BY JULIE BENAMATI
Three Cambria County conservation groups are slated to receive about $350,000 in grants to continue their effort to clean waterways damaged by abandoned mine drainage.
In Somerset County, two grants totaling more than $105,000 are on the way, according to State Sen. John Wozniak, D-Westmont.
The funding is part of the state’s Growing Greener program, Wozniak said.
Clearfield Creek Watershed, Cambria County Conservation District and Dunlo Rod & Gun Club will use the money to clean streams adversely affected by abandoned mine discharge.
Robb Piper, district manager at CCCD, said the county organization applied for the funds some time ago.
“That’s good news,” Piper said of the $277,000 in grant funds that will be shared by two projects.
An acid mine discharge treatment system, including an innovative limestone bed treatment system, will be constructed on Trout Run, a small stream that joins the Conemaugh about one mile west of Portage.
A similar system will be constructed to treat mine discharge flowing to an active brook trout fishery on the South Fork Little Conemaugh River.
“We’re trying to clean up some of the smaller discharges in the headwaters of the South Fork,” said Jacqueline Ritko, resource conservation supervisor at CCCD. “There are larger discharges in Beaverdale, but if we clean up the headwaters ... it will be a nice trout stream.”
Ritko said the stream starts in good condition at the reservoir end and worsens as it approaches Beaverdale.
“We’re trying to keep it clean the whole way to Beaverdale,” Ritko said.
“This will get us started and improve trout fishery in headwaters area.”
Additional help for the waterway will be managed by Dunlo Rod & Gun Club.
The group will receive $27,678 to raise alkalinity in the main stem of the South Fork Little Conemaugh River to restore brook trout to the lower stream reaches.
Clearfield Creek Watershed Association received $40,828 for design of a passive treatment system to treat three acid-mine drainage discharges in the headwaters of Little Laurel Run.
The stream flows into Clearfield Creek about two miles north of Ashville, and the headwaters are about three miles upstream near the village of Buckhorn.
According to the organization’s Web site, the stream is highly degraded by acid mine drainage from a number of abandoned surface and underground mines in its drainage basin. No fish or other aquatic life are present in the lower two-thirds of the stream, and brown iron oxide coats the stream bed.
Also, State Sen. Richard Kasunic, D-Dunbar, said projects in Somerset County will receive Growing Greener money.
Kasunic said the Somerset County Conservation District was awarded an $86,000 grant to repair two acid mine treatment facilities on Stonycreek River.
“I am pleased to see state funds used effectively to keep these facilities in good condition and prevent further problems,’’ Kasunic said.
The second grant of $20,000 went to the Shade Creek Watershed Association. These funds will be used to raise the alkalinity of various tributaries of Shade Creek to improve water quality.
And for work on 20 farms in a 14-county area, the Somerset County Conservation District received $150,000. That money will go to install stream bank fencing, livestock watering systems, access lanes, and other pasture improvement management practices.
Other projects in the region include:
• Loyalhanna Watershed Association in Westmoreland County, $500,000 to construct a passive acid mine discharge treatment system to improve the water quality in the Loyalhanna Creek.
• Broad Top Township in Bedford County, $375,000 to design and construct a passive treatment system in the headwaters of Sandy Run.
• Juniata Clean Water Partnership, $100,000 for retrofitting the Tussey Mountain High School parking lot with a porous surface, leading to an interceptor water garden to protect an impaired stream.
