EPCAMR

EPCAMR has new AmeriCorps OSM/VISTA Volunteer on board

****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**** Contact: Robert Hughes, Executive Director. rhughes@epcamr.org 570-371-3523 Ashley, PA - August 30, 2010 - Wren Dugan to act as the Watershed Community Development Coordinator volunteer for the Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation for the next year. The Watershed Community Development Coordinator serves to enable EPCAMR’S success along with its supporting organizations by building public awareness and involvement through educational outreach and community revitalization projects. The volunteer position cost-shared between EPCAMR, the Corporation for National Service, and the Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team, under the direction of the Federal Office of Surface Mining, will also assist with water monitoring , watershed research, and developing projects necessary to help secure EPCAMR additional organizational funding to keep the small staff of two full-time and fully operational and self-sustaining. Wren holds a B.F.A. from Edinboro University of PA, where she served as Managing Editor of the internationally-award winning art and literary journal, allowing her to build experience with fundraising and events planning, and volunteer organization. With more than a decade of experience with educational programming for children and youth, her personal investment with family roots in Bradford County, and a passion for all things environmental make her an enthusiastic advocate for the reclamation of lands effected by abandoned mine drainage. Robert Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director stated, “With Wren’s skills in fundraising, marketing, and previous work with children and youth, we feel that she is going to bring those sets of much needed assets to our organization over the next year to help us move forward, during these economic hard times when finding funds, in the non-profit world, are hard to come by.” Robert went on to say, “EPCAMR has just recently begun to update our strategic plan for our organization looking forward three to five years down the road, and Wren is coming in at a time when her ability to help us sort out some of those strategic implementation goals and objectives are going to crucial to the future success of our organization’s development.” In June 2011, EPCAMR will be celebrating its’ 15th year of existence as a regional non-profit environmental organization that has become a state-wide leader in the fight to reclaim abandoned mine lands and to restore streams impacted by abandoned mine drainage. “Wren is going to be able fulfill the role of that third full-time staff person that will be able to help us put together our first 15th Anniversary Dinner and Fundraiser, before her term of service is up next August”, Robert stated. Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation is a non-profit organization that reclaims abandoned mine lands through partnerships today for a cleaner environment tomorrow.

An Insiders Guide to the 2010 Joint Mining Reclamation Conference

by Anne Daymut, WPCAMR Watershed Coordinator The 12th Annual PA Abandoned Mine Reclamation (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 (ARRI) Mined Land Reforestation Conference. The 2010 Joint Mining Reclamation Conference, to be held June 5 - 10, with a post conference site tour on June 11, at the Radisson in Greentree, PA , will interest participants on national, regional, and local levels and we encourage everyone in Pennsylvania's AMR community to attend this very unique event. In case you are wondering how your watershed and reclamation efforts fit into this large-scale conference, we thought it might be helpful show you some of the highlights and give you some tips to reduce the cost of your trip. Here is how to make the most of your 2010 Conference experience. Have Fun While Networking. This year, we are offering networking opportunities like never before. On the evening of Tuesday, June 8 the Three Rivers Boat Cruise will depart from Station Square, Pittsburgh, upon which the PA AMR Conference's coveted Mayfly Award will be presented. For a mere $60, enjoy the live music of Mike Gallagher and Kiski-Conemaugh Stream Team, Reckner will address the key successes of the watershed movement in Pennsylvania and the importance of partnerships with science and industry in the progression of the movement. On an individual level, you can interact with industry, other watershed groups, and environmental professionals throughout the conference to build lasting partnerships. Learn Something New. With such a wide variety of topics offered this year you may find it difficult to decide which presentations and discussions are right for you. Those who typically attend the PA AMR Conference will most likely be interested in the Science, Community, and Reclamation (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. Don't be afraid, however, to sit in on a presentation from one of the other tracks, including a panel discussion on AMD treatment options and getting the most out of your AMD treatment system. The full schedule will be posted at http://www.pghminingreclamationconf.com/ by the end of the week. Check back daily. Reduce the Cost of Your Trip. We have several suggestions to help make your attendance more affordable. * Register for the Full Conference and Register Early. How can spending money also save you money you ask? Well, each day of the conference costs $100 but the full conference rate is only $270 before May 10 (a savings of $130). Students and non-profits get a reduced rate of $135 (a savings of $265, that is 66% off regular registration). After May 10 the daily rate will be $125 and full registration will be $325. There is no deadline for the reduced non-profit rate. * Book your room early. This is one of the most expensive areas in the Pittsburgh area. Fortunately, the Radisson Conference Center is offering a special room rate until May 22. See details below. * Many meals are included in the registration fee. Full registration includes the Sunday evening reception; breakfast, lunch, poster session with beverages, and the ASMR awards banquet on Monday; breakfast and lunch on Tuesday; and breakfast and lunch on Wednesday. * Find a Roommate. Maybe you have a friend that is attending that might enjoy saving some money. Or maybe you would like to make a new friend. WPCAMR staff might be able to hook you up with registrants who would be willing to share a room. * Carpool. Chances are someone from your area or along your route is attending. WPCAMR staff can hook you up with other registrants who are willing to carpool. What a great way to do more networking! * Apply for a Scholarship. If after you have made all of the above considerations and you find that you still need financial help to attend, scholarships will be made on a reimbursement basis to Pennsylvania non-profit representatives and Conservation District employees. The amount of reimbursement will be based on need and amount of requests received. A scholarship application will be available in a few days at www.treatminewater.com/scholarship10.htm. 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.PghMiningReclamationConf.com to register, get the most up-to-date schedules, and other details to plan your trip * Financial assistance to attend the conference is available to those in need. Please be aware that financial assistance will only be granted as a reimbursement to Pennsylvania non-profit and Conservation District representatives. You must first pay for the conference and then ask for reimbursement. * You don't have to attend the Conference to go on the Boat Cruise and you may pay separately the day of the event. * Special conference room rate of $108.00 per night plus tax ($15.12) will be offered 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.

