Section 319
T SOURCE PROGRAM SOGGESS STORY
Treating Acid Mine Drainage Improves Water Quality for Fish
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Swatara Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, which drains to the
Chesapeake Bay. Dozens of species of fish that had not been present for
decades returned to a 7-mile segment of Northern Swatara Creek as a result of improvements in water quality
and stream habitat.
Northern Swatara Creek was polluted by excess acidity, along with iron, manganese, and aluminum, that were
leaching from abandoned anthracite coal mines. Pennsylvania listed the stream segment on the state's 303(d)
list in 1996 and subsequent listing cycles. Best management practices (BMPs) were employed to treat the
abandoned mine drainage (AMD) and improve water quality. Before 1985 no fish were found in ecological stud-
ies conducted on the Northern Swatara Creek; however, in the past decade a gradual and steady increase in the
number of fish species and individuals has been documented. In fact, annual studies since 1999 have confirmed
that in all but 2 years more than 20 species of fish and more than 200 individual fish were living in the creek.
Problem
The Swatara Creek watershed is located in Schuylkill,
Lebanon, and Dauphin counties. The creek enters the
Susquehanna River just downstream of Harrisburg, the
capital of Pennsylvania. The Northern Swatara Creek
watershed is in Schuylkill County. The creek flows
through the southernmost area of the anthracite coal
region of eastern Pennsylvania, an area that was heavily
mined through the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
It is estimated that 25 square miles (67 percent) of the
Northern Swatara Creek watershed is affected by AMD,
and impairments in the waterbody must be addressed
to meet water quality standards. As required by the
Clean Water Act, a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
was prepared for 11 creek segments due to impair-
ments noted in the 1996, 1998, 2002, and 2004
Pennsylvania section 303(d) lists of impaired waterbod-
ies. The impairments were caused by high levels of
metals (the three primary metals associated with
AMD—iron, manganese, and aluminum) and, in some
stretches, precipitated solids.
Figure 1. Return of fish to Northern Swatara Creek
Swatara Creek at Ravine, PA
No
Data
29 76 195 379 206 224 431 495 143 48 890 196
Project Highlights
Starting in the early 1970s with a series of voluntary
projects and enforcement projects that companies
completed in lieu of fines, efforts have been underway
to clean up coal silt and sediment ponds and stabilize
the lands with high erosive potential in the watershed.
The Swatara Creek Diversion Wells project, completed
in 1995 adjacent to U.S. Route 209, raised the pH of
the creek. This success built momentum with local
stakeholders and helped form the Northern Swatara
Creek Watershed Association. The diversion wells
Low numbers offish (species numbers are above the bar graph,
individuals numbers are along the x-axis) in 2003 and 2004
are believed to be due to high water that made for difficult
sampling conditions. In 2005 and 2006, with normal flow
conditions, the fish population continued to grow.
Source: USGS, Cravotta. Fish species identified during ecological surveys of Swatara
Creek at Ravine, PA (1985-2006).
intercept the flow of the creek and increase its pH by 1
to 1.5 standard units through the addition of limestone.
Beginning in 1996, one or more water treatment proj-
ects have been implemented each year to address AMD
pollution in the watershed.
Monitoring and study have made the Swatara Creek
effort one of the best-documented restoration projects
in the country. Since 1998, the creek has been the
subject of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
section 319 National Monitoring Program project. A
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cooperative study effort undertaken by federal, state,
and county partners resulted in the design of a treat-
ment system for the Rowe Tunnel to address the
discharge of the 3,000-gallon-per-minute flow that is
the main source of the Lorberry Creek, a stream that
flows into Northern Swatara Creek. The successful
implementation of this and other projects has resulted
in the gradual return of fish to Northern Swatara Creek
in the town of Ravine just downstream of the portion of
the watershed in the anthracite coal fields.
Results
The best indicator of improved water quality is the
gradual shift of the benthic macroinvertebrate com-
munity from pollutant-tolerant species to more pol-
lutant-sensitive species. In 1997 mayflies (a benthic
macroinvertebrate in the Ephemeroptera order) once
again began to be found in the creek in the springtime.
Although mayflies are common in fisheries in more
pristine areas of Pennsylvania, they had not occurred
in Swatara Creek for perhaps a hundred years. In total,
about 7 stream miles of the Northern Swatara Creek
have dramatically improved water quality. As a result,
the fish community has also rebounded (Figure 1).
Twenty-four species of fish were documented in 2000,
including coldwater species like brook trout and sculpin
and warm-water species like sunfish, pickerel, and
bullhead catfish. Although most of the fish species are
considered to have moderate tolerance to pollution,
several pollution-intolerant species, including river chub,
cutlips minnow, and longnose dace, have been reported
since 1997.
Partners and Funding
In total, more than $731,026 of section 319 funding
has been used to address AMD and help to restore the
Northern Swatara Creek, as well as to leverage in-kind
services and money from other sources. More than
$300,000 of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection (PADEP) Abandoned Mine Reclamation
Funds has been applied to water quality projects in
the watershed. The U.S. Department of Energy, U.S.
Geological Survey, and Office of Surface Mining have
also funded projects.
A total of more than $9 million of Operation Scarlift,
Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, and Growing
Greener funds have been used in the Northern Swatara
watershed. Schuylkill County Conservation District,
Northern Swatara Creek Watershed Association,
municipalities, local industries and businesses, sports-
man clubs, and private citizens have provided technical
assistance, volunteer labor, and donations of funds and
materials.
Figure 2. Northern Swatara watershed and location of BMPs
constructed to treat AMD
NORTHERN SWATARA CREEK
USGS Monitoring Stations:
A Miscellaneous record
• Continuous record
Oxic
Limestone
Drain
Oxic
Limestone
Drain
Limestone '.
Diversion Wells'
M1-0
M1-1
M2-0
M2-1
Limeston^ •
Sand'
RAVINE
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-07-001P
September 2007
For additional information contact:
Craig R. Morgan, District Manager, Schuylkill Conservation District
570-622-3742, ext. 5 • schuylcd@co.schuylkill.pa.us
Daniel Koury, PADEP, Pottsville District Mining Office
570-621-3118 • dkoury@state.pa.us
Charles A. Cravotta III, U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resources
Discipline, New Cumberland, PA • 717-739-6963 • cravotta@usgs.gov
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