PA Environment Digest

Scrapbook

04/22/24 - 117 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/9bh4zbtr

Daily Blog

Share this:

More Than 160 Attend West Branch Susquehanna River Symposium

Along the West Branch Susquehanna River

The third major watershed conference this year attracted over 160 people interested in learning more about how they can protect and restore the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.

Over 450 people attended the Coldwater Conference and the Schuylkill River Watershed Congress earlier this year.

The Symposium featured presentations on cold stream restoration, lessons learned from over 10 years of working to treat mine acid drainage and restore strip mines in the Slippery Rock Watershed, techniques for treating abandoned mine discharges, an overview of work completed and planned in the Beech Creek Watershed and more technical sessions on water quality assessments, aquatic organisms and benthic communities.

Featured speakers Paul Swartz, Executive Director of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission and John Dawes from the Western Pennsylvania Watershed Program gave the group several challenges.

Paul Swartz challenged the group to make the most of all the “natural resources” in the West Branch by developing even more partnerships between state, local and federal officials, colleges and universities, medical facilities, watershed groups, state and federal agencies and county conservation districts to tackle the water quality problems in the West Branch.

The challenges facing the West Branch are major, said Swartz, noting that one-third of all the water quality impaired stream miles in the Susquehanna Watershed are in this area which makes up 25 percent of the stream miles.

But Swartz read off a list of local projects that in the last year have made a significant difference in water quality and reviewed plans SRBC has to treat and redirect the Barnes and Tucker mine discharge.

The newly formed West Branch Coalition and the Project Wilds initiative by the state have been successful, he said, in focusing attention on the West Branch, but more effort and partners are needed.

SRBC and other agencies will be spending the next year developing a West Branch Remediation Strategy that will evaluate and prioritize the abandoned mine lands and discharges to develop an action plan for dealing with the most serious causes of water quality impairment in the watershed.

“My dream for the West Branch is one full of promise, and the message I would like to leave you today is one of hope for its future,” said Swartz. “The restoration efforts in which you are involved today will provide tangible benefits by improving the quality of life and economic viability of the region.”

John Dawes provided an update on efforts to reauthorize the fee supporting the federal Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund which helps pay for state and local mine reclamation and mine drainage treatment projects and is now the largest source of funding for mine reclamation efforts in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania faces a daunting abandoned mine problem—184,000 acres of abandoned mines, 4,000 miles of impaired streams that will cost at least $5 billion to cleanup. In addition, 25 to 30 people die every year in accidents related to abandoned mines and quarries, Dawes noted.

Dawes said the federal fee on every ton of coal mined that finances the Fund has been extended three times since 2004 and will likely be extended again when it is due to run out in June.

The efforts to save the fund got new momentum, Dawes said, with the introduction of S. 2616 by Pennsylvania U.S. Senators Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter in April. The bill is supported by the coalition of more than 200 environmental and conservation groups in the state.

The Santorum/Specter bill would extend the fee for another 15 years and provide more federal funding for Pennsylvania’s mine reclamation efforts-- some $926 million over the life of the bill. It would also increase the so-called 10 percent set aside to 30 percent to address many of the abandoned mine problems that affect water quality, rather than pose a health or safety hazard.

“The beauty of the West Branch is priceless,” said Dawes. “But there’s a price tag on restoring its water quality. Our message to members of Congress on reauthorizing the fee is simple – Don’t come home without it.”

He urged every group in the West Branch to contact their member of Congress to support S. 2616.

Scott Roberts, DEP Deputy Secretary for Mineral Resources, announced that DEP and DCNR would be providing an $81,000 grant to Trout Unlimited to help further document the abandoned mine problems in the West Branch and come up with cost-effective solutions.

“This work funded by this grant will form a foundation of water quality data,” Roberts said. “We will then evaluate different scenarios to tell us where to invest our cleanup dollars so that we get the greatest water quality improvements and the biggest bang for our buck.”

“We applaud Gov. Rendell for his vision and leadership in support of the cleanup of the West Branch,” said Amy Wolfe, director of Abandoned Mine Programs for Trout Unlimited. “This grant will provide a major boost to the comprehensive restoration effort. We look forward to working with DEP in its leadership role, as well as DCNR, the Fish and Boat Commission and many other partners to improve water quality and ultimately recover hundreds of miles of high quality trout streams.”

Roberts said DEP has created the West Branch Susquehanna River Task Force to advise DEP on overall cleanup efforts. The task force includes representatives of DEP, DCNR, the Department of Community and Economic Development, the Fish and Boat and Game commissions, Trout Unlimited, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Western and Eastern Pennsylvania Coalitions for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, Western Pennsylvania Watershed Program and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.

The Symposium was organized through the efforts and sponsorships of Trout Unlimited, the Fish and Boat Commission, departments of Environmental Protection and Conservation and Natural Resources, the Western Pennsylvania Watershed Program and Hedin Environmental.

For more information or to join the West Branch Coalition, download the West Branch Task Force brochure, or contact Amy Wolfe, Trout Unlimited, at 570-726-3118 or send email to: awolfe@tu.org .

Stay tuned for more opportunities to network with people interested in restoring and protecting their watersheds as the Eastern and Western Pennsylvania Coalitions for Abandoned Mine Reclamation prepare for their fall get-togethers and the Ohio River Watershed Celebration gets underway

Links: West Branch Susquehanna Coalition Announced

State of the West Branch Report 2005

Heartland Coalition Works to Heal Middle/Upper Susquehanna Watershed

Mine Water Could Help Provide Make Up Water in Susquehanna Basin

Susquehanna Greenway Partnership

West Branch Water Trail

Trout Unlimited Cleanups Featured in WPSU Documentary

Session Schedule

The Senate returns to session on May 22 and the House returns on June 5

On the Hill

· On the Senate, House Agenda

· Senate/House Bills Moving/Introduced