101 South Main Street, Ashley, PA 18706 Ph: 570 823.3445 Fax: 570 823.8270

ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS

Earth Conservancy works with colleges, universities, governmental agencies, and the U.S. military in the development and application of new and existing environmental technologies. Some of the projects that EC has participated in, include:

Geographic Informational System

EC uses advanced computer mapping technology to access, view, analyze and produce maps of Conservancy-owned lands.

Having an in-house GIS station allows EC to more easily and quickly access information about various sites' environmental, geological and topographical characteristics, as well as other pertinent data.

One of our GIS projects consists of copying old Luzerne County colliery/mining maps onto computer disks. In addition to providing permanent, quicker and easier access to these maps, this project will help preserve the original maps, which were hand-drawn, many on linen.

Improvement of Water Quality in the Susquehanna River Basin

Earth Conservancy is using artificial wetlands to treat mine drainage that enters Luzerne County streams and eventually empties into the Susquehanna River.

EC constructed and maintains two artificial wetlands, both in Hanover Twp. Oxidation and wetland vegetation is used to remove iron particles and other contaminants from the abandoned mine drainage.

The first wetland, is a 0.3-acre demonstration wetland that treats mine drainage into Espy Run Creek. The project was used as a test to see if this technology could effectively treat the mine drainage problem in the Wyoming Valley.

EC's second wetland project is a 2.2-acre wetland that treats mine drainage from the Askam Borehole that flows into Nanticoke Creek. Construction was completed in December 1998 and this wetland was put into operation April 26, 1999. This wetland will also be used for educational purposes, with tours available for school students and other interested groups.