The Clearfield Creek Watershed Association completed a major project last November called the Klondike Mine Drainage Treatment Project.

Margaret Dunn and Cliff Denholm of Stream Restoration Inc. had the opportunity to spend a day touring the facility recently with John Foreman of the U.S. Environmental Research Service.

The project consists of installing two passive treatment systems which were constructed to treat two discharges of the long-abandoned underground Klondike Mine which operated in the 1940s and 1950s.

Though the drainage is largely forested and hosts part of State Game Land, the two discharges were responsible for about one-third of the acid load to Little Laurel Run, which significantly markedly decreases the alkalinity of Clearfield Creek. No fish or macroinvertebrates are present in the lower two-thirds of the stream, and brown iron oxide coats the stream bed.

In addition, as part of the project, a stream channel was reconstructed to prevent clean water in the stream from entering the underground mine, therefore reducing the generation of new mine drainage.

The passive system was designed by Dr. Art Rose and John Foreman and was constructed by Ligonier Construction Company.

Funding for the project came from a $12,855 grant from the DEP Growing Greener Watershed Program, a $391,512 grant from the U.S. EPA 319 Program, a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Appalachian Clean Stream Program and a $20,000 grant from the Western PA Watershed Program.

In addition, about $20,000 of volunteer work was accomplished by members of the Watershed Association and by John Foreman.

The owners of the land on which the project was built included the Blair County Solid Waste Authority, the Hite-Dodson family whose ancestors once operated the Klondike Mine and Cooney Bros. Coal Company.

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

2/1/2008