Pottsville Republican Newspaper Article

SHEPPTON — A $2 million mine drainage treatment system in development could someday turn the Catawissa Creek into a world-class trout stream. "And we're hoping to have the project completed by November," said Thomas J. Davidock, a natural resources specialist with the Schuylkill Conservation District, Pottsville.

The system is being constructed to treat water flowing from the Audenreid Mine Tunnel, about two miles east of Sheppton. Earthmovers and contractors, including James T. O'Hara Inc., Moscow, Pa., have been hard at work at the site since March. "We have about 13,500 tons of limestone coming to the site," said Clayton E. Bubeck, project manager with RETTEW Associates Inc., Pottsville. "We're about two-thirds of the way through the project. Hopefully, before winter we'll see how this system works, be able to tweak it and get it ready to operate." "And by the spring trout season," Bubeck added, "we should see a definite improvement in the Catawissa Creek." The project was initiated in 2001 by the conservation district and the Catawissa Creek Restoration Association. But today, a dozen or more project partners are involved. Representatives from some of these groups met at the construction site Wednesday for a progress report and tour. The Audenreid discharge is the largest discharge in the Catawissa Creek Watershed, with an average flow of 8,478 gallons per minute. And because of it, the Catawissa Creek is on the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) list of impaired waterways. According to the plans, water from the tunnel will flow into a treatment system intake structure instead of directly into Catawissa Creek. From there it will be piped to three concrete, circular treatment cells. Each are 120 feet in diameter and 12 feet deep and will be filled with 4,600 tons of limestone. These cells were constructed and installed by Halteman Construction, Lebanon. The acidic water will go in with a pH level of about 4.03. Once treated, the pH will be at 7, or neutral. Called "an innovative passive treatment system," it will utilize new technology to treat the high rate of discharge, and it won't require much in the way of manpower. "The system must be flushed extensively and frequently in order to manage the accumulation of aluminum hydroxide solids and keep them out of the stream," Davidock said. "About every hour and a half, the treatment tanks will be automatically flushed by a series of automatic siphons into a large settling pond to receive the aluminum precipitate. The water will then flow into a second settling pond to provide final polishing before it is returned to the creek." Siphons that can be triggered automatically will keep the treatment cells from overflowing, said James M. Gotta, a member of the Catawissa Creek Restoration Association board of directors. "It does make it so that we don't have to have a manual operation," Gotta said. One obstacle the contractors faced was an underground gas pipe. "Right where we're standing, there's a high-pressure gas line under our feet," Bubeck said from a vantage point a stone's throw east of the treatment cells. "So far, Sunoco Pipeline Co. has been excellent to work with." The land the mine tunnel and treatment system is on is owned by Butler Enterprises, Hazleton. It's currently leased to Paragon Adventure Park and is used by all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and off-road motorcycles. But Butler Enterprises has given this project the right-of-way on eight acres. In September 2004, the project received a $1.4 million grant from DEP through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Federal Clean Water Act Section 319 Non-Point-Source Pollution Program. Other funding sources included a $150,000 grant from the federal Office of Surface Mining and a $100,000 grant from the state Bureau for Abandoned Mine Reclamation. "Coming up with funding for this project was a challenging feat, because it is the most expensive treatment system that was put on the ground in Pennsylvania for passive treatment," Davidock said. There are a large list of project partners, which include Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, Luzerne Conservation District, the Schuylkill County commissioners, East Union Township and Blue Knob Rod & Gun Club. "Project partners have really pulled everything together to get this thing off the ground," Davidock said. "I'm just in awe of all the work that's being done here," said Frederick L. Suffian, an EPA program manager based in Philadelphia. "We provide funding. We hope we get it to the right people and the right place. And this is an excellent example of doing just that."

©The REPUBLICAN & Herald 2005