Wyoming Valley. Unfortunately, some of those boreholes are being paved over.

Michael Hewitt, EPCAMR Program Manager, said a borehole in the Hanover Industrial Park was recently paved over during construction of new roads in connection with a major warehouse project there.

The borehole, Hewitt said, was near a sewer cover on the shoulder of the road. He could easily take readings of the Huber Colliery pool in that borehole, he said.

“We are down to 22 boreholes in the Wyoming Valley,” Hewitt said. The 15 that have been lost include three paved over in Exeter Borough and three more in Plymouth Borough, Hewitt said.

Hughes said it is vital to focus on the importance of the water pools due to the interest by natural gas producers in using mine water for fracking, the process that uses water under pressure to fracture the underground shale deposits that hold natural gas.

At the same time, plans for the PennEast Pipeline are unclear and EPCAMR has warned that a pipeline placed in the alluvial material atop the mine water pools could impact the pools, depending on the depth of the pipeline. Also, barrier pillars that separate the pools are in play, Hughes said.

The alluvial material, mainly sand and gavel, has been dubbed The Buried Valley of the Susquehanna. The alluvium is at various thicknesses under the Susquehanna, such as 142 feet at the levee in Wyoming. There are many veins of coal mapped under the Susquehanna and the entire valley, Hughes said. The withdrawal of water and the disturbance of the pools poses “a risk for mine subsidence,” he said.

Hughes recommended that people who do not have mine subsidence insurance consider obtaining a policy. He estimated only 10 percent of Wyoming Valley homeowners have such insurance.

Meanwhile, EPCAMR is providing municipalities in the former anthracite mining area with free mining maps to assist in community planning, coping with possible natural gas pipeline placement, and with mine subsidence issues.

Ironically, a $5,000 grant to the agency from PennEast Pipeline’s Community Connector Grant Program made the project possible. PennEast said it links with not-for-profit organizations to support safety, environment and education, and energy sector workforce development.

Hughes said the top 20 feet of water in the pools is “relatively clean.” The next 30-40 feet gets murkier and sediment increases at lower depths until the bottom of the pool where the water is “blackest of black,” he said.

Some mine water flows into streams and acid mine drainage projects have been underway for years. EPCAMR has been involved in those as has Earth Conservancy, where EPCAMR has its offices.

The water can flow back and forth between pools, across barriers left in place by mining companies as boundary lines. Some barriers were removed when one company bought another, Hughes said.

Using historical data and current water measurements, EPCAMR arrived at the staggering 274.3 billion gallons estimate for the mine pools under the valley. That does not include the Butler Mine Pool for which data is lacking.

Mine water is being used for geothermal energy development and industrial processes. The ARIPPA co-generaltion plant in Schuylkill County uses mine water to cool a tower. Frackville Wheelabrator uses mine water to runa  stream generator that heats and cools the state correctional facility at Frackville.

Earlier this month, Kenneth M. Klemow, professor of biology and environmental sciences at Wilkes Unviersity, and colleagues released a report on the potential impact of natural gas drilling on surface water, such as streams, creeks, and rivers. The predictive model did not prove drilling impacts on streams but it did project vulnerability.

Hughes said much more work needs to be done to study the mine pools, including how they impact surface water. He said a regional approach is necessary, an approach taken in a landmark 1949 report on underground water in area mines by Steven Ash and others of the Bureau of Mine, U.S. Department of the Interior. EPCAMR used Ash’s data in its calculations.

Hughes is on Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection’s Pipeline Infratructure Task Force’s Environmental Protection Workgroup to address pipeline infrastructure and development concerns related to abandoned mines.

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(Ashley, PA)– EPCAMR, the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, Wilkes University, Misericordia University, Earth Conservancy, and Greater Nanticoke Area Elementary (GNA) have partnered for an Environmental Education Outreach and Pottery Art Program to teach students about abandoned mine drainage (AMD) water pollution problems in the Southern Wyoming Valley watersheds and how those pollution sources can be solved in creative ways reusing one of the by-products of past mining practices.  EPCAMR, who specializes in restoring streams impacted by AMD, conducting community cleanups, and providing education and outreach efforts to many regional schools throughout the Coal Region recently received a $3000 environmental education grant through the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s Environmental Education Grant Program in order to fund our project through the Summer of 2015. EPCAMR has purchased two pottery wheels, clay, and supplies to support the project.

EPCAMR will be taking the entire 4^th & 5^th grade classes from GNA to multiple AMD impacted sites within the School District and in S. Wilkes-Barre. Seven field trips are planned that  will allow students to experience where the iron oxide comes from before heading to EPCAMR to see how iron oxide can be processed and re-used in art projects. The iron oxide can be used for painting, tie-dying, making chalk, and creating pottery glazes. EPCAMR, with the help of Jean Adams of Wilkes University & Skip Sensbach of Misericordia University, both Artists and Professors who will be teaching the students at GNA how to create pottery and use reclaimed iron oxide in order to create sustainable art. GNA’s Mrs. Michelle Kordek, is assisting with the coordination of the project with EPCAMR, both inside and outside of the classroom. The students will be creating art after the Winter Christmas Break in early 2015 in their art classroom where they will be dipping their pottery that they create in one of several iron oxide glazes that will be mixed by EPCAMR and the Artists. EPCAMR plans to create its very own regional glaze mixture of iron oxide by the end of the project.

