For Release: May 21, 1999                    Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719
                                        jchildre@osmre.gov
     
  OSM FUNDS TWO PENNSYLVANIA APPALACHIAN CLEAN STREAMS PROJECTS
        UNDER NEW WATERSHED COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROGRAM

     Kathy Karpan, Director of the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining
Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), today approved $160,000 in funding for two
Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative projects in Pennsylvania -- the first to be funded
under a new Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program, announced in January 1999.

     According to Karpan, the Headwaters Charitable Trust, Clarion County, PA, filed
the first two applications for funding under the new program, on behalf of the Mill Creek
Coalition, and the Little Toby Creek Watershed Association.  Each project will receive
$80,000 in funds which are designed to assist local organizations that undertake local
acid mine drainage (AMD) projects.

     "I applaud the hard work by the members of the Mill Creek Coalition and the
Little Toby Creek Watershed Association 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 these projects do just that,"
Karpan continued.  

     The Mill Creek Coalition is a multi-partner, watershed association formed in 1991
to clean up the sources of AMD in Mill Creek, a tributary of the Clarion River.  The
Coalition is one of the region's premier groups in watershed restoration, with several
AMD projects completed, or under construction.  

     OSM officials said that the new project will construct passive treatment systems
on five AMD discharges on the creek totaling 145 gallons per minute.  The $80,000 in
Clean Streams Watershed Cooperative Agreement funds supplement five other
construction funding sources, for a total project cost of $323,922.  The projects have
been designed, and bidding will start with the award of the Clean Streams funds.

     The Little Toby Creek Watershed Association is a multi-partner watershed group
that has been working to clean up the watershed for the past 30 years.  The
Association has successfully directed funding for projects from a number of sources to
the watershed.  Together, these projects are restoring 11 miles of Little Toby Creek to
trout fishing conditions, and significantly improving another 12 miles.

     The latest project calls for construction of passive treatment systems on two
AMD discharges totaling 300 gallons per minutes.  The Clean Streams Watershed
Cooperative Agreement funds supplement the total project costs of $204,375.  

     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-