Since 1999, the Office of Surface Mining has provided watershed groups in coal country with funding to hire summer interns as part of the Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative (ASCI). Each cooperative agreement between OSM and a watershed group provides $2,500 to provide for expenses and stipends to the interns. For FY 2001, the Environmental Protection Agency provided $40,000, half of the overall funding with OSM providing the rest.

Each year students studying in the fields of environmental studies, environmental and civil engineering, landscape architecture, biological studies, and many other disciplines apply to OSM, with the most qualified being selected to participate in the ASCI program. In addition to providing financial assistance, OSM works with the interns to foster development and implementation of watershed planning. The common link among all the interns is a strong environmental conscience and a genuine desire to improve the quality of the environment and life for those living in AMD-impacted watersheds.

In Lonaconing, Maryland, intern Terri Belasco, from Frostburg State University, worked with the George's Creek Watershed Association in their effort to improve the water quality for the watershed. One of GCWA's goals is to remediate over 19% of the AMD going into George's Creek, the Potomac River, and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay.

Terri's love of nature and environmental background, along with her plans to become an environmental educator, made her an ideal intern for the GCWA. During the course of the summer, she conducted macroinvertebrate sampling, assisted with fish population surveys, and collected water samples at AMD sites and receiving streams throughout the 16-mile long George's Creek Watershed and its tributaries. This data will be used to prepare a technical baseline biotic and water-quality report for George's Creek and Mill Run, to be submitted to OSM and the GCWA.

While Terri will be involved only for the summer, one of her goals is to help facilitate future watershed efforts. The GCWA report will be a crucial part of her work with state, federal, and private organizations, and other individuals, in developing future ACSI and Watershed Co-op sites to be considered for Acid Mine Land (AML) funding.

In Greensburg, Pennsylvania, a different approach has been necessary to address the environmental problems left behind by pre-regulatory coal mining operations. Edward Smail, from the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, spent the summer locating and evaluating coal-refuse piles, often referred to as gob, boney, or slag piles, and the danger they present to local watersheds and the surrounding environment in general.

Environmental concerns, however, aren't the only reason why the piles are being evaluated. As with many AMD problems, the presence of these piles alone can be enough to discourage economic development, with a single pile encompassing the equivalent of three to four street blocks, taking up precious space for potential development, as well as visually-scarring the land. In order to address this concern, Edward included the socio-economic impact of these piles in his prioritization and analysis. The result of these efforts will be a database and GIS recording of the findings, and the development of an econometric model designed to attract public sector and private sector financial support to address the environmental problems and eventually reclaim the land.

Edward said that he hopes to continue in this field of work, and that the contacts he has made this summer will be crucial in that goal. "I've made a lot of good contacts with government agencies," Edward said. "These organizations are an important part of this (reclamation) process, and I expect to work with some of them down the road."

For many of the citizens living in the watersheds that the Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative is involved in, coal mining is a very important part of their history, both culturally and economically. The Coal Creek Watershed Foundation, Inc. in Knoxville, Tennessee recognizes this and works not only to reclaim the land impacted by AMD, but also works to preserve the coal-mining history that dates back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. CCWFI intern Emily McCue, a daughter of a coal miner, has taken on roles this summer to both improve the environment and to educate people on the history and current problems in the Coal Creek Watershed and future CCWFI goals.

The environmental aspect of her work has been to improve the quality of life for more than 600 hundred people in Anderson County, many of whom have incomes below the poverty level and whose only available source of water is from untreated, polluted creeks. Emily collected water-quality data to document the problem, which will be used in grant applications for future reclamation projects.

In the effort towards maintaining a community appreciation for mining history, Emily helped organize educational events with schools and youth groups. In addition to educating on the area's mining history, Emily's goal with these events was to raise environmental awareness and to inspire the community's young students to pursue careers in environmental sciences. "The highlight was meeting the children in Briceville Elementary School," said Emily, in article by Ken Leinhart that profiled her efforts in Knoxville's The Courier News. "Those children can do anything they want. They have so much potential and they realize it and that's exciting to be a part of."

