SPANGLER – Officials broke ground today on a much-anticipated project that will improve more than 35 miles of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.
“This project … signals a renaissance,” said J. Scott Roberts, deputy secretary for mineral resources for DEP.
According to a DEP press release the new mine drainage treatment plant will treat up to 10 million gallons per day of acidic water from the abandoned 7,100 acre Lancashire #15 mine complex. Currently, the Susquehanna River is losing this water because the Lancashire #15 mine pool is pumped, treated and discharged to the Ohio River Basin on the other side of the mountain. This prevents the mine pool from rising to an elevation where it will drain into the West Branch. In 1969, the mine blew out and caused a fish kill for more than 40 miles of the West Branch of the Susquehanna.
The influx of fresh water into the basin will counteract the effects of numerous acidic discharges in the headwaters, restoring aquatic habitat to an estimated 35 miles of the river and improving water quality as far downstream as the Curwensville Lake in Clearfield County.
In addition, the added water will help make up for the estimated 15.7 million gallons that agricultural operations use in the middle and lower Susquehanna Basin, extending the benefits of this treatment plant as far downstream as the Chesapeake Bay.
Roberts called the groundbreaking a milestone. He said that a renaissance has begun and that this program is a part of it.
“This was not an easy process,” said Clark. “This is only a piece of the puzzle … to clean up acid mine drainage.”
He said that treatment systems across Pennsylvania currently treat more the 40 billion gallons of AMD a year.
Sen. John Wozniak stated that the water going into this treatment plant is going back to where God intended it.
Paul Schwartz, executive director of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission also commented on the $11 million project.
“This is a day I’ve looked forward to for a long time,” said Schwartz. “The project is important for the entire water basin. “When we think of the West Branch, we think of enormous potential … revitalization of communities … recreation.”
State Rep. Camille “Bud” George, D-74 of Houtzdale and majority chairman of the House Environmental, Resources and Energy Committee called the groundbreaking the start of a healing process.
“Mankind put a two-decades-old scar on the Upper West Branch of the Susquehanna River,” said George. “Today we take one giant stop … toward restoration.”
George said that it isn’t just the river getting a new lease on life, but the communities along that stretch of river as well.
“I would like to think we have learned our lessons,” said George. “Prevention is always cheaper than treatment.”
The $11 million project is slated to go on-line in 2011. It will pump water from the mine, treat it with hydrated lime to remove metals, and raise the water’s alkalinity before it is discharged into the river.
The plant’s construction will be financed by Pennsylvania’s Acid Mine Drainage Trust Fund, created with funds set aside from the federal Abandoned Mine Lands Fund. The federal fund is supported by a tax on the modern coal industry and is distributed to states as annual grants to reclaim mine sites that were abandoned prior to passage of the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977.
In addition, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission has placed a $3.9 million appropriation from the legislature in trust to fund partially the perpetual operation and maintenance of the plant. The commission has set aside another $2.1 million for the operation and maintenance of a planned treatment plant in the headwaters of the Clearfield Creek, which is also severely degraded by mine drainage and negatively affects water quality where it joins the West Branch downstream of Clearfield.
The project contractor is HRI Inc.
