WPCAMR Quarterly Meeting

Welcome / Introductions

Robert Eppley welcomed all in attendance. The minutes from the last meeting were distributed. A motion to accept the minutes was made by Greg Phillips and was seconded by LeeRoy Vatter. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report

Greg Phillips gave the Treasurer’s Report. A motion to accept the Treasurer’s report and file for audit was made by LeeRoy Vatter and was seconded by Jim Panaro. Motion carried.

Presentations

Don Budeit and Jim Oliver from Environmental Solutions, Inc. presented “The Use and Economics of the Maelstrom Oxidizer for Treating Alkaline Mine Discharges.” The maelstrom oxidizer is a device used to quickly and economically saturate an alkaline mine discharge with dissolved oxygen. By doing so, the surface area of sedimentation ponds used to collect iron precipitates can be dramatically reduced, translating into substantially less land requirements, and lower engineer costs. The program AMDTreat was used to compare costs of the maelstrom oxidizer approach with that of the traditional sedimentation pond only approach. The program showed that substantial savings accrue in the design and engineering phase and throughout the lifetime of the system with operations and maintenance costs.

Sara Tumulty presented “AMD and Your Community.” With funding from a Growing Greener grant, Sara has developed a presentation and resource guide for educating local decision makers about AMD. The resource guide is now available for WPCAMR’s conservation districts and watershed associations.

Watershed Coordinator’s Report

Bruce Golden gave the watershed coordinator’s report for Deb Simko, who could not attend.

The four Passing Go workshops in the southwest are complete and those watershed associations participating are now eligible for a grant from Canaan Valley Institute. Deb will be helping conduct workshops in the northwest region in 2004.

The RWSI grant is now complete for the fifth year. Funding for a sixth year is still unknown.

WPCAMR did not receive a Growing Greener grant for the formation of the alliance. Deb will hold one final steering committee meeting. She is looking for comments on where to go from here with the alliance.

Deb has been appointed to the Ohio River Basin committee for the Water Resources Committee. Ron Rohall, Marie Clark, Dick Lehman, Bob Ritchey, and Hank Webster have also been appointed. The next meeting is December 8, 2003 at 10am at the Donohoe Center in Greensburg and is open to the public.

Deb presented at the Brownfield Workshop in Titusville. The Brownsfield Legislation now allows grant money to be used for mine-scarred lands.

Deb has nominated the Headwaters of the Ohio River as an endangered river for 2004 to American Rivers.

Gob Pile II Update

Jennifer Demchak has been hired as a consultant to continue with the gob pile project. She is narrowing down the gob pile candidates for removal in hopes of realizing the removal of several piles.

Growing Greener Grant – Revisiting 18 WPCAMR Projects

WPCAMR has received a Growing Greener grant in the amount of $10,000 to revisit WPCAMR’s 18 treatment systems. Ron Horansky is the advisor on that project.

Beneficial Use of Flyash Brochure

WPCAMR would like to print a brochure on the beneficial use of CFB flyash. WPCAMR is seeking funding of approximately $3,000 to print 5,000 copies of the brochure.

2004 AMR Conference Planning

The sixth annual AMR Conference will occur June 9-12, 2004 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, PA. The first two days will have a technical emphasis geared at professionals, while and the final two days will be geared toward watershed associations. Abstracts are now being accepted for presenters for the technical conference. WPCAMR will have the opportunity to present two to three awards at the conference to recognize outstanding watershed groups.

Reports from Conservation Districts, Agencies, Watershed Associations, and Guests

Robert Eppley asked all in attendance to introduce themselves, and then each gave reports on activities and upcoming events in their conservation districts.

Consider Amendment to Bylaws Limiting Personal Liability of Directors

Bruce suggested that an addition is made to WPCAMR’s by-laws to include an amendment limiting personal liability of directors similar to that of Mountain Watershed Association. The issue was tabled until the next meeting due to low attendance at the meeting. Bruce will send out a letter about the issues to the conservation districts prior to the next meeting. Bob Eppley suggested seeking a pro bono attorney to help with such issues.

AMR Trust Fund Legislation Update

Bruce told the group that movement has happened toward reauthorization of Title IV of SMCRA, not all necessarily good from news garnered through the AMRF workgroup, headed by Tim Schaeffer of PEC. It appeared that Wyoming Congresswoman Cubin and West Virginia Congressman Rahall have introduced an amendment to the Energy Bill now working its way through Congress to extend Title IV for 15 years. Other provisions would eliminate RAMP funding and increase the historical allocation from 10% to 20%, and to cut the fee collected on each ton of coal mined by 20%. Also provisions to exclude priority 3 funding and eliminate the general welfare provision of priority 2 funding were made, effectively eliminating water related problems from funding. However, the 10% set-aside is still in place. Overall, it was felt the amendment is inferior than the current legislation for PA’s interests. Action on the Energy Bill was expected soon, but information has been very hard to come by.

NAAMLP Annual Meeting

Bruce attended the National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs annual meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. He noted that the information available at the conference regarding the reauthorization of Title IV of SMCRA was very much in synch with the information gained by our local workgroup headed by Tim Schaeffer of PEC. Bruce singled out two new technologies presented at the meeting, one by Environmental Solutions which presented the technology and economics of the maelstrom oxidizer, and another by the engineering firm Arcadis, which described in situ methodologies for treating AMD for mine pools and coal refuse piles. The process effectively reverses the oxidizing conditions responsible for AMD creation by changing conditions to a reducing environment whereby the pollutants are reverted to something similar to the original sulfides. Sulfate reducing bacteria is used to maintain the reducing conditions. Bob Eppley added that Arcadis may be employing this technology in a potential project in the Blacklick Creek watershed, where a flooded deep mine and prodigious AMD producer may be treated.

Providing Sampling Assistance to Watershed Associations for Monitoring Treatment Systems

Bruce told of the interest the Coalition has in exploring a possible Growing Greener grant proposal that would provide financial assistance to watershed groups for sample analyses in monitoring passive treatment systems. The idea had originated with the OM&R Workgroup. Both WPCAMR and EPCAMR were suggested as good organizations to administer such a program. While still early in the planning phase, Bruce said the thinking was to pay the commercial labs doing the analysis work directly for treatment systems approved for the program. He said an additional possibility was developing a data management system to help in the administration of the program. He felt that this would be a good fit with the Coalition’s mission.

2004 WPCAMR Quarterly Meetings

Bruce Golden provided the meeting dates for 2004. They are:

· Thursday, February 12, 2004

· Thursday, May 13, 2004

· Thursday, August 12, 2004 and

· Wednesday, November 10, 2004.

Open Discussion/Questions/Comments

Robert Eppley opened the meeting for open discussion.

Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 1:00.

Meeting minutes taken by Sara Tumulty.