Pennsylvania Ave Cleanup Results

Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation Wyoming Valley Watershed PRIDE (People Reaching Into Dumps Everyday) Cleanup Results Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR) has completed another cleanup! With the help of 26 volunteers on two Saturday morning cleanups (3/20 & 3/27), EPCAMR has cleaned up a 5.78 acre area along Pennsylvania Ave. and High Street in Wilkes-Barre. In this area we collected and disposed of more than 4.5 tons of municipal solid wastes (plastic and glass bottles, plastic bags, shopping carts, TV’s, air conditioners, children’s toys and strollers, mattresses, furniture, bicycles, etc.). This garbage alone filled a 40 cubic yard roll-off dumpster higher than the brim. Wilkes-Barre City offered assistance by taking almost another ton of recyclable waste (steel woven cables, and various metal objects) to a scrap yard, and 44 tires to a recycler. Pictures are available on our EPCAMR Facebook Fan site Cleanups Photo Album. Your browser may not support display of this image. EPCAMR would like to thank our volunteers, many of whom were King’s College and Wilkes University students who were members of their respective higher education’s Environmental Clubs, for donating their Saturday mornings and Wilkes-Barre City for providing Public Works workers, and the use of a pickup truck and front-end loader to help out. Petroleum Service Company, Wilkes-Barre Housing Authority, and Luzerne County Rail & Redevelopment Corporation granted us permission to enter their properties, Louis Cohen and Sons (Fellow’s Ave., Hanover Twp.) for providing the dumpster, and OnSite Portable Toilets (Sugarloaf) for a restroom facility for the volunteers. We would like to thank the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority for donating six cases of spring water, and a deal with Jones’ Pizza & Pub (Hazle St. in Wilkes-Barre) for donating pizzas to replenish the volunteers after their hard work. EPCAMR received a $16,000 grant from the PA Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Waste Management in April 2009. The non-profit has partnered with dozens of local community groups to secure the funding to work on multiple locations throughout the Wyoming Valley and has a 12 year history of conducting community cleanups throughout the Anthracite Region. Also, PA CleanWays has been a partner with EPCAMR over the years and has provided educational materials to community residents to prevent future dumping incidents from occurring. PA DOT provides gloves and garbage bags. Within the next few months EPCAMR, with the valued help of volunteers, will be ridding Luzerne County of trash, tires, garbage, household wastes, demolition debris, and other discarded items located at several illegal dump sites throughout the Wyoming Valley. The majority of the dumping that goes on in local community open spaces, where apathy is high, access to sites is unlimited, and policing of the sites is virtually non-existent. There needs to be a change the mindset of local residents that illegal dumping will not be tolerated. Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director emphatically stated, “We don’t accept the mentality that it is alright to dump garbage wherever you want just because the landscape has already been scarred by mining. We’re trying to teach our children that this is unacceptable and a quality of life issue for our residents, their health, their children’s future, and the environment. EPCAMR would like to promote the PA CleanWays Adoption Program with local governments and community groups to establish additional signs and cameras to make dumpers more aware that people are becoming more vigilant and on guard in the future.” EPCAMR would like to recruit additional volunteers for future cleanups to increase our volunteer base within the Wyoming Valley and other restoration projects in various communities to build upon our earlier successes. If you would like to offer a hand, contact Leigh Ann Kemmerer or Robert E. Hughes to learn how to sign up and get notified of more details. Cleanup dates will be scheduled on Saturdays until the end of June 2010. Volunteers can expect to work for at least a 4 hour shift to assist with any of the cleanups. Get more details on www.orangewaternetwork.org or EPCAMR’s Facebook page. Just search EPCAMR on Facebook to become a fan.

