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.

The Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR) is sponsoring an AmeriCorps State and National Member Volunteer, Morgan Romanowski, until September 5, 2025, through a partnership between the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement (OSMRE),  AmeriCorps, and the Stewards Individual Placement Program (SIPP), a Program of Conservation Legacy. We’re proud to be a national non-profit partner in Pennsylvania.

“EPCAMR is excited to have Morgan on board for this next year to assist us as a volunteer to help us out with the numerous projects we have on our plate right now. We are striving for additional funding to provide increased organizational capacity for our organization. It’s been very difficult to secure funding to support full-time employment of a number of positions with EPCAMR through grants. Ultimately, we have to manage a large number of them to keep ourselves sustainable over the long-term. We’re very humbled to have been chosen once again for this position after speaking with a colleague of ours, April Elkins-Badtke, Executive Director for Stewards Individual Placements-East, in Beckley, West Virginia.” Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director and Morgan’s Supervisor, stated.

Back in June 2024, I had discussed with April our desire to host and sponsor a position or two if funding was available and Northeastern PA would be considered as a part of the larger Energy Community Areas in Pennsylvania. EPCAMR had worked with previously a number of years ago to support and host two other Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement (OSMRE) AmeriCorps volunteers and an 8-week summer internship position that turned into a year-long AmeriCorps Volunteer In Service to America (VISTA) position in 2020, funded through the Foundation for PA Watersheds and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)  Yolande Norman, Division Chief at OSMRE, has approved the placement of two national service members at EPCAMR! We are excited to be a part of the Energy Community AmeriCorps Program (ECAP) this fall to provide capacity to communities that are working hard every day like us to make our communities more resilient and able to enjoy a much better quality of life. EPCAMR is currently recruiting for the second Community Development Coordinator VISTA position that can be found at MyAmeriCorps,” Bobby passionately stated.

As an OSMRE AmeriCorps Fellow, Morgan will follow the similar paths of many of our previous seasonal internships, except instead of 12 weeks, it will be for 52 weeks! She has the flexibility to perform any tasks that pertain to abandoned mine land (AML) mapping, water quality monitoring, environmental education, outreach, and storytelling. EPCAMR will be creating some story maps on the work that is happening around the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, AMLER funding, and more that we are working on for the OSMRE. This position can be in the field, in AMD, in streams, in the woods, on public lands, and or gathering data, creating geographic information system (GIS) maps, assisting community watershed groups, conservation groups, Conservation Districts, and EPCAMR regional partners to advance our mission or reclaiming abandoned mine lands and restoring watersheds impacted by legacy abandoned mine drainage (AMD) pollution,” Bobby explained.

Morgan was measuring the strike and dip at the headwaters of Nanticoke Creek in the rain along Holly Street just on the other side of the road heading downstream.

Morgan graduated from Wilkes University on May 18^th 2024, with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and a minor in Geology. She is from Scott Township, Lackawanna County, just outside the Northern Anthracite Coalfields, in the Lackawanna Valley. During her time at Wilkes, she worked on a research project with her friend Hope Mullins and senior partner, and Dr. Karimi, PhD, that involved tracking the disappearing waters on the Nanticoke creek into mine pools below the surface, entitled, Feasibility Study Using Saline Tracers And Electrical Surveying To Track Disappearing Stream Waters In Luzerne County, PA. EPCAMR and the Earth Conservancy had provided her Professor, Dr. Boback Karimi, PhD, with some some surface and underground mine maps that were useful to their project. She also interned with the Department of Environmental Protection’s Clean Water Program from summer of 2023 up until she graduated in 2024. She has plenty of experience with some of the typical field monitoring equipment that EPCAMR uses already. 

The SIPP program is sponsored by the Conservation Legacy, a nonprofit that is dedicated to funding environmental stewardship throughout America. EPCAMR is looking forward to working with Patricia “Trish” Urquiza Silva, Program Manager, for the SIPP.

EPCAMR has developed a 1-year Project Plan outlining the volunteer project goals to be worked towards during Morgan’s time of service. Some of these projects include assisting in fundraising efforts, developing various resource maps using GIS, scanning and cataloging underground mine maps, watershed assessment work, monitoring water quality within the EPCAMR region, and providing educational experiences to underserved youth, camps, and school districts in the region as funding allows.

