The Department of Environmental Protection awarded an $82,000 Growing Greener II grant to the Jefferson County Conservation District to study the feasibility of turning discharges from abandoned deep mines into a municipal water supply for Winslow Township and Sykesville Borough.

Proceeds from the sale of potable water could eventually be used to offset the cost of treating the discharges, while also restoring water quality in Sugar Camp Run and Stump Creek, both of which are badly polluted by mine water.

The abandoned deep mines discharges in the Soldier Coal Field area flow at approximately 3,000-gallons-per-minute and dump approximately 750 pounds of dissolved iron each day into Sugar Camp Run. Although the water is near neutral levels for pH, which measures alkalinity and acidity, the iron in the discharge kills all aquatic life.

Treatment of the discharges is prohibitively expensive due to the high iron content and high flow rate. Space limitations at the site also present logistical problems for the design and placement of a treatment facility.

The Jefferson County Conservation District will use the grant to pay engineering firm L. Robert Kimball and Associates of Ebensburg, Cambria County, to explore the feasibility of collecting and treating the discharges for use as a municipal water supply to help offset the cost of operating a treatment facility.

The study is expected to take two years, exploring possible designs for the facility, costs for construction and operation, and potential customers and uses for the water.

The Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal Co. conducted extensive deep mining in the Lower Freeport coal seam in the Soldier Coal Field from the late 1800s until the end of World War II. The Big Soldier Mine, which is the source of the largest discharge, was abandoned in 1934 before modern mining regulations were enacted.

4/21/2006