Western Pa. acid mine remediation projects receive $1.6 million

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Several western Pennsylvania projects received $1.6 million in grants from the state Department of Environmental Protection for local projects to remove acid mine drainage.

Seven projects will help restore more than 20 miles of streams in four counties and at the Flight 93 National Memorial site. The projects are as follows:

1. Clearfield County Conservation District received $249,500 to improve recreational use of Little Beaver Run in Decatur Township by designing and building an acid mine drainage treatment system, including a pond, wetland, and limestone bed, to reduce acidity.

2. Mountain Watershed Association, in Fayette County, received $426,279 for new work to maintain remediation and address new discharges in the Gallentine and Sagamore acid mine drainage passive treatment systems in Saltlick and Springfield townships.

The two systems are integral to maintaining water quality in Indian Creek, which prior acid mine drainage remediation has restored to a trout-stocked fishery.

3. The Indiana County Conservation District received $83,624 to develop a plan to restore 18 miles of impaired streams in the Yellow Creek Watershed.

The conservation district office will assess the watershed on foot and via drone and discharge sampling along Yellow Creek. They’ll then develop a restoration plan that will guide future cleanup strategies and enable existing and planned acid mine drainage treatment systems to qualify for funding.

4. Stream Restoration Incorporated received $57,559 to develop a plan to restore Aultman’s Run Watershed, which has 69 miles of stream and covers parts of Indiana and Armstrong counties. Completion of the restoration plan will enable five planned acid mine drainage and coal refuse cleanup projects to qualify for funding.

5. Paint Creek Regional Watershed Association in Somerset County received $48,193 for limestone treatment to restore impaired headwaters of Babcock Creek in Gallitzin State Forest.

6. Somerset County Conservation District received $551,319 for construction of an acid mine drainage passive treatment system on Lamberts Run in Stonycreek Township, one mile from the Flight 93 National Memorial.

In addition to removing the final source of impairment in Lamberts Run Watershed, the system is expected to improve water quality in the upper Stonycreek River. This project complements existing DEP-led treatment at the headwaters of Lamberts Run on the Flight 93 property.

7. Also in Somerset County, the Shade Creek Watershed Association received $208,141 for AMD treatment on Coal Run in State Game Land 228, Shade Township. The project will restore more than 4 miles of stream and maintain previous mine drainage treatment in the headwaters of Shade Creek.

The grants come from the state Surface Mining Conservation and Reclamation Act Fund and a state AML Set Aside fund supported by the federal Abandoned Mine Land Program.