“I am looking forward to working with EPCAMR to help provide environmentally sustainable solutions to underserved communities within the eastern Pennsylvania region impacted by abandoned mine lands, whether it be through environmental education and outreach, creating GIS maps, conducting field assessments, or writing grant proposals,” said Morgan.

Severe streambank erosion along a section of the Nanticoke Creek showing a steep, highly eroded area with tree roots exposed and extreme undercutting of the bank.

One project she looks forward to is assisting EPCAMR with the monitoring of water quality, AMD, mine pool elevations, flow loss points, and stream flows within the Nanticoke Creek watershed in partnership with the Earth Conservancy. The Nanticoke Creek experiences flow loss from water flowing into mine pools beneath the surface. EPCAMR and Earth Conservancy will be continuing to conduct monitoring of the Creek and the local mine pool to help with their $17.5 million dollar Nanticoke Creek Watershed Restoration funded by the Inflation Reduction Act and other funding sources.

Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director, flying their DJI Mavic 2 Dual Enterprise drone upstream and over the abandoned culm banks and legacy Anthracite spoil material in the dry stream channel along Nanticoke Creek’s headwaters where the Earth Conservancy will be reclaiming the site and putting the creek back up on the surface.

“I am excited about working on this particular project because it is a continuation of the research work I completed for my senior project at Wilkes University. Í have seen firsthand how the flow loss affects the Creek and how the water is negatively impacted from its journey through the mine pools until it eventually resurfaces through the Askam Borehole where abandoned mine drainage (AMD) impacts the lower reaches of the Nanticoke Creek and where an existing AMD Maelstrom Oxidizer Treatment System is in placed operated and maintained by the Earth Conservancy and monitored by EPCAMR.

The Maelstrom Oxidizer AMD Treatment System on Nanticoke Creek along Dundee Road owned and operated by the Earth Conservancy and monitored by EPCAMR.

Askam AMD discharge into the Nanticoke Creek along Dundee Road in Hanover Township, Luzerne County, PA.

It’s used as a outdoor environmental education learning center for experiential learning opportunities and tours throughout the year. Restoration of the stream channel help to reduce the formation of AMD downstream,” said Morgan.

Brookie the Trout, one of EPCAMR’s two puppets tagged along for an AMD Tie-Dye Workshop with the Lackawanna River Conservation Association and PA American Water, at their annual Water Camp in Peckville, PA at the Valley Library.

Morgan also looks forward to participating in the various education and outreach programs that EPCAMR provides which includes, but is not limited to, tabling at community environmental events, water camps, and AMD tie-dye workshops with the trout puppets.

“I cannot stress enough the importance of environmental outreach and education within a community. By providing educational outreach programs, EPCAMR is filling a gap that most elementary schools and high schools have in their education programs when it comes to the environmental sciences. Their trout puppets and Environmental Education Streamside Hub webpage complete with videos, activities, and teacher curriculums and lesson plans is phenomenal and every teacher and environmental educator should be looking into it and using what they can in the classroom since the information that is on the site meets PA State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. They are also spreading awareness of the issues that are caused by the abandoned mine lands that are right in people’s backyards,” said Morgan.

Morgan has already been a volunteer with EPCAMR since April of 2022 when she completed a Non-Tidal Streams Protocol Training with EPCAMR, where she learned about how to properly assess roads, bridges, pipes, culverts, and crossings for aquatic organism passage. The online training portion was in partnership with the UMass Extension, in the Center for Agriculture, Food, and Environment, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC).

The top of the Falls on Little Shickshinny Creek on State Game Lands 55 not far from the parking lot along Shickshinny Valley Road where the bedding plane of the rocks across the creek create an opening before the long drop to the plunge pool below.

“This fall, Morgan will be joining some of the EPCAMR Staff in the field to conduct aquatic organism passage surveys of many of the roads, bridges, culverts, and pipes in the Little Shickshinny Creek watershed, Paddy Run, and Rocky Run tributaries on the State Game Lands 260 and 55, in the southern tip of the northern Anthracite coalfields in the former Salem Coal Company and Stackhouse Colliery area and along other publicly accessible areas where the streams and their tributaries cross over these infrastructure features to determine how passable they are for fish and aquatic life. She will survey 20 culverts in the field with the EPCAMR Staff and Bobby, who is a volunteer Lead Observer Coordinator 1 for the NAACC and she will then become certified as a Lead Observer in Aquatic Organism Passage (AOP) through NAACC. She will be very busy over the next year. These projects mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg,” Bobby Hughes jokingly stated.

