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