Trout Unlimited is pleased to announce it is continuing its Abandoned Mine Drainage Technical Assistance Program and is now accepting requests for assistance.

Funding provided by the DEP’s Growing Greener Watershed Grant Program.

TU has assisted over two dozen watershed groups, TU chapters, county conservation districts, and others with a variety of AMD projects through its previous AMD Technical Assistance Program as funded by a grant from Growing Greener.

Based on the assessments and/or recommendations provided in the last round of technical assistance projects, most of these groups have successfully obtained grants from Growing Greener and/or other funding sources to move forward with full-scale AMD watershed assessments or implement AMD remediation projects.

TU is looking forward to continuing to provide this free technical assistance to groups across the Commonwealth as we all work together to restore our streams, watersheds, and revitalize our communities from the largest source of pollution to our state’s waterways -- AMD.

The types of free technical assistance being offered include the following:

--Rapid characterization of mine drainage;

-- Rapid watershed assessment;

-- Conceptual design of AMD treatment systems;

-- Existing treatment system evaluation and recommendations ;

-- Construction oversight;

-- Pre- and/or post-construction biological and/or habitat surveys; and

-- Other, as treated on a case-by-case basis

In order to provide your group with the absolute highest quality technical assistance, TU has partnered with and subcontracted Alder Run Engineering and Hedin Environmental, two small consulting firms that excel in providing top-notch, personalized AMD technical services to their clients. TU also has experienced staff that can provide services for biological surveys.

How do you receive this free technical assistance? It’s so easy!

Just contact Amy Wolfe, TU’s Director of Abandoned Mine Programs by sending email to: awolfe@tu.org or call 570-786-9562. Request forms are also available online.

The initial request form is the only paperwork you will have to handle….the goal of TU’s AMD Technical Assistance Program is to provide top-notch quality technical services with a rapid turnaround time.

For more information, visit the TU Abandoned Mine Drainage Technical Assistance Program webpage.

11/7/2008