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Cambria County Organization Awarded Top Honors for Innovative Redevelopment

Release Date: 9/28/2005
Contact Information: Bonnie Smith, 215-814-5543

Bonnie Smith, 215-814-5543

PHILADELPHIA – The Acid-Mine Drainage and Art project, referred to as AMD&ART, based in Vintondale, Pa. has been selected to receive the highest honor for innovative remediation -- the Phoenix Award.

“The AMD&ART project is a terrific example of how to bring a river damaged by acid-mine drainage back to productive reuse. EPA is proud to support this project that is bringing streams back to life,” said Donald S. Welsh, mid-Atlantic regional administrator.

The AMD&ART project in Vintondale, Pa., will be recognized with a special Community Action Award. They have transformed a 35-acre property contaminated by acid-mine drainage and converted it into a passive water treatment system and open space. Portions of the project were funded by an EPA sustainable development challenge grant.

The Phoenix awards, established in 1997, are given annually by the non-profit Phoenix Awards Institute to recognize innovative yet practical remediation projects at Brownfields sites in the U.S. and abroad. Brownfields sites are former industrial sites where real or perceived contamination can be an impediment to reuse. These sites can, and are, being cleaned up and returned to productive reuse.

This project is among the fourteen winners from across the country which will be recognized at the Brownfields 2005 conference in Denver, Colorado in November. More information about the Phoenix Awards is available at http://www.phoenixawards.org/.