KULPMONT, PA, Apr 28, 2023 - Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance (SCRA) was honored Tuesday evening with the 2023 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence.
The awards are presented by PEC in partnership with PA DEP and honor Pennsylvania businesses, non-profits, farms, and individuals that have promoted environmental stewardship in Pennsylvania. Featured speakers were Richard Negrin, Acting Secretary of the PA Department of Environmental Protection and Cindy Adams Dunn, Secretary of the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
SCRA was selected for the Governor’s Award for Veterans Memorial Field improvements in Kulpmont, PA.
In 1980 a Rural Abandoned Mine Program (R.A.M.P) project eliminated a high-wall stripping pit on the south side of Kulpmont Borough but the area was left unimproved and underutilized for nearly 40 years. However, believing in the site’s potential, SCRA was able to gather funding and support from both public and private partners to address the issues at the field. Volunteers built a foot bridge to connect the site to the Borough. The bridge became the catalyst for even more improvements. Penn State Master Gardeners worked with volunteers to install a pollination garden. DCNR funded a restroom project that highlights aspects of green construction, including rainwater capture flushing toilets, solar power, recycled materials, and a rain garden. A Sierra Club grant was combined with environmental penalty money levied against a pipeline builder to restore a section of wetlands feeding Quaker Run. A Growing Greener Plus grant was utilized to restore the stream channel through the recreation complex and seal the stream bottom, preventing water from entering the mine pool and becoming polluted.
Had Veterans Memorial Field been left unimproved, it would not be attracting the hundreds of people who now utilize the space daily. Students from area schools have participated in events highlighting the history of coal mining in the anthracite region and the effects of coal mining both on the surface landscape and in the form of acid mine discharges impacting local streams. Students also learned what a healthy stream looks like and how planting riparian buffers can restore impaired streams.
More information and photos of Veterans Memorial Park improvements can be found here: https://pawatersheds.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/SCRA-Veterans-Field.pdf
