Hagerman Run is a high-quality, wild brook trout stream cascading through a ravine between Narrow Mountain and Sugarcamp Mountain in the Loyalsock State Forest in Lycoming County.

Over many years the stream has carved away its banks and the channel shifted toward the adjacent Hagerman Run Road.

Hagerman Run Road is the primary access to this area of state forest. Two years ago Seneca Resources Corporation began work at leased tracts on the adjacent ridges. The roadway required upgrades to support the development traffic so Seneca worked with the Loyalsock Forest District to correct the problem installing a cement base and a limestone running surface.

Powered by floodwaters last fall and runoff from heavy spring rains, Hagerman Run continued to erode its banks threatening to undercut the roadway. Another significant rain event might result in a complete failure of the road.

Seneca Resources obtained an emergency permit from the Department of Environmental Protection for streambank stabilization. A Versa-lok block wall roughly 175 feet long and up to 10 feet in height has now returned Hagerman Run to its historic channel and eliminated subsequent erosion and sedimentation of the stream.  

All the work was accomplished at Seneca’s expense. Cooperation between the industry, DEP, the Fish and Boat Commission and DCNR finished the stabilization project quickly before imminent collapse of the road could occur.

In addition, although there were less aesthetic and less expensive materials that would have prevented bank erosion, the new wall provides a more attractive and long-lasting solution to the problem. The road repairs serve both the energy industry and recreational users of the Loyalsock State Forest.

“If DCNR were to have done the repair in the future, it would have taken funding away from other projects such as bridges and facilities,” said Rich Glinski, District Forester for Loyalsock State Forest. “A project of this extent would have required contracting as our maintenance staff does not have the required equipment.”

The total cost of the project is not in, but will approach $250,000.

Doug Kepler, Vice President for Environmental Engineering at Seneca Resources said “I believe that this project demonstrates the mutual cooperation and respect Seneca and the various regulatory and resource agencies have for each other and the responsible development of our natural gas resources in a manner that can enhance rather than just protect the integrity of our Commonwealth’s resources.”

(Written by Ed Dix, a Forest Program Specialist with DCNR's Bureau of Forestry.  Reprinted from the September 12 DCNR Resource online newsletter.)

9/17/2012