Looking downstream at the Falls on Little Shickshinny Creek on State Game Lands 55.

The post EPCAMR Welcomes and Hosts AmeriCorps State & National Member Volunteer Morgan Romanowski For A Year of Coalfield Community Service appeared first on epcamr.org.

 

 

Kaityln White staining up one of EPCAMR’s Blue Bird boxes with a manganese oxide wood stain.

Kaitlyn White, EPCAMR Community Service Volunteer

The post Kaitlyn White, Swoyersville, PA Moves from Virtual EPCAMR Volunteer Creating Posters to Staining Blue Bird Boxes in the EPCAMR Office with our Manganese Oxide appeared first on epcamr.org.

Robert Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director, and Ray Clarke, HBPS Chairman and Treasurer, stand with Charlie Jones and other members of Troop #152 in front of the Huber Breaker and memorial at the Miner;s Memorial Park.

The Groasis Waterboxx, an AquaPro Holland product developed in 2009 as a way to grow trees and plants in desert environments, serves as an “intelligent water incubator” that captures water from the air through condensation and rain. Due to the design of the device, the condensation is produced and captured without using any energy. Installing a Waterboxx begins with digging a 4-6 inch hole that allows the Waterboxx to sit at the surface. After digging, the hole should be filled with 5 gallons of water to help restore soil capillary systems and allow for better water retention. At this point, the Waterboxx can be installed and is ready for planting, with an 8-shaped notch at the top providing space for plant growth while reducing evaporation.

This diagram shows the interior of a Groasis Waterboxx. The Waterboxx allows water to be retained in its base, as shown in blue, which allows plants to grow in desert-like environments. The notch at the top, seen near the trunk of the tree, reduces evaporation.

The Huber Breaker Preservation Society‘s Miner’s Memorial Park is a great location to test and monitor the effectiveness of the Groasis Waterboxxes because of the high concentrations of culm and other coal waste in the soil. The culm acts similar to sand, allowing for little moisture retention, making it difficult for native plants to sustain life. The Waterboxxes, which are designed for environments with poor water retention, will help to solve this problem and allow for more variation in plant life on the Memorial Park property.

Ray Clarke, HBPS Chairman and Treasurer, helping Troop #152 scouts dig a Waterboxx hole after hitting the Engine House Foundation.

After EPCAMR obtained the funds to begin the reforestation project at the Miner’s Memorial Park, Charlie Jones, an Eagle Scout candidate, decided to organize his Boy Scout Troop #152, Forty-Fort, to assist EPCAMR. On August 3, 2013, work began at the site with EPCAMR staff, Ray Clarke – Huber Breaker Preservation Society Chairman and Treasurer, and members of Troop #152. The day consisted of digging holes for the installation of Waterboxxes, mulching and tending to various shrubs that already been planted at the site, and planting four fruit trees: pear, peach, plum, and black cherry. After the end of the project, EPCAMR installed 20 Waterboxxes that will be monitored for water content and tree growth monthly as part of research for the Regional Reforestation Planting Project funded by the ACCT and Groasis.

Troop #152 members install Waterboxx lids on top of the plum and pear trees at the Miner’s Memorial Park

The information will be valuable in determining the viability/value of using Waterboxxes. If they are deemed successful, as they have been over the last year, they will be included in other reforestation projects by EPCAMR.

EPCAMR Intern- David Svab places a Groasis Waterboxx into its freshly dug hole at Espy Run.

EPCAMR Executive Director- Robert Hughes plants a Groasis Waterboxx at Espy Run.

EPCAMR was again funded for a Phase II round of research funding and was provided with an additional 20 more Waterboxxes, of which 8 were planted at the Espy Run AMD Treatment Wetlands location, in Hanover Township in the Fall of 2013 by EPCAMR Watershed Outreach Intern David Svab and EPCAMR Executive Director, Robert Hughes, in partnership and with permission from the landowner, the Earth Conservancy. Due to the fast approaching Winter and a delay in getting the seedlings and trees delivered and in stock from the nursery that was used, EPCAMR will be continuing to plant an additional 12 Waterboxxes at the first sign of Spring.

