On January 28, the Susquehanna River Basin Commission announced the award of a $1.5 million contract to design an abandoned mine drainage treatment plant project to help cleanup the Tioga River from Blossburg to Mansfield in Tioga County.

This project is funded in part by DEP’s Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization Program funded by the federal Office of Surface Mine Reclamation and Enforcement.

[Note: DEP received $25 million for this program last week.  Read more here.]

Abandoned mine discharges have polluted the Tioga River for more than a century. Now the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the Tioga County Concerned Citizens Committee have a plan to stop it.

“Restoration of the Upper Tioga River Watershed will have significant positive environmental impacts for Tioga County, specifically the towns of Blossburg, Covington and Mansfield, as well as the Tioga Hammond Dam complex,” explained Joyce Andrews, Secretary of TCCCC. “Benefits include recreational fishing opportunities, improved wildlife habitat, value-added for properties bordering the river, and overall improved aesthetics of the Tioga River corridor.”

Once constructed, the plant will actively treat five mine discharges. Three are currently degrading Morris Run, a tributary stream that flows into the Tioga River. Another is contaminating the nearby Fall Brook tributary. The collection and treatment system will also capture the largest mine discharge in the area – Coal Creek #5.

Treatment of these five discharges will not only restore the mainstem of the Tioga River, but will also restore parts of the Tioga-Hammond Lakes Recreation Area. Downstream water quality improvements and benefits are expected to flow across state lines as the Tioga River runs from Pennsylvania north into New York state.

For decades, the TCCCC has been involved in projects to clean-up waters affected by abandoned mine drainage pollution.

Abandoned mine discharges are a leading source of stream impairment in Pennsylvania with more than 7,356 miles of waterways affected statewide.

This project is funded in part by DEP’s Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization Program funded by the federal Office of Surface Mine Reclamation and Enforcement.

TCCCC plans to contribute funding raised under their Save the River Project effort.

Click Here for the full announcement.

Check Streams Near You

The draft DEP 2022 Water Quality Report has an interactive report viewer that allows you to zoom in to your own address to see if the streams near you are impaired and why.

Click Here to check out your streams.

Related Articles:

-- Federal Office Of Surface Mine Reclamation Awards PA $25 Million For Mine Reclamation With Environmental, Economic, Recreation, Solar Energy Benefits

-- ​​Advocating For Solar Energy Projects On Abandoned Mine Lands - By Kathy Cook, PA League of Women Voters, Environmental Policy Director

-- Two Bipartisan Bills Just Sitting In Senate Waiting To Address Record Number Of Water Quality Impaired Streams Reported In 2022

-- Witnesses Unanimously Support Allocating American Rescue Plan Funding For On-Farm Conservation Projects At House Committee Meeting; Rep. Metcalfe Calls It ‘Welfare’ 

[Posted: January 28, 2022]

1/31/2022