The Moshannon Creek Watershed, one of the largest and the most mine-drainage-impacted tributaries to the West Branch Susquehanna River, was historically regarded as impossible to remediate. That perception changed with the passing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the $250 million allocated to Pennsylvania annually for mine land reclamation and mine drainage treatment projects.

New Solutions for ‘Impossible’ Remediation 

A 2020 watershed-wide assessment determined three prime areas of the Moshannon Creek Watershed were contributing 70% of the mine drainage loading. Hawk Run and its mine drainage discharges are one of those three locations, and offer the most iron loading to the Moshannon Creek mainstem. Due to the influx of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding, three large-scale active treatment plant projects are now in the early process of becoming a reality. The most upstream project is centered around discharges in the vicinity of Osceola Mills Borough; the second is located near the town of Hawk Run in Morris Township, Clearfield County, being advanced by Kleinfelder; and the most downstream plant being planned to treat discharges impacting the Sulfur Run tributary in Cooper Township, Clearfield County. The combined remediation impacts of these three planned plants have the potential of improving the Moshannon Creek mainstem water quality to an extent that allows fish species to re-populate.

Mine Pool Combination Potential 

While Hawk Run is impacted greatly from two shaft discharges from underground workings in the Lower Kittanning Coal Seam, another pool in the Ghem Mine which impacts Munson Run to the North, has the potential of being combined with the two pools that impact Hawk Run leading to a single plant treating three separate mine pools that could return water quality to two tributaries of Moshannon Creek. This project also will utilize thermal drone capabilities to help Kleinfelder and its client investigate and confirm that all mine discharge water impacting this area are accounted for and being collected. Mine water exits the underground at about 50 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. This temperature is significant because it can be sensed by a thermal drone within surface waters, which have temperatures greater than 70 degrees during the summer months.

Project Results

This Phase I project is intended to complete investigations and needed data compilations, including design documents, permitting plans, and construction cost estimates, to treat the discharges impacting Hawk Run. These items will allow the Moshannon Creek Watershed Association to submit a future grant application for project completion.

Project Details

Location:
Morris Township, PA
Owner:
Moshannon Creek Watershed Association