Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation

EPCAMR is a small but impactful nonprofit based near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, that for 30 years has been devoted to improving landscapes and lives in our region's coal communities.

EPCAMR’s mission is to promote the reclamation and redevelopment of land affected by past coal mining practices. In short, get rid of those unsightly waste coal piles! And clean up those orange-colored creeks tainted by polluted mine water!

By helping to return ugly, mine-scarred lands to productive use, EPCAMR is eliminating many public health and safety risks while also improving Northeast Pennsylvania's economy -- and residents' quality of life!

OUR COMMUNITY IMPACTS

Since its founding in the mid-1990s, EPCAMR has ... 

• Helped to reclaim abandoned mine lands for productive reuse, for example, by overseeing a recent project to remove a gigantic waste coal pile from Swoyersville borough. The borough is now able to use that land for recreation fields.
• Designed, installed, and/or monitored dozens of treatment systems for abandoned mine drainage, reducing the water pollution that taints our creeks and rivers.
• Launched or supported more than 45 volunteer-run watershed organizations.
• Organized or collaborated in more than 80 illegal dumpsite and streamside cleanups, collecting nearly 7,500 vehicle tires and 357,000 pounds of trash.
• Scanned and digitized more than 20,000 paper coal mine maps, which can then be widely shared and used for purposes such as fine-tuning the state's Mine Subsidence Insurance Program.
• Provided hundreds of environmental education programs and watershed tours to children and adults, emphasizing the importance of protecting our water resources. 

OUR CORE ACTIVITIES

During a typical year, our organization ...

• Assists in large-scale projects to reclaim abandoned mine lands for productive reuse, which aids the region’s economy.
• Reduces the amount of mine-polluted water that enters the region’s streams, where it can discolor water, kill fish, and deprive people of recreational opportunities such as fishing and boating.
• Performs watershed assessments by analyzing water quality, chemistry, and flow.
• Provides professional services such as water quality monitoring and GIS mapping to local governments, watershed groups, other nonprofits, and businesses.
• Converts old coal mine maps into electronic versions that can be widely shared.
• Reclaims iron oxide, a pollutant commonly found in AMD, from area streams and process it into a pigment that can be used in artists’ paints, ceramic glazes, jewelry, and other creative expressions. People love to use our pigments for tie-dyed T-shirts!
• Beautifies communities by conducting cleanups of illegal dumpsites and planting native trees and flowers.
• Shares environmental education (STEM) lessons at festivals, schools, and other sites.

WHY US?

Yes, there are lots of great organizations to support. Few of them do the type of work EPCAMR tackles.

Other considerations:

• We play nice. EPCAMR has a long history of collaborating with project partners from the nonprofit, government, academic, and business sectors to accomplish our shared goals.
• Yikes! EPCAMR's traditional revenue sources have been disrupted. Grant funding for reclamation organizations has become increasingly uncertain in recent years. 
•  No billionaires have sent us a big check (yet). The legacy mining issues that EPCAMR seeks to correct were created over a span of 100 years or more by hundreds of thousands of people whose work helped to power America's Industrial Revolution. Cleaning up the unintended consequences of that industrial activity will take lots of time and plenty of people (of all income levels) pulling together. Please support our effort in the ways that are comfortable for you.
  

HELP EPCAMR & HEAL 'COAL COUNTRY'

You can support EPCAMR and help to uplift people and places in our coal communities through actions such as these:

• Volunteer to assist EPCAMR with field work or office tasks.
• Donate money or material goods. 
• Purchase iron oxide pigments or other items from EPCAMR’s online store.
• Contribute a major gift (cash, real estate, stock, etc.) to EPCAMR’s organizational endowment fund.
• Become a business sponsor of the annual Pennsylvania Abandoned Mine Reclamation Conference or other EPCAMR activity.
• Join EPCAMR as a lifetime member.
• Follow EPCAMR’s Facebook and social media accounts.

Thank you for reading this far -- and for your thoughtful consideration.

To learn more, visit www.epcamr.org.