OSM NEWS
U. S. Department of the Interior             
Office of Surface Mining 

For Release: July 2, 1999                         Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719
                                        jchildre@osmre.gov
     
     OSM FUNDS PENNSYLVANIA APPALACHIAN CLEAN STREAMS PROJECT
        UNDER NEW WATERSHED COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROGRAM

     Kathy Karpan, Director of the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), today approved $22,000 in funding for an Appalachian
Clean Streams Initiative project in Pennsylvania.  The project is be funded under OSM's
Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program, announced in January 1999.

     Karpan announced that the Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance will receive funds to
improve a source of acid mine drainage (AMD) in the Carbon Run tributary to Shamokin Creek
in Northumberland County.  The watershed is part of the Upper Susquehanna/Lackawanna
American Heritage River.  The project will be the first undertaken by the Alliance since its
formation about five years ago.  The State of Pennsylvania supports the project and is providing
technical support to the Alliance.     

     OSM officials said that the funds, which will be partnered with other federal, state and
local funds for a total project cost of $148,955, will be used to design and construct a passive
AMD treatment facility for a 277 gallons-per-minute discharge into Carbon Run.  When
completed, the project will help restore aquatic habitat in about four miles of Carbon Run, at the
headwaters of Shamokin Creek.       

     "I salute the hard work by groups such as the Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance to
find solutions for AMD in their communities.  These projects directly benefit the people who are
working to make their home towns better places to live," Karpan said.  "I have seen first hand the
effects of acid mine drainage on water quality and what local groups can do to make dramatic
improvements.  I was determined to find a way to help those who make a difference.  The
Watershed Cooperative Agreement program and these projects do just that," Karpan continued.  

     As part of OSM's  FY 1999 Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative, $750,000 is available
to fund cooperative agreements between OSM and not-for-profit groups, especially small
watershed organizations, for local AMD projects.  Eligible applicants are not-for-profit,
established organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status. Applicants must 
have other partners, contributing either funding or in-kind services. The partners must provide a
substantial portion of the total resources needed to complete the project.
                                 
     For this year, proposed  projects from the following Appalachian Clean Streams states are
eligible: Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

                              -OSM-

 





























                                                                                                                                                                                  
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