Sewickley Creek Watershed Association partnered with the West Newton Sportsmen’s Association to stock trout in sections of Sewickley Creek in Westmoreland County that were once polluted from abandoned mine discharges. 

Approximately 50 Association members and Boy Scouts from Troop 465 celebrated Earth Day by stocking a total of 1,400 trout, including some 8 pounders, on April 26th and May 3rd.  With three AMD treatment facilities installed along the stream, Sewickley Creek is now clean enough to support a trout fishery. 

In another event, local volunteers raced against threatening rain to fill two dump trucks and over 120 trash bags with garbage from illegal dumps and litter along the banks of Sewickley Creek on Saturday, May 3rd.  The cleanup was part of the 11th annual Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania. 

Sewickley Creek Watershed Association partnered with Westmoreland Cleanways, the Boroughs of New Stanton and Youngwood, Unity Township, Boy Scout Troop 465, Wendover Middle School, and Firestone Building Products Company on the project.  

Each spring, the Association works with many of the same volunteers to plant trees and clean litter from stream banks in the watershed.  Areas cleaned this year were two miles of stream banks and bike trail between Youngwood and New Stanton.  They also cleaned Armbrust and Fairground Roads in Hempfield Township, Shinsky Road in Unity Township, and Lowber Road in Sewickley Township.    

Mrs. Julie Novak, 8th grade science teacher at Wendover Middle School, Hempfield Area School District noted, “It is important for young people to see the damage that can be done to our earth due to carelessness and ignorance.  More importantly, young people should realize that each of them can make a difference in their communities as well as on a larger scale. Making a few changes to live more sustainably can have a tremendous, positive effect on this planet.  I love empowering my students to be warriors for the environment.  Every day is Earth Day!”

The Association is very appreciative of the volunteers and event sponsors who include Wal Mart, Giant Eagle and Jioio’s Pizza.  The Association encourages you to support these businesses and thank them all for supporting the event.  We offer a special thank you to our partner Firestone Building Products for offering their Youngwood plant where volunteers gathered for lunch.  It is only with the support of our partners that we are able to complete these projects! 

Sewickley Creek Watershed Association is a 501 c 3 nonprofit, organization that helps manage the 168 square mile watershed drained by Sewickley Creek in Westmoreland County.  Their primary focus is remediation of abandoned mine discharges. 

Other projects include building riparian buffers, trail development and environmental education. 

For more information and pictures from the clean up event, visit the Sewickley Creek Watershed Association website.

5/12/2014