WPCAMR Quarterly Meeting

August 23, 2007

 

Watershed Coordinator’s Report

Andy McAllister

 

 

PROJECT SITE VISITS , PLANNING MEETINGS, PRESS EVENT ATTENDANCE:

 

Attended a Loyalhanna Creek projects update meeting in Greensburg. 

 

Traveled to Venango Conservation District to interview the two consultants that bid on the South Sandy 319 Implementation Plan.  Met with Venango District before and after interviews to discuss selection process and decided on a consultant.

 

Participated in a conference call with Scott Roberts and OSM representatives to discuss the educational needs of watershed groups.

 

Continued to review and comment on revised C-SAW fact sheets and handouts.

 

 

 

GENERAL OUTREACH ACTIVITIES AND MEETING/EVENT ATTENDANCE:

 

Continued writing Abandoned Mine Post Newsletter articles, sent them out and archive the postings on the blog site each week.

 

Compiled and wrote meeting minutes for the previous WPCAMR quarterly meeting.

Drafted and released one Press Release concerning upcoming DEP roundtables and SMCRA educational video.

Gave presentation about AMD and stream ecology to several groups of sixth graders as part of the Washington County Children’s Water Festival; California

 

Prepared for and gave a talk on micro-hydro electric generation from AMD sites at the Alternative Energy Fair on Saturday, June 9th at St. Francis Univ. in Loretto, PA.

 

Attended the annual meeting for the Council for Research and Reclamation of Disturbed Lands (CRRDL) in Ebensburg and went on site visit to a re-forestation reclamation site in Indiana County.

 

Attended the BlackLick Creek Watershed Association meeting in Indiana, PA.

 

Attended the Non-point source meeting in Harrisburg.

 

Attended the Slippery Rock Creek Watershed Conservation Plan public meeting in Boyers, PA.

 

WPCAMR staff went to tour the “Tour-ed” mine in Tarentum, PA.

 

Continued to work with the summer intern, Vanessa Good on her research on Western Pennsylvania’s industrial history as it relates to coal mining.

 

 

 

 

 

CONSERVATION DISTRICT OUTREACH

 

Conservation District outreach continued this past quarter with visits to the following Conservation Districts: Indiana, Huntingdon, and Blair.

 

The Watershed Coordinator continued to participate as a member of the planning committee for the NW Regional Watershed Conference

In June, Traveled to the Mercer Conservation District for the last planning meeting for the  NW Regional Watershed Conference.  Conference was held at the Venango Campus of Clarion University in Oil City on Saturday, June 23rd.  Assisted with the conference set up, acted as moderator for one session, and presented the WPCAMR and C-SAW displays with handouts.

 

After the conference in June, participated in the follow-up meeting held in Warren County via speaker phone.

 

 

 

Title IV Educational Efforts/AML Campaign

 

With the SMCRA educational video completed, the Watershed Coordinator began preparing for the DEP public roundtables in both coal regions.  Continued to work closely with DEP personnel on details/duties for roundtables through conference calls/emails.  Traveled to the Anthracite region and presented the SMCRA educational video at the following public roundtables:  Shavertown, Pottsville, Blossburg.  At the end of the month, attended and presented the SMCRA video at the following Bituminous roundtables:  Robertsdale, Ebensburg. 

 

The Watershed Coordinator took unofficial meeting notes at all roundtables, typed them into MS Word and sent them to DEP personnel for subsequent publishing on the BAMR website.  Began preparations for Bituminous roundtables to be held in June.

 

The Watershed Coordinator attended and presented the SMCRA video at the following Bituminous roundtables:  Slippery Rock, California, Dubois.  The Watershed Coordinator took unofficial meeting notes at all roundtables, typed them into MS Word and sent them to DEP personnel for subsequent publishing on the BAMR website.  Created DVD copies and distributed them at the roundtables and other conferences and meetings.

 

 

 

2007 AMR CONFERENCE A SUCCESS

 

The Watershed Coordinator continued to assist the planning committee with the 2007 AMR Conference in State College through participation in conference calls and working closely with the Ramada, the vendors, and the entertainment to ensure a smooth conference.  Ultimately, the final details for the 2007 AMR Conference took up a large part of July.  Additionally, the watershed coordinator prepared for and gave a presentation about ways to use SMCRA Title IV funding at the AMR Conference.