OSM NEWS
U. S. Department of the Interior        
Office of Surface Mining
For Release: October 13, 2000   Jerry Childress (202) 208-2719
                                               jchildre@osmre.gov 

         OSM FUNDS WEST VIRGINIA APPALACHIAN CLEAN STREAMS PROJECT
                UNDER WATERSHED COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROGRAM 

Kathrine L. Henry, Acting Director of the Interior Department’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and
Enforcement (OSM), has approved $41,885 in funding for an Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative project in
West Virginia. The project is funded under OSM’s Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program. 

Henry announced that the Lower West Fork Watershed Association, of Worthington, will receive $41,855 in
funding for the Nixon Run project near the village of Saltwell, in Harrison County.  

"Funding for local watershed groups like the Lower West Fork Watershed Association, 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."  

The Nixon Run project will construct a wet seal drain to treat an acid mine drainage (AMD) emitting
abandoned mine portal using pneumatically projected coarse limestone and perforated piping to treat and convey the AMD en route to Nixon’s Run. The abandoned mine emits AMD into Nixon’s Run, which flows to Shinn’s Run, a tributary of the Monongahela River.  

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, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee,
Virginia and West Virginia. 

                                            -OSM-