About

The Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR) is a nonprofit based near Wilkes-Barre that works in the region’s coal communities to improve landscapes and lives. EPCAMR was established in the mid-1990s. Today, it boasts a long track record of successfully collaborating with project partners from the business, government, academic, and nonprofit communities to accomplish our shared goals.

EPCAMR’s core activities: 

• Manages large-scale projects to reclaim abandoned mine lands for productive reuse, which aids the region’s economy
• Reduces the amount of mine-polluted water that enters the region’s streams, where it can discolor water, kill fish, and deprive people of recreational opportunities such as fishing and boating
• Provides professional services such as water quality monitoring and GIS mapping to businesses, local governments, and nonprofits
• Converts old coal mine maps into electronic versions that can be widely shared
• Beautifies communities by conducting cleanups of illegal dumpsites
• Shares environmental education lessons at schools, festivals, and other sites
• Reclaims iron oxide – a pollutant commonly found in AMD – from area streams and processes it into a pigment that can be used in artists’ paints and ceramic glazes

EPCAMR staff can be hired to provide these cost-effective professional services:

• Water quality monitoring and borehole monitoring
• Stream restoration and dam removal
• Watershed assessment
• Maintenance and operation of abandoned mine drainage (AMD) passive treatment systems
• GIS data and mapping services
• 3D mine pool mapping (using tools such as ArcGIS)
• Scanning/digitizing of paper mine maps and other documents
• Drone services

Contact EPCAMR to discuss:

• Land/water reclamation projects
• Reuse of former mine lands, including for solar and/or geothermal installations
• Pre-construction review of mine maps
• Mine subsidence issues
• Any of the professional services listed above
• Support that your business or employees can provide to EPCAMR, such as volunteer service during our trash cleanups and tree plantings, EITC partnerships, donations of material goods or funds, conference/event sponsorships, and major gifts for our organizational endowment fund