Georges Creek cleanup grant awarded
SPRINGHILL TWP. – After receiving a $20,000 state grant, the Georges Creek Clearwater Initiative is one step closer to cleaning a local stream and its watershed. Last wee, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced it had awarded the grant from the state’s Growing Greener program for the continued study and development of the Georges Creek watershed.
The initiative received $80,000 in funding from this program last year to help the group organize and fund a professional assessment of the watershed’s estimated 65-square-mile area.
With the new funding, the group will move into the second phase of its work, according to Marian Chambers of Gaydos Chambers Associates, the consulting engineering firm for the project.
This second phase includes hiring a biologist to conduct a review of animals and aquatic life, evaluating the effects of storm water drainage on Georges Creek and to see what, if any, effect the historic Larmer House has on the stream.
Engineer Bruce Chambers noted that volunteers canvassing the creek took pictures of the historic home, which appears to be a grist mill complex similar to one in Perryopolis. He said the group must evaluate the site further.
The initiative will conduct a biological review and a base analysis, which later will be used as a basis for comparison to show how the group’s efforts have improved the stream quality.
The grant money, Chambers said, will be used to form a river conservation plan, a process in which tests will be conducted at certain spots to build a database of information on the aquatic life in Georges Creek, including bacteria levels. Chambers explained that certain bacteria levels are needed for high-quality streams, and without those levels, certain fish and animals can’t survive.
To canvass the entire watershed would take much more money than what has been provided, said Chambers, so the group is testing areas where acid mine drainage, sewage waste water and other pollutants have entered the stream. With this information, the initiative can begin forming a detailed plan to clean the streams.
“And later, when another biological review is performed, we will be able to see just how much of an improvement has been made in order to entice the (Pennsylvania) Fish Commission to perhaps begin restocking creeks for fishing,” said Chambers.
Another problem facing local streams is storm water runoff that comes from residential and commercial storm drains. Chambers said that problem is too large address with the amount of funding the initiative has available.
Researchers will limit this review to determining if and where pollutants enter the streams from storm water systems. Chambers said this information will be used to develop regulations on development in the area, which might including the use of best-management-practice systems (BMPs).
BMPs work to reintroduce storm water to underground aquifers and replenish ground water levels, rather than channel the water to swelling creeks and streams and passing pollution problems on to other communities, said Chambers. These systems will not only help preserve streams from erosion, but will work to replenish ground water levels, something important in the face of drought conditions, he added.
The next step, said Chambers is to craft a detailed plan for cleaning the streams so that volunteers can begin looking for grant money.
To date, the group, headed by Springhill Township Supervisors Brent Robinson and Damon Hellen, has assembled volunteers from all over the watershed to help survey pollution sources, such as acid mine drainage and failed on-lot septic systems.
Environmental technicians from state agencies joined the local volunteers to help test the collected water samples. All of the workers on the project helped to identify pollution sources and provide ideas for future recreational uses of the watershed, such as trout fishing or for canoe trips like the one organized Saturday in which a group of enthusiasts traveled Georges Creek to the Monongahela River.
Although Springhill Township supervisors originally formed the initiative, the organization has grown to include adjacent townships and now includes a number of local conservation, civic and recreation groups that are dedicated to preserving the quality of the watershed.
“I applaud the efforts of so many people in our area who care enough about the environment we live in to undertake this demanding and essentially volunteer project,” said state Rep. Larry Roberts (D-South Union Twp.) in announcing the grant.