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

For Release: August 18, 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 $68,000 in funding for an Appalachian
Clean Streams Initiative project in Pennsylvania.  The project is to be funded under OSM's
Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program, announced in January 1999.

     Karpan announced that AMD/ART, will receive funds to construct a passive treatment
system to treat the Vintondale discharge. The discharge is a source of acid mine drainage (AMD)
which flows at 200 gallons per minute into Blacklick Creek, in Indiana County.  The site is near a
hiking/bike trail and is very accessible for educational and recreational purposes.       

     "I am gratified by the hard work by groups like AMD/ART to find solutions for acid mine
drainage 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 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-