JB#1 Under Construction

Raccoon Creek is home to 32,000 people in 15 municipalities in parts of Beaver Washington and Allegheny counties. But it is also the home of over 175 sources of abandoned mine drainage.

Thanks to the Raccoon Creek Watershed Association, Independence Marsh Foundation, the Department of Environmental Protection, the federal Office of Surface Mining and lots of local volunteers, the watershed is now being cleaned up to again be a source of pride for the community.

This week’s Video Blog features highlight two of the nine projects the Association has developed in the watershed to clean up mine drainage, educate the community about its problems and enjoy the natural features of the watershed.

Phase I of the JB#1 Project is located in the headwaters of the Raccoon Creek Watershed in Washington County and is designed to treat a 1,100 gallon per minute mine discharge.

The unique design of this project will mix clean water from Raccoon Creek with the contaminated mine water to increase the effectiveness of a pond and wetland treatment system to reduce the iron content of the water by about 45 tons a year.

Tim Danehy from Biomost, Inc. talks about the objectives of the project and its design, while equipment operator Wayne Fuchs from Quality Aggregates discusses its construction.

Sometimes mine drainage treatment projects do not work like the designers thought. And that’s what happened in the case of the JB#2 Project in the Raccoon Creek Watershed, Washington County.

Originally designed to filter water through spent mushroom compost, it was discovered the lower pH of the mine water made the iron cling to the compost and clog up the system.

Now, with the help of the federal Office of Surface Mining, the Raccoon Creek Watershed Association and Independence Marsh Foundation are renovating the project to restore its treatment capacity.

John Davidson, local volunteer and a former DEP mine inspector, talks about the challenges of renovating the treatment system.

For more information, visit the Raccoon Creek Watershed Association website.

1/19/2007