Abandoned Mine Posts

by Anne Daymut, Watershed Coordinator

On Saturday, May 1, 2010, watershed associations and their allies will meet to discuss Pennsylvania’s water quality future at the Ramada Inn Conference Center in State College, PA. “What’s Next for Water Quality in Pennsylvania?” is a Summit sponsored by the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, PA Department of Environmental Protection, and the Robert Morris University Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management. The event will provide an opportunity for watershed community members to share knowledge and experiences. The watershed community encompasses not only watershed organizations, but also Trout Unlimited Chapters, sportsman’s groups, conservation district representatives, governmental agencies, academic institutions, and consulting firms. 

Gwen Johnson, of the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds and organizer of the Summit, shares, “We hope this event will provide some insight into the common issues community watershed organizations are facing. Some sessions are devoted to organizational development while others address the variety of resources available to watershed groups. Attendees are sure to find answers to the specific questions their organization is facing.” The Summit will begin at 8:20am on Saturday, May 1 with the first Keynote Address by David Hess, former Secretary of the PA Department of Environmental Protection. Two tracks of eight sessions each will be offered twice throughout the morning.

The Organizational Track will cover topics relating to board development, community engagement, and financial diversity opportunities. The Technical Track will offer information on Datashed, volunteer monitoring, and Marcellus Shale drilling issues. After lunch, the second Keynote Address will be presented by George Hawkins of the Washington DC Waters and Sewer Authority. The afternoon will conclude with group work sessions to prioritize expectations for the incoming Governor of Pennsylvania and meet the newest allies in the efforts to renew Growing Greener.

For those interested in abandoned mine issues, WPCAMR and Stream Restoration, Inc. staff will be participating in panel discussions on Datashed, an interactive internet tool designed to store and organize water quality data and treatment system information; the current treatment system Snapshot; and other successful volunteer monitoring programs. “The planning committee did a wonderful job in selecting panelists who work closely with watershed groups. These folks have a tremendous amount of expertise and look forward to sharing that knowledge with their audience,” says Gwen Johnson.

Plan your attendance now! A net-working reception and cash bar are offered for those who can come on Friday evening. Registration, including a free display space, costs $25 before April 15th and $35 afterward. Vendors may attend and set up a display for $250. Scholarships will be given on a first-come-first-serve basis to those who need help defraying the cost to attend, so register early.

Limited lodging is available at the Ramada Inn Conference Center at the special rate of $82 per night. Although the initial deadline has passed, they will still accept reservations for a limited time. To register or find out more about the scholarship program, call the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at 412-397-6000 or visit www.rmu.edu/bcnmregistration.

by Anne Daymut, Watershed Coordinator

It is once again time to register for the Annual Abandoned Mine Reclamation (AMR) Conference. This year, you will be astonished! The 12th Annual PA AMR Conference has joined forces with the 27th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation (ASMR) and the 4th Annual Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative Mined Land Reforestation (ARRI) Conference.  With an expected attendance of approximately 500 individuals, it will not only be our largest conference ever, but will also provide the best networking opportunities, accommodate the most diverse conglomeration of organization representatives, and cover the broadest spectrum of topics of any AMR conference to date.

The 2010 Joint Mining Reclamation Conference will be held at the Green Tree Radisson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from June 5-10, 2010. It will provide a forum for the dissemination of information that may lead to innovations in public policy, mining, landscape restoration, and land management issues through research, field tours and technical workshops. The event will bring together local, state, and federal agencies; mining community representatives; research institutes; and non-profit organizations. A wide selection of Pre and Post-Conference Tours, Workshops, and social hours will be offered including a River Boat Cruise where the coveted PA AMR Conference Mayfly Award will be presented to this year’s recipient.

Attendees who typically attend the PA AMR Conference will most likely be interested in the Science, Community, and Reclamation Track (SCR Track). The vast array of informative topics that will be covered in this track include building watershed group capacity, returning trout and mussels to AMD impacted streams, constructing successful AMD treatment systems, remembering our regions coal history, and lots more. The SCR Track will be held from June 7-9, 2010, however, everyone is welcome to register for any part of this joint conference.

With the conference only two months away, it is important for you to begin planning your trip now!   Here are some things you need to know:

o Presentation Schedules are still being developed but will be finalized very soon.

o A non-profit registration rate is available. Student and Non-Profit full conference registration is $135.00.

o Workshop and Tour costs are extra and are detailed on the registration form.

o Conference day-rates are available.

oWe expect that scholarships will be available to help defray the cost of attending the conference however, since scholarship funding is very limited, we ask that that you apply for scholarship funding only if you have a definite need.  We are in the process of finalizining the scholarship applications and should have them shortly.

oLodging for Conference participants costs $108.00 per night plus tax ($15.12) until May 22. Reservations can be made by calling the hotel at 1-800-395-7046. Be sure to mention the Joint Mining Reclamation Conference to secure the Conference rate.

