Westmoreland County Residents To Benefit From $1.35 Million In Water Quality Projects

From Lower Burrell in the northern part of Westmoreland County to Scottdale in the south…and from Irwin in the western part of the county to Derry Township in the east…. citizens all across Westmoreland County are set to benefit from an investment of more than $1.35 million in six separate projects to improve water quality.

 

Nonprofit groups, volunteer organizations, educational institutions, and local governments will receive the funds to use for specific projects in the boroughs of Mount Pleasant and Scottdale; and in Derry, Lower Burrell and Unity townships.

 

The money is part of the state’s Growing Greener II, a program that was funded by Pennsylvania voters in the 2005 primary election when they passed a $625 million bond referendum to be used for conservation projects statewide.

 

Following are the six Westmoreland County projects funded under this most recent Growing Greener II funding.

 

--Borough of Mount Pleasant-- $475,250 to retrofit commercial and residential stormwater systems with volume control and infiltration best management practices in a priority watershed impaired by urban stormwater runoff.

 

--Jacobs Creek Watershed Association-- $167,500 to design and install bio-retention stormwater volume control on municipal and commercial parking lots as part of the Scottdale Stormwater Retrofit Project.

 

--Pucketa & Chartiers Watershed Association-- $73,975 for stream restoration on Chartiers Run in Wolfpack Park.

 

--Saint Vincent College-- $128,542 to design and construct an iron sludge dewatering basin at the Monastery Run mine drainage system to improve system performance and allow for the recovery and sale of iron oxide.

 

--Turtle Creek Watershed Association-- $370,446 for the design and permitting of a passive mine drainage treatment system to treat the Irwin discharge, the largest abandoned mine discharge in Westmoreland County.

 

--Westmoreland Conservation District-- $133,485 to implement agricultural best management practices in the Stony Run watershed including fencing, stream crossings, water troughs, stream stabilization, grassed waterways, and spring development. Stony Run is a tributary of the Conemaugh River.