The FACTS Grant Program "Funding AMD Chemistry in Treatment Systems" will provide chemical analyses to monitor passive abandoned mine drainage treatment systems and will ease the financial burden on cash-strapped grassroots watershed organizations that have accepted the responsibility of maintaining passive treatment systems.

Pennsylvania has invested heavily in passive technologies to treat the largest water pollution problem in the Commonwealth: abandoned mine drainage. Regular water sampling and testing is crucial in diagnosing a treatment system’s wellbeing and success.

The FACTS Grant puts satisfactory monitoring programs within the reach of the volunteer-based groups by covering the cost of laboratory analyses—hundreds of dollars annually for each system.

In addition to funding the analyses, the FACTS Program streamlines the transfer of test results from laboratories using an Internet repository for water sampling data, called Datashed. Laboratories upload analysis results to Datashed using unique Sample IDs that link each water sample to a specific date, treatment system, and sampling location.

Datashed will store the complete history of a passive treatment system, helping to diagnose problems and allowing researchers to study and evaluate various AMD treatment technologies.

To apply, visit the FACTS Grant Program webpage. (By Jeffrey Gerard, AmeriCorps OSM/VISTA)

2/16/2007