On June 11, the Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation announced construction of an acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment plant has begun in South Fayette Township, Allegheny County to improve water quality and restore fishing and recreation to portions of Millers Run and Chartiers Creek.

Once constructed and fully operational, the Gladden AMD treatment plant will treat 2.2 million gallons and remove 690 pounds of iron pollution per day from the Chartiers Creek watershed, eliminating one of the largest discharges in the watershed, which currently accounts for 40 percent of the iron load.

This Abandoned Mine Land Economic Development Pilot Project is being constructed by the South Fayette Conservation Group with a grant funded by the Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation.

The department expects four miles of Millers Run and three and a half miles of Chartiers Creek will be restored to a warm water, trout-stocked fishery with improved recreational uses as a result.

Millers Run is on the Fish and Boat Commission stocking list upstream of the discharge. The sections of both streams that will be restored flow past a number of parks and development projects and are visible from Interstate 79 in Allegheny County.

The discharge, which ranges from 750 to 1,500 gallons per minute, originates from the abandoned deep mine of the Pittsburgh Coal Company’s Montour No. 2 underground mining complex.

The plant will include two pumping stations to extract the AMD water from the mine pool and bring it to the surface for treatment using oxidation, hydrogen peroxide and alkaline addition to form solid precipitates, and clarification equipment to remove the precipitated metals and solids from the water with a polishing pond.

The treated water will be discharged to Millers Run. The sludge will be pumped to a vacant mine that is not hydraulically connected for disposal. 

An additional aspect of the total project consists of stream sealing Fishing Run. An Operation Scarlift study and report on Chartiers Creek revealed that there were large flow losses of Fishing Run due to mine subsidence.

An investigation determined that the flow losses of Fishing Run were entering the mine and eventually leaving as AMD-polluted water at the Gladden discharge. Sealing the streambed will keep the stream flowing year-round and reduce the amount of AMD requiring treatment. This portion of the project is expected to start after construction of the treatment plant is completed.

The project is expected to be completed by summer 2021 at a cost of $13,048,446. Funding for this project comes from the AMD abatement and treatment program (AMD Set-Aside Program) authorized in the federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act and the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement AML Pilot Program, which specifically targets abandoned mine cleanup projects that are linked to local community and economic development goals.

South Fayette Conservation Group brought on Tetra Tech, Inc. as the prime contractor and Chapman Corporation, John Kosky Contracting, Inc., Ligonier Construction Company and Infinity Drilling as additional contractors.

Questions about this project should be directed to Lauren Fraley, DEP Southwest Regional Office, 412-442-4203 or send email to: lfraley@pa.gov.

For more information on abandoned mine reclamation, visit DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation webpage.

(Photo: Courtesy of DEP.)

[Editor’s Note: Federal funding for mine reclamation projects like this will dry up if the federal per ton reclamation fee on coal is not reauthorized by Congress.  It is set to expire in 2021.]

Related Article This Week:

Opportunity To Bid On DEP Mine Reclamation Project In Fayette County

Related Articles - Mine Reclamation Fee:

-- Over 100 Groups Sign Letter Urging Congressional Action On Federal Mine Reclamation Fee, Black Lung Bills

-- Bipartisan Call For Continued Federal Funding For Abandoned Mine Clean-Up By Cong. Cartwright, Meuser, State, Local Officials

-- U.S. House Subcommittee Hears About Urgent Need For Reauthorization Of Federal Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fee/Program

-- Trout Unlimited: Federal Bill To Fund Abandoned Mine Cleanup Moving Forward

-- Op-Ed: Let's Get Reauthorization Of The Federal Abandoned Mine Land Fund Done, Get PA's Congressional Delegation On Board

[Posted: June 11, 2020]

6/15/2020