Marjorie “Ann” Nicks, daughter of Bessie and John V. Nicks of Union City, is working with the Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team in West Virginia through Office of Surface Mining/VISTA and Travel Beautiful Appalachia Inc. She is one of 55 OSM/VISTA AmeriCorps volunteers currently working on the project. They live and work in Appalachian host communities to promote social and environmental change at the grassroots level.
Miss Nicks is working in the Ashland community and McDowell County areas. She will focus on raising money to fund projects that will improve the quality of the local water; help educate the public about the importance of clean water and what can be done to improve water quality; and test water samples for pollutants.
She is searching for abandoned mine sites in that area to determine if they are polluting the watershed in McDowell County with Acid Mine Drainage, which is caused by the acidic liquid that drains from coal stocks, coal handling facilities, coal washers and coal water tips.
Miss Nicks also recently took part in an Alliance of West Virginia Champion Communities workshop, afterwhich SAFE was awarded a $5,000 grant to fund workshops in McDowell County. The workshops feature Web site design, production of brochures with Publisher and using eBay to buy and sell products. The grant was written to focus on how non-profits and small businesses can market their products.
Ms. Nicks may be contacted by e-mail at mara_nicks@hotmail.com.
Published in The Messenger on 10.18.07