11/25/24 - 156 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/54ukts8z
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Volunteers Give Facelift To Abandoned Coal Mine In Westmoreland
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Local volunteer groups braved the rain showers on April 2, to celebrate Earth Day by helping beautify the abandoned Marchand coal mine in Lowber, Westmoreland County.
Volunteers from Boy Scout Troop 465, Sewickley Creek Watershed Association and Yough High School planted 250 tree and shrub seedlings and cleaned litter from one mile of adjacent roadway as part of the 9th annual Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania. The cleanup was completed in partnership with Westmoreland Cleanways.
Earlier in the week, Yough High School students constructed an education kiosk and interpretive trail signs at the site. The trees and shrubs, donated by the Game Commission, will help stabilize the banks and wetlands, provide wildlife habitat and food, and make the entire treatment system more aesthetically pleasing.
Besides successfully treating the water from the old mine, the Association wants to eventually make the project available to regional high schools, and the public, as a self-instructional environmental education facility.
The kiosk will explain the history of coal mining in the area as well as how the water treatment system works. The interpretive trail signs will explain the functions at critical points along the system. The kiosk, signs and trees completed Phase I of the project.
The Association has applied for a grant for Phase II which will include a pavilion, further development of the interpretive trail, footbridge across the discharge, and several access stations for water sampling. Once complete, lesson plans and tour instructions will be made available to schools for half-day field trips.
Marchand Mine in Sewickley Township, Westmoreland County, had been discharging approximately 2,000 gallons per minute of iron laden mine water into Sewickley Creek for over 60 years. The Association and Hedin Environmental, with $1.3 million dollars in Growing Greener grants from the Department of Environmental Protection, began construction of the passive treatment system in 2006.
The treatment system now reduces 99 percent of the iron from the mine water before it is discharged to Sewickley Creek, making it clean enough to support trout. The project won the 2008 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence.
The group is very appreciative of the volunteers and event sponsors who include J-Jay’s Pizzas and Subs in Herminie, Greensburg Target and Giant Eagle, New Stanton Sheetz and Youngwood Sunoco. The Association encourages you to support their businesses and asks that you thank them all for supporting the event.
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4/30/2012 |
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