This photo shows the newly planted Waterboxxes next to the settling ponds at the Espy Run AMD Treatment Facility.

The post EPCAMR works with Appalachian Coal Country Team on Waterboxx Research Initiative appeared first on epcamr.org.

Many of these sites are within the 2.6 miles of Class A Trout Streams in the watershed and in the area of the 1.84 miles of Sugar Notch Run that we are proposing to the Commonwealth of PA to be delisted. EPCAMR has followed up with the PA DEP Bureau of Conservation and Restoration to request that they have their Water Pollution Biologists come out for a follow-up field visit to warrant the delisting from the Federal List of Impaired Waters. EPCAMR has already followed up with the PA Fish & Boat Commission as well and were informed that at the time of our request for assistance, their Office and Staff were overwhelmed with projects dealing with the Marcellus Shale, that they were not able to provide us with much technical assistance on determining the correct types and best suited habitat structures for many of the project locations that we had initially selected, so some of those larger projects were put on the backburner for future evaluation when they had the time available to assist us in the field. Over the course of the year, EPCAMR gained funding through staff members contributing $7,757.20, volunteers and partners contributing an additional $12,625.50 in matching funds of  time and additional grants. EPCAMR was also able to secure an $8,000 grant from PA American Water.  This funding allowed EPCAMR to complete 15 successful projects, resulting in clean-ups and restorations of Sugar Notch Run and Nockley’s Tributary in the Solomon Creek Watershed. 5 Tons (10,000 pounds) of trash were removed. Several hundred tires were removed. Some vandals even decided to set one pile on fire leaving us with 84 tires less than anticipated to be removed, but a pile of rubber rubble to deal with on one occasion. EPCAMR Executive Director, Robert Hughes, emphasized, “We saved the taxpayers and citizens of Hanover Twp., the City of Wilkes-Barre, and the landowners ALOT of money through our hard earned grant writing efforts and coordination of our volunteers and students that we utilize and work with throughout Luzerne County. If every municipality had a grant writer that went after grants as aggressively as we do for the public good and with the success rate that we’ve  had, there wouldn’t be so many environmental problems in our communities and they’d save  a lot of money.”

Taken at SGl #207, this photo shows a blockage of tires and other man-made debris near the old concrete dam just above the double-wide railroad tunnel.

Dumpster Full

At Sugar Notch Run, EPCAMR addressed degradation issues such as woody debris blockages, sedimentation, trash and tire dumping, deep undercuts in stream banks, and other man-made blockages. EPCAMR also did a clean-up at State Game Lands #207 at Sugar Notch Run, where they removed tarps, gas canisters, sleeping bags, tires, and other trash that was creating blockages in the stream and impacting the natural habitat. After the blockages were removed, EPCAMR made sure to stabilize the creek and make sure that it had maintained its natural habitat features.

EPCAMR Staff cleaned out debris from this stream channel at Sugar Notch Run, outside of Carey’s Patch, locally called by the kids, “Dead End Creek”, and left the log and downed tree in place for habitat. Water can flow around it and down over a step pool just below the log that you can see looking upstream.

While the Sugar Notch Run clean-up was a success, EPCAMR spent the majority of the Summer and early Fall cleaning and restoring Nockley’s Tributary, named for the family that owns the land that the tributary runs along until it comes to its confluence with Solomon Creek, just northeast of S. Main Street in Wilkes-Barre. Dave, owns Nockley’s Pharmacy, located on S. Main Street (Middle Road, Hanover Twp.) and Frank runs Northeast Cartage Services, (on Fellows Ave, Hanover Twp.). Both gentlemen allowed us to access their property at any time to conduct the work and they also contributed deep discounts for dumpsters that we needed while conducting our cleanups. They both were very open to our projects and were familiar with EPCAMR’s Executive Director, since Dave had played High School basketball with him during their high school days at the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), Wilkes-Barre, where both of them were outstanding basketball players under the now retired Coach John Hopkins.  Midway through June, EPCAMR, through collaboration with PA American Water Staff including John Yamona-Water Quality Manager and Susan Turcmanovich-Manager, began work on Nockley’s Tributary. This area was heavily littered with trash, illegal dumping, heavy sedimentation, stormwater drainage issues from antiquated drains, streambank erosion, and woody debris blockages causing flooding issues at the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church and a day-care, located adjacent to the tributary.

