WILKES-BARRE, PA — ReImagine Appalachia recently released a video and blog series highlighting the work of Bobby Hughes, who has spent 30 years working to reclaim abandoned mines and restore affected watersheds.

Hughes is from Ashley, PA, and is the executive director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (EPCAMR). Upstream from Ashley, millions of gallons of clean water disappear beneath the earth’s surface each day. This lost water flows underground through abandoned mines hundreds of feet below, and ultimately resurfaces downstream, carrying toxins and pollutants into community waterways from abandoned mine tunnels.

“As a kid, we knew not to run our hands over the rocks or take our shoes off in certain parts of the streams,” said Hughes, speaking about his experience growing up in Wilkes-Barre, PA. “If we did, our skin would stain orange. Everything is connected. This polluted water can impact our public water supply, the ground where we live, and the parks and recreation areas where our children play. We’re not just talking about polluted streams. The long-term health of our community and every Pennsylvania community downstream is at risk.”

Hughes hopes investments from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) can help in his organization’s efforts. The first video in the series about Hughes and EPCAMR and blog post can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/bdexuc3h.

Abandoned mine land reclamation has received “a shot in the arm,” Hughes says, thanks to federal funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which provides the resources necessary for organizations like EPCAMR to remove toxic pollutants from waterways, protect the local environment, and stimulate job and business development in coal communities looking to rebound.

ReImagine Appalachia works “to find common ground and build a 21st-century economy that’s good for workers, communities, and the environment in the Appalachian region,” according to its mission statement.