OSM NEWS
U. S. Department of the Interior
Office of Surface Mining
 
For Release: August 12, 1999                 Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719
                                        jchildre@osmre.gov
     
       OSM FUNDS INDIANA 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 $44,762 in funding for an Appalachian
Clean Streams Initiative project in Indiana.  The project will be funded under OSM's Watershed
Cooperative Agreement Program, announced in January 1999.

     Karpan announced that the Patoka South Fork Watershed Group, will receive funding for
its Enos Run Project which will eliminate an old abandoned aircraft landing strip. Drainage from
the strip which was constructed from coal refuse in the 1940's, flows into Rough Creek, a
tributary of the South Fork of the Patoka River.         

     "I have visited the Patoka South Fork Watershed twice during the past year and saw how
the residents are dedicated to make their community a better place to live," Karpan said.  "Acid
mine drainage can have devastating effects on water quality and the Patoka South Fork
Watershed Group is working hard to find solutions.  I was determined to find a way to help those
who make a difference.  The Watershed Cooperative Agreement program and this project does
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 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-