Oct 22, 2002 By Joyce Koballa 3 min read

INDIAN HEAD – The first abandoned mine drainage treatment site in the Indian Creek Watershed was officially dedicated Monday following three years of construction on the project. Taking part in the ceremony were officials from the Mountain Watershed Association (MWA), state Rep. Jess Stairs (R-Acme), the office of Surface Mining, Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Drainage, the site’s property owners and the Saltlick Township Supervisors.

Work on the Max B. Nobel, or Sagamore, Mine Drainage Remediation Project began in 1999 when Nobel’s children, Carol Nobel Hirsh and Sanford Nobel, donated the site for treatment in which 70,000 cubic yards of mine refuse were removed from Indian Creek.

The $400,000 project required the collection and treatment of two underground mine discharges from the abandoned Sagamore Coal Co.’s Big Chief mine and the relocation and reclamation of a large coal refuse/gob pile.

Funding for the project was provided in part by the Environmental Protection Agency, Western Pennsylvania Watershed Protection Program, the Baltimore Life Companies, the Eberly Foundation, Joseph and Anna Gartner Foundation, Allegheny Power, Alice Losey Meadow and the Department of Environmental Protection.

Michael Murphy, MWA president, said the pile was in the way and was a significant source of sediment and acid run-off. Murphy added it was also “an eyesore” since it is located along the Indian Creek Valley hike/bike trail and is visible from Route 711, which was recently designated a scenic by-way.

Beverly Braverman, MWA executive director, said the project would not have been possible without Max Nobel’s perseverance.

According to Braverman, the site is important to the region because it is one of only a few sites in the state to use windmills to increase aeration in the settling ponds to allow more effective removal of metals from the water.

It is also the first in the state to use the Environmental Good Samaritan waiver, which provides liability protection for the watershed association and the property owner.

Bruce Golden, of the Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Drainage, said he was impressed by the amount of resources that the MWA has acquired throughout the project. “What you see here is a testimony to that and Indian Creek is a result of this,” said Golden.

Although she wasn’t optimistic at first, Carol Nobel Hirsh, who resides in New York, said, she was thrilled to return here and see the outcome. “It doesn’t matter how long it took and how many hurdles, but the fact that you (the MWA) done it,” said Hirsh.

“Good things don’t happen overnight,” said Stairs. He added that future remediation projects would be partially funded with the recent tipping fees enacted by the state for garbage collectors.

The MWA formed in 1994 to enable and empower property owners and residents of the mountain area. The non-profit organization is comprised of local residents and is dedicated to the preservation and conservation of the Indian Creek Watershed.