Tons of Fishing
Web Directories And resources!

DEP had determined that two of PMC's underground mining operations--its South Mine No. 2, located in Green Township, Indiana County, and Susquehanna Township, Cambria County, and its 580 Pocket mine, located entirely in Susquehanna Township, Cambria County--are the source of mine drainage seeping into a stretch of Repine Run and the South Branch of Two Lick Creek. DEP ordered PMC to lower the mine pool depth to a level at which the discharge would be eliminated.

"PMC's decision to stop contesting our order and clean up the streams will result in real environmental improvements," Dolence said in a statement.

Mine drainage most often includes elevated sulfates and metal concentrations, typically iron, manganese and aluminum. The amount of mine drainage present at any site depends on the amount of the mineral pyrite exposed by the mining operations, thee amount of water moving through the mine site and the length of time the pyrite and water are exposed to air.

When the pyrite mixes with air and water, it becomes acidic and results in the discharge of aluminum, iron, manganese and sulfates. In this instance, the iron deposition killed off the food chain and destroyed spawning habitats in the streams.

Both streams, which support wild trout populations, were affected by mine discharges and removed from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission's annual stocking schedule.

PMC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Power & Light Co., twice ignored DEP compliance orders, resulting in $45,000 in fines. After 25 days of litigation before the Environmental Hearing Board and several days in Commonwealth Court, PMC began pumping and treating the mine pool in July, as ordered by the court. Weekly monitoring by DEP and PMC personnel showed the seep flows were diminishing as the mine pool elevation was reduced.

In September, PMC acknowledged that DEP had correctly determined the mine pool to be the cause of the seepages and decided to withdraw its appeal and proceed with full treatment of the problem.

"As pumping continues, we expect to see all the discharges eliminated and the streams returning to their pre-mining quality," Dolence said.