Volunteers help to clean debris in preparation for a riparian corridor tree planting along the banks of Nockley’s Tributary during the restoration and clean-up.One of the major features completed at the site was a riparian corridor planted with 125 native trees and nursery stock wetland plants in order to enhance and improve the fish passage and stream habitat that runs 2,640 feet from Nockley’s Tributary to Solomon Creek. Riparian corridors help to restore and improve stream habitat because they allow for native plants to help filter and trap sediment, preventing stream erosion and allowing for better water flow. EPCAMR staff along with the assistance of volunteers, David Svab- Watershed Outreach Intern, and Aaron Stredny-Watershed Specialist for the Luzerne Conservation District, completed the project over a period of 7 months.

Dawson Hughes (in orange) , EPCAMR Stream Cleanup Volunteer and oldest son of the Executive DIrector, who has been helping out since he was 8 years old and is now going on 14 with Wilkes University Colonels volunteers at a cleanup on Nockley’s Tributary.

EPCAMR knew that as we got further down in the watershed, the environmental degradation issues become more problematic and costly and will warrant much further details, investigations, surveys, and designs for future improvements. Woody debris provides many benefits to the stream ecosystem, but individual debris jams that we have investigated increased erosion or endangered roadways, bridges and personal property. In these cases, it was necessary to remove all of the jam to alleviate the problems. Removal decisions of the woody debris areas were subjective and were made individually, ultimately removing or altering only what is necessary. In the more forested areas, such structures remained intact to continually shape and change a stream channel as a natural process without interference.

Watershed Specialist, Aaron Stredny, speaks to PA DCNR’s “Watershed” Education Program High School students from across Luzerne County who planted 125 trees along the banks of Nockley’s Tributary in the Fall 2013.