88 Growing Greener Projects Will Improve the Economic and Environmental Health

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA Dept. of Environmental Protection Commonwealth News Bureau Room 308, Main Capitol Building Harrisburg PA., 17120 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 04/5/2010 CONTACT: Tom Rathbun, DEP 717-787-1323 DEP: 88 Growing Greener Projects Will Improve the Economic and Environmental Health of Pennsylvania HARRISBURG -- Addressing some of Pennsylvania’s most pressing environmental challenges, the Department of Environmental Protection today announced more than $16.5 million in Growing Greener funding for projects that will clean state waterways, restore stream banks, prevent flooding, reclaim mine-scarred lands and reduce pollution. “During the past seven years, Pennsylvania’s Growing Greener program has delivered more than $237 million to local communities to improve the quality of our waterways, address serious environmental problems at mine sites and make communities more livable,” said Secretary John Hanger. “Growing Greener has also sparked economic redevelopment by providing the tools and funding needed to tackle tough environmental issues and restore the state’s natural resources.” The funding awarded today includes $12.6 million in Watershed and Flood Protection grants and $3.9 million in federal funding for Non-Point Source Pollution Control grants. Grants range in size from $6,145 to the Cameron County Conservation District to address invasive species and repair riparian buffers along the Sinnemahoning Creek to $664,500 to the Schuylkill Headwaters Association to design and construct a system to treat the 1.7 million gallon-per-day discharge of mine drainage from the Mary D Borehole into the Schuylkill River. More than 1,300 Growing Greener Grants have been awarded since 2003. These grants have funded new and innovative drinking water/wastewater treatment systems, dam improvements, open space acquisition, repairs and upgrades of fish hatcheries, wildlife habitat development, acid mine drainage abatement, industrial site revitalization, community parks and recreation projects, acid mine discharge treatment, abandoned mine reclamation, watershed protection, and advanced energy projects through Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority. The funds are distributed to non-profit organizations, watershed groups and county and municipal governments to address local and regional water quality issues. A complete list and descriptions of the Growing Greener grants announced today by DEP may be found online at: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/growing_greener/13958/watershed_grants/588895

PA Watershed Summit 2010

Saturday, May 1, 2010 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Ramada Inn Conference Center State College, PA Please join the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, the PA Department of Environmental Protection, and the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University in promoting the health and future of Pennsylvania’s waterways on Saturday, May 1, 2010. Citizens from all walks of Pennsylvania’s watershed community will have the opportunity to share their expertise and wisdom, as well as learn from peers. Participants will include community watershed organizations, Trout Unlimited chapters, and sportsmen’s groups, along with environmental professionals from conservation districts, government agencies, academia, and consulting firms. On Saturday, May 1, the Summit will begin at 8:20 a.m., with one of our keynote speakers. There will be eight breakout sessions, each of which will be offered twice during the morning and will focus on the areas of organizational development and technical assistance. The Organizational Track will cover topics relating to board development, community engagement, and financial opportunities and diversity. The Technical Track will offer information on Datashed, volunteer monitoring, available resources for community watershed organizations, and the current issues surrounding Marcellus Shale gas well drilling. Our second keynote speaker will present after lunch. Attendees will then work together to prioritize their expectations for the incoming Governor of Pennsylvania and meet the newest allies in the efforts to renew Growing Greener. Please come early to enjoy our Friday evening reception featuring appetizers, a cash bar, and opportunities to network with colleagues and other professionals in the display area. For more information and registration please visit http://pawatershedsummit2010.wordpress.com/

