The Eastern Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR) is sponsoring a workshop on January 28 for all those interested in putting together a grant application to promote the recovery of iron oxide in mine drainage discharges.

The proposed new Northeast Region Resource Recovery Initiative would explore ways to extract useful compounds like iron oxide from mine discharges based on a project EPCAMR started this summer under a U.S. Office of Surface Mining grant. Also providing financial support were Hedin Environmental, the Earth Conservancy, Gemark Service Corporation, DEP and the Luzerne County Conservation Districts.

The project is developing a GIS database inventory and analyses of the purity and estimated volumetric calculations of iron oxide deposits commonly found at regional discharges and is already showing results.

To help take this project to the next step, EPCAMR is inviting interested parties to attend the January 28 meeting from 10:00 to 2:00 at their offices at the Luzerne County Conservation District. Follow these directions or call 570-674-7991 for more information.

1/21/2005