The Montour Run Watershed Association this week dedicated the North Fork Montour Run Restoration Facility in Allegheny County, the third of four major mine drainage treatment facilities funded in the watershed.

This remediation system will improve the health of nearly two miles of the North Fork of Montour Run, a stream that has been identified on DEP's 303(d) List as impaired by abandoned mine drainage but having high potential to sustain a trout fishery.

The North Fork Montour Run project includes the siting, design, permitting, and construction of an eight-acre passive treatment system. The facility includes a collection system with alkaline drain, three oxidation ponds, two vertical flow ponds and a one-third acre aerobic wetland. Wetland plantings will be completed with the help of MRWA volunteers to complete re-vegetation of the site and will help to enhance the treatment system.

An estimated 25 tons of acid and 22 tons of iron compounds entering Montour Run each year from this site alone will be eliminated. The resultant improvement in water quality will go far toward improved survival of fish and the aquatic life forms that support them in the main trunk of Montour Run.

In addition, the wetlands habitat has been expanded and enhanced, increasing the potential for wildlife utilization.

“The treatment of mine discharges in the vicinity of the North Fork should prove to be a significant enhancement to water quality in the Montour Run Watershed," noted Steven R. Kepler, Biologist with the Fish and Boat Commission.

"We are the sponsors of a trout fishing contest held each spring along the main trunk of Montour Run,” said Dennis Earley, Board Chairman of the Forest Grove Sportsman's Club. “With improvements in the quality of water in Montour Run, the stocked fish and the organisms they feed on will be better able to survive over the months that follow.”

Construction of the North Fork Montour Run Restoration Facility is an outgrowth of the Montour Run Watershed Assessment and Cleanup Plan Project performed under MRWA sponsorship and funded by the Growing Greener grant program of the Department of Environmental Protection.

Conducted in the 2001-2003 time period, the assessment project sought to identify environmentally harmful discharges of contaminated groundwater from abandoned coal mines in the 37-square-mile Montour Run Watershed. It included a year-long program of monthly sampling of these discharges, leading to recommendations for treatment approaches for the most damaging.

The discharges along Route 30 between Imperial and Clinton, Pa ranked high in the list and were cited as major sources of pollution of the North Fork of Montour Run due to significant levels of acid, iron, and other dissolved metals.

The $674,281 total cost of the North Fork Montour Run project has been funded with $337,367 from the DEP’s Growing Greener program and $100,000 from the Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program of the OSM. In addition, in-kind services valued at $189,120 for the construction of an anoxic limestone drain, two sediment ponds, and associated piping were provided by the TPC in conjunction with the building of the Southern Beltway's Findlay Connector.

Also, matching cash, goods, and services valued at $47,794 have been provided by the prime contractor, BioMost, Inc., and its partners Quality Aggregates Inc., Stream Restoration Incorporated, and G&C Coal Analysis Lab.

“What is tremendously exciting is the positive environmental impact this partnership effort has made,” said Tim Danehy, BioMost's system designer. “The untreated water has very high levels of iron, over 180 mg/l, and the concentration of acid is even higher. This is a testament to the positive impacts a dedicated group can have.”

"The Allegheny County Airport Authority is pleased to partner with the MRWA. The airport is one of the headwaters of the watershed, and this project will continue our dedication in helping to improve the environment and local water quality," stated Kevin Gurchak, Manager of Environmental Compliance of the Allegheny County Airport Authority, which provided site access and project support.

“From our perspective, BioMost and Quality Aggregates have been outstanding performers,” said MRWA President Mark Fedosick. “They have completed the entire scope of work on time and within budget.”

The new facility is located on Pittsburgh International Airport property in Findlay Township.

Invited speakers included Deputy Secretary for Mineral Resources Management J. Scott Roberts of the Department of Environmental Protection; David Hamilton, Clean Streams Coordinator for the U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining; David Sheridan, Construction Engineering Manager for the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission; Chairman of Findlay Supervisors Tom Gallant; and other officials of state and Federal agencies involved in the project.

The MRWA is a non-profit organization chartered in the year 2000, which seeks to protect and improve water resources in the Montour Run Watershed.

Other projects completed or in the planning stages include the Boggs Road, Clinton Road, and McCaslin Road Mine Drainage Treatment Projects. These projects implement recommendations of the River Conservation and Land-Use Plan for the Montour Run Watershed, established in 1998 by the Montour Valley Alliance, forerunner coalition to the MRWA.

For more information, visit the Montour Run Watershed Association website.

6/27/2008