EPCAMR believes that the improvements they have accomplished so far will lead to further protection of the native brook trout population , as well as other warm water fisheries in the lower reaches of the watershed. Over time, the number of fish and aquatic life present in the watershed could possibly increase as a result of addressing areas with degradation issues. As of November 2013, EPCAMR still has funds available to continue to clean and restore the Solomon Creek Watershed. During Spring and Summer of 2014, EPCAMR Staff plans to monitor and evaluate the completed projects while continuing to work on projects that will result in cleaner water and streams, improved stream and riparian corridor habitat, stream bank stabilization, and a reduction in sediment loads and trash to the Solomon Creek watershed. EPCAMR knows how to create partnerships! See the list for these successful projects completed below: Nockley’s Pharmacy-landowner access Earth Conservancy-landowner access PA Game Commission-landowner access Northeast Cartage Services-landowner access and discounted pricing on hauling, dumpster roll-offs, and waste removal Mahantongo Scrap Tire Recycling, Liverpool, PA– removal and recycling of scrap tires, discount on hauling and price per tire for removal St. Peter’s Lutheran Church-landowner access, free parking, use of open space area for lunch breaks for EPCAMR Volunteers and students, use of restroom facilities, volunteer assistance from their Board of Trustees in removal and cutting of downed trees across Nockley’s Tributary, removal of brush piles Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority-inspection of sewer main at the confluence of Nockley’s Tributary before entering Solomon Creek Stanley Cooper Chapter of Trout Unlimited-provided volunteers (2) who assisted on July 1, 2013, with illegal dumping and tire removal from Nockley’s Tributary, served as a media outlet to their members to recruit additional volunteers to assist with the EPCAMR stream restoration projects Luzerne Conservation District-provided technical expertise and Staff to coordinate the stream restoration projects within the Solomon Creek Watershed with EPCAMR, secured additional funding and was awarded funding by EPCAMR towards projects, worked with EPCAMR on cleanup days, woody debris removal field events, tree plantings, and tire removal events; Chapter 102 review, Chapter 105 review, coordination with PA DEP PACD, Inc.-provided $2,000 funding towards the riparian tree plantings on Nockley’s Tributary and educational and outreach program on non-point source pollution and stream restoration ARIPPA-provided EPCAMR with $500 in funding that was awarded to the Luzerne Conservation District through our mini-grant program to purchase stone for energy dissipaters to be placed below antiquated stormwater culverts that are directed towards Nockley’s Tributary PA DCNR-Environmental Education Specialists coordinated a tree planting event with EPCAMR and the LCD with (40) students from different high schools within the Wyoming Valley and Hazleton Area on October 17, 2013 City of Wilkes-Barre, Ashley Borough, and Hanover Township-supportive of our efforts within the Solomon Creek Watershed to implement recommendations with funding that was not from the local taxpayers and assisted with prioritizing future cleanup efforts within the watershed within their municipalities PA  DEP, Wilkes-Barre Regional Office-provided EPCAMR and the LCD on guidance as to the need for any necessary permits for our projects Wilkes University-(36) Freshman College students participated in a coordinated stream-side cleanup and tire removal event on July 15, 2013; Coordinated with Megan Boone Valkenburg, Civic Engagement Coordinator; They were unable to make the July 1, 2013 event due to rain and bus scheduling EPCAMR Community Service Volunteers-(11) total participated in the cleanups on July 1, and July 15, 2013 that were registered through American Rivers (www.AmericanRivers.org/Cleanup) Nanticoke Junior Trojans Youth Football Program Players– 11, 12, & 13 year old football players (7 of them) and Jill Williams, mother of one of the players, volunteered on the September 21^st, 2013 cleanup event that was coordinated with Michelle Dunn from Keep PA Beautiful in conjunction with the International Coastal Cleanup South Wilkes-Barre Mini-Football Program-provided a $300 donation towards our restoration efforts in honor of a local conservationist and avid fisherman, Mr. Abe Coolbaugh, who passed away, and has a son, who coaches for the mini-football program who wanted to see the funds used towards some conservation practices where his Father fished Keep PA Beautiful-provided EPCAMR with publicity, garbage bags, and gloves; (www.KeepPABeautiful.org) International Coastal Cleanup and Ocean Conservancy-provided outreach and publicity on their website for volunteer recruitment of our cleanup events and garbage bags and gloves to our PA registered cleanup events through Keep PA Beautiful ( http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/international-coastal-cleanup/ ) American Rivers-provided EPCAMR with trash bags and outreach and publicity on their website for volunteer recruitment and provided EPCAMR with a free year long membership for registering our cleanups for the 2013 National River Cleanup participation ( www.americanrivers.org ) EPCAMR promoted our project through our Social Media Page on FaceBook (Search EPCAMR) and created events along with notifications to our volunteer base to come out and assist with our local projects. EPCAMR coordinated with Wilkes University, Stanley Cooper Chapter Trout Unlimited, Nanticoke Junior Trojans Youth Football Program, and the PA DCNR to create events that a large group of students could attend to assist us with as well.

• https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151752670094095.1073741828.95647429094&type=1
• https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151754642629095.1073741829.95647429094&type=1
• https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151871591689095.1073741836.95647429094&type=1
• https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151874410689095.1073741837.95647429094&type=1
• https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151876638429095.1073741838.95647429094&type=1
• https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151887054564095.1073741840.95647429094&type=1
• https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151887072209095.1073741841.95647429094&type=1
• https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151902848599095.1073741842.95647429094&type=1
• https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151965495674095.1073741843.95647429094&type=1

EPCAMR received media coverage from Ch. 16-WNEP when we coordinated our second cleanup on July 15, 2013. (http://wnep.com/2013/07/15/getting-dirty-to-clean-up-the-creek/) PA American Water provided a news release on their website about the project and others that were funded:

• http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/AMERPR/2493767894x0x656204/b4fe1755-dddf-4286-848a-fd064eb3b0f7/656204.pdf

PACD prepared an article on the projects that they funded state-wide, including the one for the Luzerne Conservation District, in partnership with EPCAMR:

• http://pacd.org/2013/06/over-47000-awarded-for-nonpoint-source-pollution-prevention-educational-mini-grants/

Brendan Gibbons, Environmental Beat Reporter for the Scranton Times-Tribune and the Citizen’s Voice covered a story for the newspaper on our project and also participated in a cleanup as a volunteer. Article is below:

