This past Father’s Day, the Pennsylvania Water Environment Association (PWEA) kicked off their PennTec Conference by teaming up with EPCAMR for their Community Service Project. EPCAMR, which stands for the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, is a non-profit organization that partners with local, state, and federal government and industries. One of their main missions is to reclaim abandoned mine lands and improve water quality in local communities that have been affected by mining.
Volunteers from the conference, including Keystone’s Marketing Coordinator Natalie Troxell, spent the morning conducting a roadside and State Game Lands cleanup in Luzerne County, PA near Nescopeck State Park. Several full trash bags, tires, TV monitors and old furniture; including an old refrigerator and bed mattress were recovered from the woods.
This was the third community service project organized by PWEA. The Association’s Student & Young Professionals Committee (SYP) has been in charge of organizing the projects. In 2019, PWEA teamed with the Clear Water Conservancy to restore streamside buffers as part of the Conservancy’s Riparian Conservation Program in State College, PA. Keystone’s Marketing Coordinator, Natalie Troxell, and I&C Engineer, Adam Bahr, E.I.T., participated in the project by cutting back invasive vegetation and removing plastic tubes on young trees. In 2018, PWEA launched their first PennTec Community Service Project in Hershey, PA. Volunteers worked with Derry Township Municipal Authority and Manada Conservancy on a green infrastructure maintenance project to help slow stormwater runoff and naturally filter pollutants that flow into nearby waterways.