Dominion & the Western PA Conservancy Award EPCAMR $500

AMD Environmental Education Outreach Programs Targeted for Tioga & Lycoming County Schools in the Northern Tier (Ashley, PA)—EPCAMR was chosen as 1 of 68 proposals within Dominion’s service area in the Northern Tier to help support our AMD Environmental Education Programs to be able to reach students in Tioga and Lycoming Counties who live in watersheds impacted by AMD. Hands-on programming about watersheds, AMD impacts, community volunteerism, recycling of iron oxide, monitoring water quality of local streams, and education on local solutions to treat mine drainage will be discussed in the classrooms. EPCAMR will present our AMD Chalk Talk, Tie Dye, and Comedy Skit Educational Programs built upon the already popular AMD Avengers vs. The Pollution Posse Activity/Coloring book created several years ago by the EPCAMR Staff. EPCAMR Staff will be attending an awards ceremony to receive a $500 check and join a luncheon on Thursday, April 8th, 2010 at the Chestnut Ridge Resort, Blairsville, PA to be recognized and to provide the staff with networking opportunities with other award winners. The event will also offer a workshop designed to assist the management of non-profit organizations as a bonus training experience. The funds will go towards educational material supply costs and travel to get to the Northern reaches of our service area. “The ability to obtain grant funds and material supplies to be able to travel 2.5 hours north to conduct our environmental education programs is a need that EPCAMR currently has limited our ability to reach even further into the Bituminous Coal Region,” stated Robert E. Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director. “This funding will allow us to conduct a few more programs that we might not otherwise have been able to do in this area. The Northern Tier is a beautiful place to visit and work with the students. Our work over the years with Blossburg Elementary and many of the community groups in the Northern Tier has been successful, however, we wish we had more travel funds to be able to make the drive more often,” regretted Mr. Hughes. EPCAMR will partner with its regional partners in the Northern Tier to introduce the AMD Education Programs to some of the elementary schools in the area with the help of the Carey Entz, Lycoming County Conservation District Watershed Specialist, who supported our application and is currently working with a local watershed association on Larry’s Creek that is impacted by AMD, and other groups like the Tioga County Concerned Citizens organization, Blossburg Rod & Gun Club, Tioga River Watershed Reclamation, Inc., who work in the Tioga River watershed. EPCAMR Staff will coordinate with these regional partners to network with the local schools to be able to come and provide several programs to students from 4-7th grade. Financial support for this project is provided by the Dominion Foundation, which is dedicated to the economic, physical, and social health of communities served by Dominion companies. The grant program is being administered by the Western PA Conservancy in commitment to its core mission of conserving PA’s diverse ecosystems through science-based strategy, leadership, and collaboration. ###

WBACTC FFA RECEIVES LIVING TO SERVE GRANT

The national FAA organization recently awarded more than $400,000 in rural youth development grants to 65 FFA chapters across the country including the chapter at the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center. $4,000 was awarded to Mrs. Janice Leiby's horticulture class to fund their "Avondale Community Garden Project". On September 6, 1869 a mine fire killed 110 miners at Avondale, near Plymouth. The WBACTC is in partnership with the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation to implement the plan along the Susquehanna Warrior Trail located in Plymouth Township. The grants are administered by USDA'S National Institute for Food and Agriculture through the national FAA organization. The FAA's mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agriculture education.
Pictured here are: Mr. Frank Majikes, WBACTC principal, Keith Konze, Percell Wilson, Samantha Shotto, Mr. Peter Halesey WBACTC acting director, Robert Hughes, EPCAMR Executive Director , Mrs. Janice Leiby, advisor, Micheal Hewitt, EPCAMR Program Manager, Leigh Ann Kemmerer, EPCAMR Illegal Dumpsite Clean-Up coordinator