• http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/timesshamrock/doc/1399978542.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+15%2C+2013&author=&pub=Citizens%27+Voice&edition=&startpage=&desc=Water+Quality+Projects+Are+Worthy+Endeavours  (archived article-costs $$)

• http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/into-the-void-mapping-abandoned-mines-in-3d-1.1560241  
• Page 13 of the Citizen’s Voice from July 8, 2013 has the PA American Water Check Presentation Photo

Tom Venesky, Outdoors Writer with the Times-Leader Newspaper, prepared an article on our work in the Solomon Creek Watershed:

• http://www.timesleader.com/news/outdoors-sports/596165/Study-provides-hope-for-trout-in-Solomon-Creek

These projects were the first of its kind in the Solomon Creek, particularly in the native brook trout fishery headwaters and tributaries of the watershed.  EPCAMR will make periodic trips to the sites once completed to check on the long-term stability of the structures installed and constructed. EPCAMR will seek the support of avid people who fish in the area to report back on how the structures are holding up and if the areas are remaining free of debris, storm flow debris, tires, illegal dumping, trash, and sedimentation. EPCAMR will advise private landowners to check on the areas worked on periodically to report back to EPCAMR, however, should additional work or maintenance be needed, the financial burden would have to fall on the landowner. If areas are determined to be private, EPCAMR will work with the landowners to see if visitation to the project sites can be made open to the public use through a conservation easement, right-of-way access agreement, or hold-harmless agreement. EPCAMR has a well-established partnership with the Stanley Cooper Chapter of Trout Unlimited in the Wyoming Valley, whose members are always willing to assist private landowners with improvement their property, including fish habitat and restoration work.

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Follow this link for details and be sure to check out the descriptions of the dozens of Volunteer Opportunities that we have throughout the year on VolunteerMatch.org. Just search for EPCAMR.

where you can join us and learn about how we are restoring our watersheds impacted by past mining practices, educating our youth, preserving our past, and reclaiming our lands from black banks to greener pastures.

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO THE ONLINE APPLICATION! http://epcamr.org/home/donate-your-time-talent-or-treasures/epcamr-volunteer-opportunities/

Become a volunteer for FREE NOW! You’ll surely want to become an active Member following your experiences with EPCAMR and our Staff! $5 for students and $10 for Individuals.

Wilkes University students processing iron oxide at the EPCAMR Office

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He hiked several miles of stream with us and was officially taught how to identify macro-invertebrates (aquatic bugs/insects), conduct a visual stream habitat assessment, monitor the streams for iron concentrations, pH, acidity concentrations, alkalinity concentrations, dissolved oxygen concentrations, and stream temperature.

He also became familiar with the local geology and mining history of our region through his Father’s rambling and endless conversations during the stream walks. Dawson has also assisted in a Teacher Training Workshop with local Science Teachers from the Wilkes-Barre Area in 2012, attended a QuickBooks for Non-Profits Training Seminar in Pittsburgh, PA (that was rough…but the instructor was quick to point him out and crack some jokes about “quality time” being spent with his Father, at the expense of work), storm drain stenciling several years ago throughout Plymouth Township, community gardening and historic preservation at the Avondale Hill Mine Disaster Memorial location in Plymouth Township, the painting of the Avondale Ballad Sheet Metal Art Piece in partnership with the Wilkes-Barre Area Machine Shop Class, illegal dump site cleanups throughout the Wyoming Valley, AMD Tie Dye T-shirt Programs at many of our events throughout the Anthracite Coal Region, and most recently, our stream restoration project on Nockley’s Tributary, an impaired stream reach filled with woody debris, trash, tires, and sediment.

Dawson Hughes (in orange) , EPCAMR Stream Cleanup Volunteer and oldest son of the Executive DIrector, who has been helping out since he was 8 years old and is now going on 14

As a Father, especially during those down times, during the Summer months, where I know that most of his time is going to be spent at home in his little man cave in our basement playing X-Box 360, PS3, the computer playing MINECRAFT in his virtual reality, or on some other social media site, I think it’s more important to invite him out and get some fresh air and not be so closeted about what natural beauty and environmental degradation lie just outside the house. I am encouraging him to become a part of the solution, much like I have been since I was very young, and instilling in him that even kids his age can and should want to make a difference in their communities and become well-rounded and inquisitive about our natural history and cultural history that are some our best kept secrets in our region. Truth is not enough of it is being told at the elementary level, high school level, or collegiate level for that matter. All history is local. EPCAMR’s Staff and myself believe in teaching our youth through a place-based philosophy or getting to know your surroundings and not succumb to what’s colloquially known as “nature deficit disorder”.

