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

For Release:  July 25, 2000             Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719
                              jchildre@osmre.gov
                                 
     OSM FUNDS PENNSYLVANIA APPALACHIAN CLEAN STREAMS PROJECT
        UNDER NEW WATERSHED COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROGRAM

     Kathrine L. Henry, Acting Director of the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM),has approved $80,000 in funding for an Appalachian
Clean Streams Initiative project in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.  The project is funded
under OSM's Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program.

     Henry announced that the Penn's Corner Charitable Trust will receive $80,000
in  funding to the Brinkerton acid mine drainage (AMD) site in the Sewickley Creek watershed.

     "Funding for local watershed groups like the Penn's Corner group through the
Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative is a top priority for OSM," Henry said.  "Local
groups are doing tremendous work to clean up acid mine drainage problems in their
own communities.  This year Congress provided us increased funding to assist local clean water
initiatives like these projects."

     A net alkaline discharge passive treatment system to abate  from an
abandoned underground mine complex will be installed at the Brinkerton site.  The discharge is
recognized as one of the worst dozen in Southwestern Pennsylvania.  Iron precipitate coats the
bottom of the creek for seven miles downstream, severely affecting aquatic life and limiting
recreational use of the creek by the public.  The project will divert the water through a series of
retention ponds with the goal of 90% reduction in the iron concentration.  Adjacent bottom land
for the treatment facility is owned either by the watershed group, or is in the process of being
purchased.

     Total cost for the project is $315,000.  The project has strong support from the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural
Resources Conservation Service, the Federal Energy Technology Center, Westmoreland County
Conservation District, the watershed association, and other local groups.

     As part of OSM's fiscal year 2000 Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative, 
$1,750,000 is available to fund cooperative agreements between OSM and 
not-for-profit groups, especially small watershed organizations, for local acid mine 
drainage 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-