Intern to Instill PRIDE into the Wyoming Valley coordinating cleanups

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12-8-09 CONTACT INFORMATION: Leigh Ann Kemmerer, Illegal Dump Site Cleanup Specialist-570-371-3522 Intern to Instill PRIDE into the Wyoming Valley coordinating cleanups EPCAMR would like to welcome Leigh Ann Kemmerer, a recent graduate of King’s College, Wilkes-Barre, PA, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science. As a student, Leigh Ann completed a variety of courses ranging from Ecological Statistics, Wildlife Ecology and Management, to Ecotoxicology. Many of the courses were hands-on performing fish population surveys, electrofishing, and benthic macroinvertebrate sampling. She was also a two year member of the Environmental Club at King’s. She recently completed an internship with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission assisting with various projects utilizing state and federal protocols for water quality sampling, biological, habitat assessment surveys, and launching/retrieving remote monitoring devices on watersheds close to Harrisburg impacted by sedimentation and storm water runoff and on the E. Branch Fishing Creek, Columbia County on acid deposition. Leigh Ann contributed to the development of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) dealing with acid deposition. She also spent three months studying abroad in Queensland, Australia, a few years ago, doing a range of research techniques in a highly fragmented and endangered mountain-forest ecosystem. The research contributed to long term goals that are major factors in rehabilitation projects in that region. Leigh Ann previously interned with the Luzerne Conservation District where she completed a Wetlands Delineation Course with the Army Corps. Much of her time was spent with private consultant engineers on inspections with other District Staff in the Erosion and Sediment Control Department, assisted with stream bank assessments and stream corridor damage due to severe flooding occurrences in 2006, and assisted with several workshops including installing backyard wildlife habitats and pond installations. She also had previously provided volunteer support to EPCAMR during an AMD tour in Luzerne County with youth from the Children’s Service Center from Wilkes-Barre that had not been previously exposed to many outdoor areas throughout the Wyoming Valley. Along with fellow interns, she harvested iron oxide from several AMD sites to use in an EPCAMR Anthrascapes AMD Art Exhibit and for educational outreach programs, including tie dye t-shirts and chalk. Robert Hughes, Executive Director enthusiastically stated, “Leigh Ann comes to EPCAMR with a background that is sufficient for any intern to enjoys the outdoors, who already has a familiarity with abandoned mine drainage, is someone who doesn’t mind mucking around in orange water and getting her hands dirty, and enjoys spending time with our area youth educating them on water quality and ways in which they can help through volunteer efforts, such as community cleanups.” Leigh Ann will be designated as the Illegal Dump Site Cleanup Specialist intern for the Winter and early Spring 2010 working 10-15 hours a week helping EPCAMR to plan for the Spring 2010 Cleanups once the snow and ice recede. She will be seeking community volunteers, neighborhood groups, and college students from the Wyoming Valley to participate in these future cleanups. She’ll be preparing press releases, seeking grant opportunities, and working to put together a small display on illegal dumping on abandoned mine lands and the hazards it presents, working with our state-wide partners, PA Cleanways and the PA Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Waste Management. “I look forward to helping clean up the Wyoming Valley and exposing as many people as possible to the beauty of our area as a reason why history should not be repeated. Keeping garbage out of our streams, keeps future generations safer in our scenic part of Pennsylvania.”

Art sculpture exhibition to be held in Pioneer Coal Mine

The WYSO Foundation in association with the Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine and Train Tour is excited to exhibit a selection of original sculptures in the coal mine. The art show will be exhibited through the month of September 2009 and may very well be the first art sculpture exhibition to be held in a coal mine. On September 23 @ 6PM WYSO Foundation curator, Steven Lichak, will be there to provide some insight. Schedule: Weekday Mine Tours -11 AM, 12:30 PM & 2 PM. Weekend Train & Mine Tours Continuous, 10 AM - 6 PM. Last Train Ride- 5:00 PM, last Weekend Mine Tour- 5:30 PM. Call 570-875-3850 or 570-875-3301 or visit The Pioneer Coal Mine and Train Tour Website for more details.

