MWASeptember 2006 TERRITORY SeptemberPage 2006 HOME OF THE YOUGH RIVERKEEPER® Protecting, preserving and restoring the Indian Creek watershed and surrounding areas. Bike for Health Benefit to be held on October 7, 2006 MWA teams with Laurel Highlands Rotary Club • Our new website should be up The Mountain Watershed Association has recently partnered with the and running within the next Donegal-Laurel Highlands Rotary Club to hold a fundraising bike ride on the month! Please check back with Indian Creek Valley Hike/Bike Trail. The ride, called Bike for Health, will raise us often: mtwatershed.com awareness of and funding for the work MWA is involved in regarding the health • Lottery calendars will be here effects of pollution, as well as Rotary's PolioPlus: Completing Our Promise pro- soon (see inside!). gram that seeks to wipe out polio worldwide. • 2007 entertainment books have The ride will take place on October 7, 2006, beginning at Pavilion #3 in arrived. Call today to C.W. Resh Park, Indian Head, PA. MWA will have environmental education purchase yours! activities set up along the trail for participants. The cost is $25 for the first registered family member and $5 for each additional family member, and the first 20 participants to register the morning of the ride will receive a free t-shirt INSIDE THIS ISSUE: courtesy of MWA. Registration begins at 9am. The Indian Creek Valley Hike/Bike Trail uses a former railroad right of 2 Kalp Project way and the mostly level surface is a perfect ride for families and small children. Groundbreaking A light lunch will be served after the ride by Rotarian volunteers, led by Paul Trimbur at the hot dog grill. A rain date has been scheduled for October 14, Falls Race A Success! 3 2006. The Benefit for Health ride is a great opportunity to start your day in the Indian Creek Stream 3 beautiful Laurel Highlands, see some great fall foliage, and support the Study Mountain Watershed Association and the Donegal-Laurel Highlands Rotary Club! We hope to see you there! For more information please call Kristy at Stocking Stuffers 4 MWA: 724.455.4200. DIRECTIONS: From the Pennsylvania Turnpike, take Exit 91 (Donegal). Don't Abandon 5 Turn left on Route 31. Just before Sarnelli's, turn right on Rt. 711/381. Pennsylvania! Continue until you reach the town of Indian Head (approximately 7 miles) and turn left to cross Indian Creek. Turn left on Clarence Resh Lane, and follow the What the DEP Can (and 6 lane to the park and pavilion. Won't) Do VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY: We are in need of 5-7 volunteers to man (or Trips for Kids Update 7 woman!) the crossings on the ICV trail during the ride. If you can donate 2-3 hours of your time on October 7th, you can earn next years membership for free! Please call us today at 724.455.4200 and let us know you are available! September 2006 Page 2 It Is Finally A Reality! Construction on Anna and Steve Gdosky Treatment System Has Begun! After several years of studies, iron, aluminum, and acid from another 2 years as the treatment water monitoring, design, and a price roughly 10.9 miles of Indian Creek.” system is built. Once the treatment tag of over $3.5 million, the Anna and Many people think that build- system is built, the water from the Steve Gdosky Indian Creek Restora- ing these treatment ponds only makes mine will be diverted into the ponds tion Project (also known as the Kalp the stream look better – that we are where the metals will fall to the discharge) is now under construction. only concerned with aesthetics,” bottom and not enter the stream. The Mountain Watershed Simko says. “However, in reality, The Kalp discharge is one of Association, Inc. received a $1.6 taking the iron, aluminum and acid 5 abandoned mine projects that MWA million dollar grant from the PA out of the stream will help the stream has worked on. “With only a few Department of Environmental recover to provide a great fishing and more mine drainage sites to tackle in Protection Growing Greener program recreational opportunity for the the coming years, we can restore the and over $500,000 from the USDA community. With the hike/bike trail Indian Creek watershed by 95%.” says Natural Resources Conservation along the stream, this allows access for Beverly Braverman, Executive Direc- Service to construct the treatment many people to fish and play in the tor of MWA. system. The contractor, Stoy Exca- stream.” She continues, “We extend a vating of Somerset, PA, has started sincere thank you to all of the land- work. Currently, the water in Indian Creek is an ugly orange color. The owners who have allowed us access, Phase I is to build an access