A similar effort to educate residents on how to benefit the local watersheds was put forth this summer by interns Erica Clark and Asmita Bhawarja. Erica and Asmita worked with two watershed groups, Hands Across the Mountain Inc. and Lonesome Pine and Soil West Virginia. After learning the layout and history of the area, Asmita and Erica undertook the tasks of water sampling and surveying the area surrounding the Guest and Powell Rivers.

The two used their water-quality data from the Powell River to formulate a baseline report to provide a comparison point for the progress of septic tank pump out, illegal dump cleanup, and mine sedimentation reduction programs that have been established in the area. This data will then be organized and presented in a fashion that can be useful for citizen education. The results of their summer efforts will ultimately be incorporated into an existing collection of Watershed Educational materials.

At the Guess River, Asmita and Erica reviewed the watershed's geography and surveyed 100 AMD sites. They prioritized the sites for future remediation efforts based on the impacts to the environment and streams.

Erica and Asmita helped to ensure that their progress would be continued after they left by documenting many of the water sampling and monitoring techniques they used this summer so that the next person may pick up where their efforts left off and move forward.

Both interns, however, said that some of their most valuable learning had little to do with scientific analysis. "I've worked with some great folks who have gone out of their way for us," Erica said. "I've learned how these watershed groups keep their enthusiasm going and keep community participation incorporated into their overall plan; that's the key to any self-sustaining program." Asmita, a native of India, came away with a better understanding of American environmental efforts. "I had some misconceptions about Americans and the environment," Asmita said, "But now I've learned how many of these watershed groups work hard to reclaim their land."

Not every intern's duties had been to conduct door-to-door surveys, collect water samples, or devise reclamation plans. Michael Wood, the intern for the Shade Creek Watershed Association through Central City Borough in Central City, Pennsylvania, developed a communications and public relations program for the watershed group. Michael has put his background in public policy and journalism to work for the watershed group. Through newspaper articles, press releases and informational brochures, Michael publicized the reclamation efforts of Shade Creek to the local community and local and regional media.

"I'm trying to push the development of the (AML) sites through the work I'm doing," Michael said.

These are just six of the 30 interns who chose to get their hands dirty and their feet wet this summer in order to have a positive impact on areas and issues they are passionate about. Working from the ground up with local communities, they were all able to gain valuable experiences while furthering environmental causes, and possibly they also changed a few traditional perceptions of the summer internship experience.

When asked what he believed was his most important contribution to the watershed group he worked with, Michael echoed the hopes of all the interns on the effectiveness of their positive work with the watershed group(s) they worked for. "I like to think that when I leave here, I've left them (the watershed group) with the tools that will effectively generate interest and support not only from the local citizens and media, but the regional and national media as well."

The intern's and their watershed groups are: Terri Belasco, George's Creek Watershed Association; Jason Zorn, Yough Watershed Association and Garret Community College; Anthony Riley, Sunday Creek Watershed Group; Roman Chiu, Monday Creek Restoration Project; Michael Busher, Pike Run Watershed Association; Michael Wood, Shade Creek Watershed Association through Central City Borough; Christopher Treter, Stream Restoration Incorporated; Michelle Mock, Cambria County Conservation Project; Edward Smail, Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation; Marie Elder, Blacklick Creek Watershed Association; Rosalyn Robitaille, Blacklick Environment Center; Jessica Durkota, Mountain Watershed Association, Inc.; Kay Achenbach, Schuylkill Headwaters Association, Inc.; Michael Hewitt, Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation; Emily McCue, Coal Creek Watershed Foundation, Inc.; Erica Clark, Hands Across the Mountain, Inc.; Asmita Bhardwaj, Lonesome Pine, Soil and Water; Daniel Liston, Friends of Deckers Creek; Alison Weaver, Twelvepole Watershed Association; Andrew Potter, Heizer-Manila Watershed Organization; Russell Snyder, Monongahela River Trails Conservancy and Friends; Jeremy Morris, Lower Paint Creek Association, Inc.; Johnny Johns, Lower West Fork Watershed Association; Max Cochran, Davis Creek Watershed Association; Megan Sadler, North Chickamauga Creek; Melanie Fields, Hands Across the Mountain, Inc.; Heather Browning, Upshure County Commission; Shaun Neal, Trap Hill; Kristen Hall, Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation - EPA; Todd, Novacek, Jefforson Soil and Water.