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 Cliff Denholm, Stream Restoration, Inc.

(Editor’s Note:  Stream Restoration Inc. (SRI) is a non-profit organization whose mission focuses on the restoration of streams impacted by abandoned coal mine drainage.  SRI is located in Mars, PA.)

As many of you may already be aware, a partnership effort has been organized to conduct two water quality snapshots of all the publicly-funded passive treatment systems located within Pennsylvania.  This snapshot will consist of collecting water samples for laboratory analysis as well as measuring selected field parameters.  The samples will be collected for the raw untreated AMD, the final effluent of the passive system, and the influent and effluent of every alkalinity-generating component such as ALDs, VFPs, SAPS, etc., as feasible.

The first snapshot is planned to take place over the next couple of months (August and September 2009).  The second snapshot is planned to take place in late winter/early spring (March, April, May 2010).  The monitoring will be conducted by a team consisting of individuals from PA DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation (BAMR), Stream Team, PA Senior Environmental Corps, Mill Creek Coalition, Babb Creek Watershed Association, Broadtop Township, and Stream Restoration Incorporated.  Funding for the snapshot is through a PA DEP Growing Greener Grant obtained by the Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (WPCAMR).

Data from the snapshot will be made publicly available via Datashed http://www.datashed.org/ which is a free, web-based database designed to assist in the management of data related to passive treatment systems and stream monitoring for watershed groups, nonprofits, academia, government agencies and anyone else interested in passive treatment.  In addition to the water monitoring data from this snapshot event, information regarding these passive systems, which has been collected by PA DEP BAMR over the last year including existing water quality data, site schematics, as-builts, information forms, etc. will be uploaded to Datashed.  An account is not necessary to view any of this data; however, if you would like to be able to upload your own data, documents, and information you can get an account very easily by contacting Cliff Denholm or Shaun Busler at Stream Restoration Inc. 724-776-0161.
We have tried to include as many email addresses of watershed organizations as we could however there were many that we could not find.  So please feel free to forward this announcement to watershed groups that you know.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this sampling event please contact Cliff Denholm at Stream Restoration Incorporated. Telephone: 724-776-0161, Email:
sri@streamrestorationinc.org

Watershed Cooperative Agreement Update

By Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator

There are very hopeful signs coming out of Washington, D.C.  The reinsertion of language into the Federal Appropriations Bill allowing the Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program (WCAP) funding to be used as match for other federal grants has been made in both the House of Representatives and Senate versions.  This is very positive news.  As you’ll recall, WCAP is a grant program administered by the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) providing secondary funding to AMD treatment system projects.  The bill is now in conference which means that the House and Senate are hammering out the final details.  We don’t anticpate any further modifications, but as Yogi Berra has said, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”  WPCAMR will continue to monitor this process and we’ll keep you informed of developments as we learn of them. WPCAMR is proud to be among several groups that advocated for this action to be taken.

by Andy McAllister, Watershed Coordinator

Do you have a stream that you think has improved due to a pollution abatement project? If you do, we need your help. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Non-point Source Program has enlisted the aid of WPCAMR to help them find those improved streams.

The information you provide will assist PA DEP biologists in their efforts to target specific streams for a biological reassessment. If the stream or a segment of the stream has indeed improved, PA DEP could consider it for removal from the list of impaired waterways in the Commonwealth.

The list of impaired waters (formerly known as the 303(d) list) is now part of what is called the “Integrated List”. Impaired waters are those waterways that are not meeting their “designated use”, in other words, the biological community in those streams is adversely affected by AMD, sediment, or any number of other pollutants.

Designated uses are those uses specified in the state’s water quality standards for each water body or segment whether or not they are being attained. An example of a designated use in Pennsylvania is “CWF”, meaning a Cold Water Fishery, capable of sustaining a healthy cold water biological community (eg. a stream where trout can live and reproduce).

Removal of a stream or stream segment from the impaired waters list is a concrete way of showing that pollution reduction projects are having a positive impact on our streams.

If you think you have a stream or a segment of a stream that was impaired and is now not, we invite you to share what you know by filing out the information form at the WPCAMR “Improved PA Streams” page. By sharing your information, you can help direct state efforts to locate recovered streams.