L to R: Michael Hewitt, EPCAMR; Tim Wentzel, DCCD Board; Ron Kopp, DCCD Board Chair; Scott Bills, PA Game Commission; Dauphin County Commissioner Jeffrey Haste; Terry Schmidt, Skelly & Loy, Inc.; David Coble, DCCD Board.

The Dauphin County Conservation District hosted a groundbreaking October 5 for the Bear Creek Abandoned Mine Drainage Treatment Project located on State Game Lands No. 264 in Wiconisco Township.

This landmark effort, the first of its kind undertaken by the District, involves more than a dozen partners from government agencies and public organizations and aims to address conditions that, for more than a century, have stained Bear Creek’s waters orange as a result of abandoned coal mining operations in the region.

Dauphin County Commissioner Jeffrey Haste, who serves on the conservation district’s board of directors, applauded the efforts of all parties involved, stating, “This project is a prime example of many different agencies working together to achieve a common goal. Without the full cooperation of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition of Abandoned Mine Reclamation and the Dauphin County Conservation District, this project would not happen.”

The major impact to Bear Creek stems from a contaminated mine pool that discharges nearly 100 tons of iron into the creek annually. As iron particles settle out of the water, they coat the streambed with a rust-colored residue, leaving the creek lifeless.

This project, the first half of a two-phase approach to restoring the creek to its natural condition, will treat drainage flowing from the Lykens Water Level Tunnel.

The conservation district is concurrently exploring funding options that will subsidize a second stage of construction that will address related contaminated discharges located further downstream.

From the mid-nineteenth century through the mid-1930s, the coal mining industry was booming in the Lykens Valley, with production rates averaging 800,000 tons of coal annually.

Most of the mining in this area occurred before modern reclamation practices and regulations to protect the land were enacted. When the mine closed, the site was abandoned, without measures taken to address environmental damage caused by mining operations.

As early as 1973, the state Department of Environmental Resources had collected data on Bear Creek, a tributary of Wiconisco Creek, to determine an effective strategy for improving degraded water quality conditions in both streams caused by mine drainage.

Additional studies performed by state and federal agencies in the mid-1980s through the late 1990s recommended construction of a passive treatment system that uses ponds to collect and detain the mine discharge flow in large pools, allowing time for the iron to settle out of the water. After the settling process, treated water is released downstream.

Dauphin County Conservation District became involved with the project in 1999, when it began work on the Wiconisco Creek Rivers Conservation Plan, funded by Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. This plan identified future environmental remediation activities needed to improve the water quality throughout the Wiconisco Creek watershed.

A Growing Greener grant from the Department of Environmental Protection in 2000 supplied funds for DCCD to continue collecting water quality data on Bear Creek and to develop a site-specific remediation plan based on current data. The information gathered from this effort confirmed passive treatment as the most viable option for improving the condition of Bear Creek’s waters.

In November 2003, DCCD was awarded funds through a U.S. EPA Section 319 Nonpoint Source Pollution grant for the construction of the passive treatment system. During the following two years, DCCD negotiated a land transfer agreement between the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the property owner of the proposed construction site that would place property maintenance under the control of PGC.

In early October 2006, John W. Gleim, Jr., Inc. of Carlisle was awarded the contract to install three settling ponds that comprise the first phase of the Bear Creek remediation initiative. Construction is scheduled to begin by early November, and is expected to be completed in late Spring 2007. The project is estimated to cost approximately $350,000.

Ron Kopp, Chair of DCCD’s Board of Directors remarked, “This is an exciting time for the Dauphin County Conservation District. After many years of planning, we look forward to getting this project underway and beginning the process of restoring this stream.”

Following the completion of Phase I activity, DCCD will conduct post-construction monitoring of Bear Creek’s water quality. DCCD plans to host a formal dedication of the project in early Summer 2007.

Project partners include: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, United States Geological Survey, federal Office of Surface Mining, DEP, DCNR, Commission, Department of Transportation, Wiconisco Township, Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, Wiconisco Creek Restoration Association, John W. Gleim, Jr., Inc., Skelly and Loy, Inc., Medco Development Co.

For more information, visit the Bear Creek Abandoned Mine Drainage Treatment Project webpage.

10/13/2006