orange color is iron that was dissolved given us easements and helped us road and a drain that will collect clean in the mine water. Even though this acquire land for these systems to be water and divert it around the site looks bad, the stream is actually built,” Braverman said. “Without the where the ponds will be built. Phase healthier. When the iron was not support and encouragement of these II is to build the treatment ponds and visible in the stream, the water was generous folks, who would have probably won’t start until after winter. very acidic. This acid was keeping the thought that Indian Creek would “This is a very large construction pro- iron dissolved. Since the amount of recover from mine drainage pollution ject happening right here in our area,” water in the mine has been lowered, in our lifetime? It is no longer a says Deb Simko, Project Coordinator the remaining water going into the dream – it is now a reality!" for MWA. “After the treatment creek has less acid in it and the iron is system is built, it will clean up the not dissolved. The water will continue to have the orange color for MWA Hires New Youghiogheny Riverkeeper MWA recently hired a new full mental education. She is a certified to paddle. time employee. Krissy Kasserman teacher with a specialization in envi- MWA intends to have a began work in August and is now ronmental education. greater presence monitoring working on a study of water quality of Krissy comes to us from pollution in the Youghiogheny River the Youghiogheny and Monongahela Tri-State Citizens Mining Network in watershed as part of the Youghiog- Rivers. She will also be coordinating Washington, PA, where she worked as heny Riverkeeper Project. If you are our Trips for Kids project, as well as a community organizer. out paddling, hiking, or going for a working on various other MWA A whitewater kayaker, Krissy drive and see any water quality projects. is looking forward to working for problems in the watershed, please call A West Virginia native, greater protection of the Youghiog- the Mountain Watershed Association. Krissy's background is in environ- heny River, one of her favorite rivers We'd like to come out and take a look. Update on Kalp Strip Mine All appeals are filed and we are ready to proceed. If you have any questions, please call us at the office! September 2006 Page 3 Indian Creek Stream Study Conducted By Shannon Bates In August MWA staff sects not only live exclusively in clean system is desperately needed to conducted a macro invertebrate study water, but also are a very important restore the health of Indian Creek. on two sections of Indian Creek to food source for fish. A rainbow trout The Anna and Steve Gdosky determine stream health. The sites was spotted very near this sampling treatment system is predicted to clean were located above and below the site as well. up 40% of the existing pollution in Kalp mine discharge. The second site was Indian Creek. Once in place, the The first site, located about located approximately 1 mile down- treatment system should restore this 2-3 miles above the discharge, stream from the Kalp discharge. Not section of stream to an aquatic habitat appeared to be the picture of a healthy a single macro invertebrate was found for the first time in many years. We stream. Many good water quality indi- at this site, indicating that the water look forward to these great improve- cators were found including mayflies, quality is very poor, and proving that ments as we work toward a stoneflies, and caddis flies. These in- the Anna and Steve Gdosky treatment completely restored Indian Creek. Public Hearing on Blasting Rule Changes Held at MWA's Request On September 21 the will, if adopted, weaken the rules mony about the effects of blasting, Office of Surface Mining held a public governing blasting both on surface weakened regulations, and accessibility hearing at the request of the Mountain mines and in the creation of air shafts of information regarding the Watershed Association in Donegal, for deep mines. proposed changes. PA. MWA's request for a hearing was The hearing was attended by Thanks to those folks who in response to proposed changes that MWA members who offered testi- came out to testify! Falls Race A Huge Success for MWA Get your YRK t-shirt before they sell out! MWA recently attended the year that boaters are able to paddle Falls Race in Ohiopyle to over the falls, and many kayakers promote the Youghiogheny sign up. Riverkeeper project. The event was a Available for sale were our huge success with 20 new members new Youghiogheny Riverkeeper joining and significant funds being t-shirts and canvas grocery bags.