For more information about registering, visit http://www.pghminingreclamationconf.com/. Go to the “registration” tab on the website’s homepage and then click on the link at the bottom of the registration page to get the registration form for detailed information.

by Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator

Editor’s Note:  At this particular time of year, we all tend to look back over the past twelve months and reflect on what has happened in our lives. We’re going to do the same. Thanks to your help and that of all of our partners, WPCAMR continued to play a vital role in reclaiming our land and water from the unregulated coal mining practices of the past. In this year-end edition of Abandoned Mine Posts, we’ve decided to share with you a few noteworthy news items and success stories of the past year.

Since the passage of the 2006 amendments to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation (BAMR) had the daunting task of making sense of the changes and how their program would comply with what seemed to be a maze of new requirements.  After working long and hard, in 2009 BAMR released their Draft Implementation Guidelines for the AMD Set-Aside Program in PA, outlining how the state’s program would meet the requirements stipulated in the amended SMCRA.  In July, 2009, those draft guidelines were unveiled at the annual Pennsylvania Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference in Johnstown. 

Also in 2009, in an effort to glean up-to-date information about passive treatment systems throughout the state,  WPCAMR, in partnership with the PA DEP, Stream Restoration, Inc., and watershed stewards throughout the coal regions, began coordinating a series of sampling events, “snapshots” of passive treatment systems throughout the state.  The sampling results are to be available on Datashed.org, an online database of treatment systems managed by Stream Restoration, Inc.  

2009 proved to be a successful year for making our voices heard, thanks to your response to our calls for action.  In February, WPCAMR launched its “Tales from the Creeks” series in Abandoned Mine Posts that chronicles the work of our county Watershed Specialists and the need for funding those positions.  The response by our reclamation community to our call to write their legislators about the need to continue the Watershed Specialist program beyond 2010 was gratifying.  WPCAMR, with help from partners Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts and the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, drew attention to the importance of the Watershed Specialist program and in the fall, the PA DEP reaffirmed the importance of this program by approving Watershed Specialist funding until 2012.

Successes continued, this time on the federal level, thanks to your letters responding to our call for action to re-insert language into the Fiscal Year 2010 Federal Appropriations Bill that allows the Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program funds to be used as match for other federal funds.  Our friends at the Eastern Coal Regional Roundtable were instrumental in pushing this issue with their constituency throughout the rest of the eastern coal states and communicating the need to our federal legislators. 

In spring 2009, President Obama nominated Pennsylvania Bureau of Mining and Reclamation Director, Joe Pizarchik to head up the US Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining.  After what seemed a lengthy amount of waiting, Joe was finally confirmed by the US Senate and took office in Washington, D.C. on November 6.  It was your letters to our US Senators that helped to give them a clearer picture of Joe’s abilities.

The year was one of celebrations as well as successes.  The Pennsylvania Environment Digest began a “Growing Greener 10th Anniversary Celebration”, awarding monthly grants to grassroots groups who shared their written narratives or videos about their Growing Greener success stories.  The annual Ohio River Watershed Celebration, a free event in downtown Pittsburgh, once again celebrated the good work done by the reclamation community upstream.  Look for that free celebratory cruise to set sail again in 2010.  In the spring, one of our region’s most well-known watershed groups, the Sewickley Creek Watershed Association became the recipient of the Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence, in particular for their AMD remediation work being done with Bob Hedin at the Lowber passive treatment site in Westmoreland County.

Numerous environmental events continued to inspire and educate the public throughout the region during 2009.  One of the events highlighted in Abandoned Mine Posts was the 11th annual Pennsylvania Statewide AMR Conference, held in Johnstown.  The 2009 conference showcased fascinating projects such as using minepool water to provide geothermal heat in the Hill district of Pittsburgh, as well as presentations about our industrial past.  In 2010, PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference will be held in conjunction with two conferences, the annual conference for the American society for Mining Reclamation (ASMR) and the annual conference of the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI). This unique joint mining reclamation conference will be held June 5-11 at the Radisson Green Tree in Pittsburgh.

On a final note, 2009 was punctuated by sadness when, on December 22nd, ECRR Board of Directors President, Keith Pitzer passed away. In his lifetime, Keith worked hard to reclaim his beloved Cheat River Watershed in West Virginia. Under his leadership as Executive Director of Friends of the Cheat, that organization dramatically expanded its efforts to restore, preserve, and promote the outstanding natural qualities of the Cheat River Watershed. Because of that organization’s hard work, the Cheat River Watershed is well on the road to recovering from the debilitating effects of AMD. Keith served as a fine example of how one person can create positive change. He will be sorely missed.