Abandoned Mine Posts

by Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator

One of the most rewarding things that we Abandoned Mine Reclamation (AMR) folk experience is the chance to learn about new technologies and ways to improve our treatment systems. Yet, as we continue to reclaim, we are often unaware of what happened in the coal regions so many years ago and the contributions and struggles of the mining families as they built lives and communities.
This year, the 2008 AMR Conference, to be held August 12-14 at the Ramada Inn and Conference Center in State College, offers us a chance to reclaim that coal mining past while shaping our reclamation future. 

The three day conference works like this:  for the first day and a half, starting on Tuesday August 12th, the focus will be on traditional AMR-oriented topics. Conference-goers can choose from presentations between two tracks on Tuesday: the “New Approaches” track will will shed light on neat new stuff being explored in treating AMD while the “Timely Topics” track presents topics relevant to the AMR community today. 

Wednesday August 13th is the transition day with AMR-oriented presentations featured in the morning mainstream track.  Coal Mining Heritage presentations taking center stage during the mainstream track in the afternoon.

During Thursday August 14th, presentations will be focused exclusively on “Heritage Preservation” and “Historical Topics” with presentations from preservationists and historians well versed in our coal mine heritage.

We also have some extras that may be up your alley.

On Monday afternoon August 11 will be a pre-confernce bus tour of the Phillipsburg area where we’ll visit several sites including AMD treatment systems and AMR “features” that have yet to be reclaimed.  A box lunch will be included.

Tuesday and Wednesday’s “Vendor” track allows companies to present their own in-person infomercials on their products and services.  Last year, this was a big hit.

Making a encore visit on Wednesday afternoon is Pete Geissler who will offer a workshop on honing your writing abilities.  Pete always gets rave reviews and he will make you a better writer.  How important is that?  His workshop dovetails nicely for those folks who are attending mainly for the AMR topics. Attendance for the effective writing workshop is limited to only 20 participants.

This year, we are very fortunate to have national recording artist Ken Bonfield performing at the conference. Ken’s soulful acoustic guitar work has been featured on the National Public Radio program, “Echoes” in addition to being featured on Public Television’s “New Yankee Workshop”.  Although Ken has never been to the coal regions, he has always been interested in our mining past and is looking forward to performing at the conference.

Now that we have your interest, here’s what you need to do so you won’t miss out:

• Go to or conference website www.treatminewater.com and peruse it for more information and a better flavor of the conference.
• See the most up-to-date presentation schedule on our website.
• Register on-line, also on the website.  Registration is by-the-day, so select the day(s) that most interest you.  (Most problems occuring in registering on-line results when it’s done too quickly.  Please take your time and read.)
• If you wish to be considered for financial assistance to attend the conference, you need to act quickly.  The deadline for financial aid requests is JULY 3, 2008.  When filling out the online registration form, check the “I Need Financial Aid To Attend The Conference” box and fill in the additional fields that appear. (Only available for non-governmental not-for-profit organizations.)
• You’re on your own to arrange accomodations.  However, a special conference room rate of $81.38/night (tax included) at the Ramada, for singles OR doubles, is good only until July 14th, so make your reservations with the Ramada Inn and Conference Center soon.

PLEASE NOTE: THE FINAL DAY FINANCIAL AID REQUESTS CAN BE MADE IS CLOSE OF BUSINESS ON JULY 3, 2008.  Notification of aid awards will be made on July 9, 2008.

For more information about the 2008 Abandoned Mine Reclamation and Coal Mining Heritage Conference and to register online, go to: www.treatminewater.com

by Bruce Golden, Regional Coordinator and Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator

Last year , ten public roundtable meetings were held around PA on how the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) should best spend an estimated $1.4 billion for abandoned mine reclamation over the next 15+ years. The meetings were designed to educate the public and solicit comments. The funding is derived from a recently amended federal law known as the Surface Ming Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) and represents a substantial increase in both the amounts and the flexibility of using the funding. PA is the only state affected by this law that has elected to gather public comment.

Some general impressions from those roundtable meetings:

• Audience size varied from about 15 to 35 with generally greater attendance in western counties
• The makeup of audience varied with members of watershed and conservation organizations consistently representing the majority of participants
• The tenor of each of the meetings was respectful and constructive
• DEP personnel mostly listened, but provided commentary as appropriate
• There were quite a few comments about a range of reclamation methodologies and how they should be employed
• There were quite a few comments about the value of partnerships and watershed organizations for future reclamation

The only subjects that appeared to have a general consensus were:

1. On the 30% AMD Set Aside, the majority of participants appeared to favor having DEP take the full 30%
2. Most participants appeared to favor the establishment of an Operations & Maintenance fund to take care of AMD treatment systems.

