Federal Office Of Surface Mining Awards $150,000 Grant For Cambria County Mine Reclamation Project To Western PA Coalition For Abandoned Mine Reclamation

On October 5, the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement announced the award of $150,000 of a Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program grant to the Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation. 

WPCAMR, a nonprofit dedicated to reclaiming lands and streams polluted by historic coal mining in Western Pennsylvania, was awarded the WCAP grant to help fund the Victor #10 Abandoned Mine Discharge Pipeline Construction Project, located in West Carroll Township, Cambria County.  

System  improvements will contribute more than 78,000,000 gallons of clean water annually to the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay. 

“Healthy watersheds are essential for communities, supplying water for municipal, industrial, agricultural and recreational uses,” said OSMRE Regional Director Thomas Shope. “WCAP funds help restore watersheds that have been negatively impacted by abandoned mine lands and support citizen-based conservation in coal communities.”

WPCAMR will partner with the Cambria County Conservation District, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, the Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Abandoned Mines Reclamation, the PA Association of Conservation Districts Technical Office, Clean Streams Foundation, and several private landowners.

The project includes the construction of an underground pipe to collect and transport abandoned mine discharge to the existing 20 Mine treatment plant, where it will enter a series of ponds to remove the metals before entering the stream as clean water. 

This project will improve the water quality of approximately 1 mile of stream.

“People usually don’t associate abandoned mine drainage with the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay; yet there is significant AMD impact, especially in the upper reaches of the West Branch Susquehanna River,” said John Dryzal, district manager, Cambria County Conservation District. “The Victor #10 discharge is the first AMD discharge impacting the West Branch Susquehanna River. The Cambria County Conservation District investigated addressing this discharge over a decade ago, but treatment at that time was not feasible. Fast forward over 10 years, and we now have a viable treatment option that will contribute more than 78,000,000 gallons of clean water annually to the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay.”

OSMRE’s Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program provides funds to nonprofit organizations for the construction of acid mine drainage treatment facilities that help restore the health of local streams.

Click Here for the complete announcement.

Visit OSMRE’s Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program webpage to learn more about this program.

Visit DEP’s Abandoned Mine Reclamation webpage to learn more about mine reclamation in Pennsylvania.

(Photo: courtesy of Cambria County Conservation District.)

Statewide Conferences:

-- PA Statewide Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference Oct. 24-26 In Altoona [PaEN]

-- PA Statewide Watershed Conference Oct. 29-30 In Altoona [PaEN]

Related Articles:

-- Federal Office Of Surface Mining Provides $100,000 Grant To Schuylkill Headwaters Assn. To Treat Mine Drainage In Schuylkill County [PaEN]

-- Federal Office Of Surface Mining Reclamation Awards $100,000 Grant To Treat Acid Mine Drainage In Dunkard Creek Watershed, Greene County [PaEN]

-- Federal Office Of Surface Mining Reclamation Awards Sewickley Creek Watershed Assn. $100,000 Grant To Treat Acid Mine Drainage In Westmoreland County [PaEN]

[Posted: October 9, 2023]  PA Environment Digest