STAGE IS SET FOR EPCAMRs AMD AVENGERS TO BE AN INTERACTIVE COMEDY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact Robert E. Hughes-EPCAMR for details 570-371-3523 September 2, 2009 STAGE IS SET FOR EPCAMR’s AMD AVENGERS AND POLLUTION POSSE TO BECOME AN INTERACTIVE THEATRICAL COMEDY AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION SKIT AT GREATER NANTICOKE AREA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (Nanticoke, PA) EPCAMR has once again been able to secure a PA Partners in the Arts Grant Program from the PA Council on the Arts and the Scranton Area Foundation to support our environmental education and outreach to local schools on mining impacts in our region. EPCAMR was recently informed that our application for funding was approved for $1408, around half of what was originally requested, nevertheless, a substantial amount to assist us with the development of a theatrical comedy skit and performance involving 4th grade students that will educate them on abandoned mines, anthracite coal, water pollution, mine drainage, land reclamation, and the work of EPCAMR to restore our watersheds and reclaim our land previously impacted by mining. The funds will be used for set and costume designs. Props will be used and created to enhance and make the students more aware, symbolically, of the meanings and representations of various themes of the skit. A project will be purchased to project large colorful pictures of mine drainage, coal mines, mine water, fossils, volcanoes, geologic eras, dinosaurs, swamps, and other images of abandoned mines and real people in our communities making a difference to clean up our environment. A mini-microphone system will be used to narrate the skit and a fog machine will add a fun and cool element of swamp bogs during the times of the dinosaurs to the stage. EPCAMR will probably be looking for a sponsor to help us print up a booklet similar to a PLAYBILL to introduce the audience to the students, their roles, parts, and EPCAMR. EPCAMR will be receiving its grant award along with other 2009 grant recipients at a celebration and media event on Thursday, September 17 , 20009, at 5:00PM at The Scranton Cultural Center’s Masonic Temple, in downtown Scranton. The project will entail the creation of backdrops and set designs based on EPCAMR’s hugely popular AMD Activity Book, “The AMD Avengers vs. The Pollution Posse”. The skit will bring nearly 30 pages from the Activity Book to life on stage. EPCAMR is going to partner with the Greater Nanticoke Area 4th Grade Elementary Class to cast its first production. It is anticipated that it can then be taken to other school districts and potentially nature camps, and performed as a part of our environmental education and outreach programs. Many students will get to become actresses and actors for the skit. The idea is to engage and involve the student body audience as well with interactive role playing and decision making processes based on educational activities and learning experiences contained with the Activity Book. The students will get to read lines, narrate, act, act silly, come up with impromptu mannerisms for the characters in the Activity Book and make people laugh. There are several interactive games that will be incorporated into the skit used by EPCAMR in many outdoor field settings in the past. We are hoping to do a dress rehearsal before school lets out in the Summer, possibly for the student body, and maybe at the Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, if the space is available. A play book for the production will be produced by the students of the Greater Nanticoke Elementary 4th Grade as well. EPCAMR is reaching out to The Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, Arts YOUniverse, Costumes by Barbara, Bloomsburg University’s Drama Department, and the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble for volunteer assistance and guidance in creating the unique and creative set designs, backdrops, props, and costume designs. We are also going to encourage the parents to get involved by helping their children create some of the small props that will be assigned to them as a part of the set designs that EPCAMR will be building and creating. EPCAMR hopes to teach the students how to artistically express themselves, make fun of themselves, and create a fun and educational learning atmosphere based on the combination of art, science, the environment, and local mining history. EPCAMR will evaluate the project by having the students fill out a questionnaire towards the end of the project as to whether or not they enjoyed the experience and learned significantly more information about the impacts of abandoned mines in their community as a result of our program. EPCAMR is targeting the underserved school districts in Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties for the effort and are hoping to expand it into the region once all of the bugs are worked out of the skit. Robert emphasized, “The Greater Nanticoke Elementary School District has always been receptive to any grants or educational programs that EPCAMR could bring to its students over the last 5 years or more, whether it was AMD Tie Dye T-shirts, creating Iron Oxide Chalk, or Watershed Education Tours on AMD. Dr. Scott, one of the school’s principals has always welcomed EPCAMR into its school district with open arms and has been very accommodating to scheduling the programs with EPCAMR. The teachers that we’ve worked with over the years really have enjoyed our Programs and seem to like having us come back from year to year. I can’t see them turning down another great opportunity to continue to educate the students in our community when mine drainage is the worst pollution problem the entire school district is surrounded by in the Newport and Nanticoke Creek watersheds.” State government funding for the arts depends upon an annual appropriation by the Commonwealth of PA and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. PPA is administered in this region by the Scranton Area Foundation.