The official transcripts from those 2007 Public Roundtables can be accessed at the Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation’s AML Roundtable Meetings page. 

 As part of the Roundtable process, DEP is preparing a Comment and Response document to address comments received during the Roundtable process.  Look for a future Abandoned Mine Post announcement once that document is made available.

At the time of the roundtables, DEP explained that, after all of the public roundtables were completed, it would then hold Focus Group meetings with selected invitees to further discuss relevant topics that came up during the 2007 Title IV Roundtables. Focus groups were held between January and March 2008 to discuss the following topics:

• Construction/Contracting
• Permitting
• Private Property Access (Anthracite)
• AMD Remediation
• Water Lines

The meeting notes from each of those focus group sessions held this winter are now available online. Click here to go to the Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation’s website to view the focus group notes.

Upcoming Conferences:

• The 10th PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation and Coal Mining Heritage Conference will be held August 12-14th at the Ramada Inn and Conference Center in State College, PA. For more information and to register online, go to: www.treatminewater.com

• The 4th Annual West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Symposium – hosted by Trout Unlimited and the West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Coalition. This year’s event will be held on Friday and Saturday, July 18th - 19th, at the Nittany Lion Inn in State College. Registration is due by Friday, July 2nd — but please note that lodging reservations must be made at the Nittany Lion Inn before Tuesday, June 17th. Click here for registration information.

• The 36th annual meeting of the National Association of State Land
  Reclamationists (NASLR) will be held at the Seven Springs Mountain
  Resort and Conference Center in Champion, PA, September 14-17, 2008.
  Additional information about the conference can be found by going to http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/minres/BMR/BMRhome.htm

by Bruce Golden, Regional Coordinator and Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator

On behalf of the Pennsylvania Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference Planning Committee, we invite you to attend the 10th PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference to be held at the Ramada Inn and Conference Center in State College August 12 - 14, 2008.

This year, in addition to providing learning, sharing, and networking opportunities for those involved in Abandoned Mine Reclamation work, we’re proud to be doing something special to commemorate our 10th anniversary. We’ve added a new component focusing on Coal Mining Heritage and its preservation. We’ve noticed time and again that many of the same people who are committed to restoring the environment from the legacy problems from old coal mining are equally interested and involved in the history and culture of coal mining, especially as it involves their own communities.

The conference organizing committee, comprised of individuals personally committed to the reclamation of abandoned minelands and water– some professionals, some working at the grassroots level, welcomes seasoned reclamationists, preservationists, and interested newcomers to the 2008 Conference. The committee invites you to explore all of the opportunites afforded by the 2008 Conference including the chance to learn about what others are doing to preserve our Coal Mining Heritage.

To find out more about this year’s conference and to register online, go to the conference website, www.treatminewater.com. The registration process is a bit different than in years past in that you now have a suite of attendance options to choose from, in an a-la-carte manner, to match your individual need and budget.

For those needing financial assistance to attend the Conference, we have limited funding available to help. If you are a watershed group member, representing a community organization, an employee of a non-profit organization or academic institution, or other qualifying designation, you will have the option to apply for financial aid to attend the conference. With only a limited amount of financial aid funds available, the Conference Committee will do its best to ensure as many people as possible are able to obtain the financial assistance they need to attend. To help us with this goal, we only ask that those who are truly in need of financial aid ask for it.

The Ramada Inn and Conference Center in State College has set aside a block of rooms at a special Conference room rate of $81.38/night (with tax) for single or double rooms. This flat room rate is available until July 14, 2008. We suspect that guest rooms will fill up fast, so make your reservations early. Additional lodging and Ramada contact information is available on the Conference website.

Incidentally, for those who are interested in viewing Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) and Abandoned Mine Land (AML) sites and can never get enough, there will be an optional bus tour to AMD/AML sites in the State College/Philipsburg area to be held Monday August 11, 2008 at an additional cost. The bus tour will last from approximately Noon until 5:00pm.

We’re still hammering out the final details on speakers, etc. so, check back to the Conference website regularly.

Click here to go to the 2008 Conference website and register online.

Click on the “Play” button on the Player below to see an advertisement for the PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference.

by Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator

With summer just around the corner, most of us will be spending a lot more time outside. But, in the coal regions, land hazards left over from the days of unregulated mining can pose a serious threat to public safety. In this installment of WPCAMR Video Diaries, we visit a highwall reclamation site in Beaver County that combines public safety with water quality protection. 

Click on the play button on the player below to watch the video.