EPCAMR’s Executive Director and local resident of Nanticoke, Robert Hughes, who has worked previously with the Greater Nanticoke Area to bring grants and outdoor environmental education programs to the District over the last 8 years is happy to be able to bring this type of interdisciplinary education approach to the 4th and 5th grade students at GNA. He goes on to say:

“I really think that our students need to gain an understanding of the local world around them and the impacts that it is having on them directly or indirectly, whether or not they know what those problems are at this point in their young lives or not. By having our regional non-profit organization bring the students out into the surrounding local streams and watersheds that are within two miles of their own backyard and school to learn about the environmental impacts to our community is something that they should at least be aware of as they get older. They should understand why their rivers and streams are orange, smell like sulfur, where this mine water is coming from, and what can be done and is being done to clean it up. They should learn that they can become a part of the solution and become actively engaged in local stream cleanups or illegal dump site cleanups that EPCAMR has already coordinated within the School District and greater Southern Wyoming Valley. Those students who might want to become artists will also have another outlet and medium to work in once we show them how to recycle the iron oxide from these mine discharges that can be used for multiple art mediums in the classroom. These are just some of the reasons why I’ve decided to pursue this grant and was successful in having our organization receive the innovative grant award to serve our community first. I want my hometown to be the first School District to have the opportunity to utilize our regional iron oxide glazes that we will be creating and using in the classroom when we create some pottery art next year.”

The AMD Field Tours are going to be in the mornings from around 8am-12 noon on the following dates: November 21, November 24, November 25, November 26, December 2, December 3, and December 5.

Abandoned mine drainage (AMD) is caused by a reaction between pyrite, fool’s gold, and the oxygen present in the water. The result is a thick orange sediment which coats the stream bottom and makes it difficult for native plants and animals to live in the water. 5500 miles of streams in PA are polluted by AMD. www.epcamr.org 

Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) Environmental Education

 & Pottery Art Program Tour Agenda (Leave from GNA Elementary Center around 8AM)

Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD)

– Pollutant that occurs as a result of past coal mining practices

– AMD forms when water from underground mines mixes with pyrite (fool’s gold) and oxygen to form rust

– The result is an orange muck which settles on the bottom of rivers and streams and pollutes the water  and makes it hard for plants & animals to survive.

Site 1: Red Lake

– Former Stripping Pit and municipal landfill at the far end of the pit looking north for the Glen Nan Colliery

– Orange/Red coloration from AMD upwelling into the stripping pit

– 20 acre lake bubbles and gurgles as water rushes into the lake from seeps and old mine gangways along the easterly portion of the stripping pit

– AMD from Red Lake meets up with the Honey Pot Discharge (Site #2)

Robert Hughes, Executive Director of Eastern PA Coalition for abandoned mine reclamation, takes water samples in mine drainage in Newport Township, Luzerne County, below Red Lake- (Michael J. Mullen)

Site 2: Honey Pot Discharge

– Discharges from an abandoned air shaft (#7) from the former Susquehanna #7 Colliery

– Was once the slackwater section for the Susquehanna North Branch Canal. Boats would come along the canal near Access Road to be loaded with coal.

– 2000 gal/minute average flow with high iron loading that eventually reaches the Newport Creek and  Susquehanna River

– Where EPCAMR get most of our iron oxide

– Have students assist with getting iron oxide

Wilkes University Volunteer cleaning up trash along the Honey Pot AMD discharge near the LCCC Park-n-Ride.

Site 3: Solomon Creek Boreholes

– 6 Boreholes (5 new & 1 old), 2 old ones collapsed and were replaced with 5 new ones

– Third largest borehole drainage area in the region

– 20 million gallons of water per day

– Boreholes are 240 feet deep

Solomon Creek AMD Boreholes in South Wilkes-Barre

Site 4: Askam Borehole AMD Treatment System (20 minutes)

– Askam Borehole drilled in the 1970’s to relieve water pressure from underground mines causing water  to go into residential basements;

– Collapsed in 1998 and two new boreholes had to be drilled on the other side of Dundee Road in between SR 29 and along the streambank of Nanticoke Creek

– Askam Treatment System uses the Maelstrom Oxidizer which uses a series of tubes which push air   into the water and cause the iron to fall out, making the water cleaner as it                      enters back into Nanticoke Creek following the dropping out of the iron in the series of ponds and baffles used to slow down the  water

– 3500 gal/minute into system

– Have students monitor water level (depth to the mine pool) at the Borehole with the Solonist Tape

Askam AMD Borehole along Dundee Road.

Site 5: EPCAMR Office

– Show students iron oxide station and examples of reuse of the pigment for various products

– Iron Oxide Solar Kiln for Drying and Processing AMD and converting into iron oxide packets for sale

EPCAMR AMD Solar Kiln

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