I appreciate the time spent together and I know that he has enjoyed all the times that we have spent working side by side with each other, whether it’s on the football field, basketball court, baseball diamond, or mine-impacted stream, I’ve never gotten a complaint out of him. He’s a hard worker, a natural team leader, and a very smart kid, who is a straight A student in school, and doesn’t have trouble interacting with adults and other youth alike. I’m very proud to call him my oldest son, and hope that he will continue to join me on our many adventures throughout the Coal Region as we work on other interesting restoration, education, and remediation projects to improve our land and water impacted by abandoned mines.

Dawson goes on to say, “My Dad is a walking encyclopedia of all things living, historical, coal-related…a real Nature Boy and Super Hero for the environment…He’s respected by so many in his field and it seems like everyone either knows him or he knows them. Wherever we go  and he is well-liked and respected for his work.  I  enjoy hanging with him, even though he usually just puts me to work, but at least I know at the end of the day it’s for a good cause, the cleanup of the local environment and community. The work he does is appreciated by those that we work with side by side, who wouldn’t have been able to complete it without my Dad’s support through EPCAMR. He teaches everyone and he teaches me, that goes without saying. He doesn’t yell as much on illegal dump site cleanups or stream surveys as he does on the football field or basketball court as a Coach, so in all actuality, he’s rather mild to work with on our Nature and Anthracite history adventures!”

Dawson Hughes (age 10) assisting EPCAMR as a Water Quality Monitoring Volunteer on Sugar Notch Run in the Solomon Creek Watershed

Dawson Hughes playing his Father as the “mini” Limestone Cowboy in 4th Grade during an Environmental Comedy Skit put on for his class at GNA

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Becca Lindner, EPCAMR Volunteer, scanning some EPCAMR documents to create our historic digital archive

After hearing about EPCAMR through VolunteerMatch, Becca became interested in assisting this small, yet efficient, organization that was committed to reclaiming abandoned mine lands and restoring streams impacted by abandoned mine drainage. After her first meeting with the group cleaning out Nockley’s Tributary, a feeder stream to Solomon’s Creek, she was assured that she wanted to continue to work with us. She is inspired by their commitment to the communities in which they work and their creative ideas for outreach, such as the “AMD Avengers Activity Book” and the iron oxide pigment reprocessing, artistic products that they are creating out of the pigment, and the sustainable recycling efforts of the organization. Her responsibilities will involve a variety of project; including administrative tasks, as well as joining the EPCAMR Staff and interns on field opportunities where she can learn more about AMD, non-point source pollution, and abandoned mine reclamation.

“Water is one of our most precious natural resources. It’s important to protect and monitor this resource in order to preserve a healthy environment. I look forward to working with EPCAMR and its affiliates to clean up our rivers and educate others to prevent further non-point source pollution from affecting our waterways. I can’t wait to learn more about everything from water monitoring, to landscaping, to photography. I think it’s wonderful how EPCAMR has incorporated so much into their program!” said the excited and enthusiastic Southern young lady.

Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director, says “We look forward to helping Becca gain some valuable hands-on experience with our organization. She did a great job in getting her hands dirty in the heat and humidity, last week during our Nockley’s Tributary cleanup in the Solomon Creek watershed, just outside of Wilkes-Barre, and already she has jumped right in and has been trained by Mel Talmadge, our Volunteer Services Coordinator, on some scanning of paper copy documents that we would like to have digitally archived, to document our history and past work projects. She’s going to work out just fine. She has an interest in nature photography, so we’re going to let her explore that passion, and utilize our work camera to catch us in action in the field and get used to our field equipment so that she can become familiar with our tools of the trade. It’s only fair that we share with her some Northern Coal Region hospitality, that probably won’t match the Southern hospitality she has been providing to us already!”

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