Sometimes a problem can be turned into an opportunity to teach the next generation. That's what's happened near Latrobe, Penn., where more than 50 individuals, businesses and agencies have formed a coalition to clean up a polluted stream, and in the process, also set the stage for a new teaching resource to educate children and young people about pollution solutions.

The "Bubbler," a man-made bore hole pumps polluted water from an abandoned mine.

Four Mile Run is a small stream that feeds into Monastery Run, a tributary of the Loyalhanna Creek. Four Mile Run's bed is stained orange from pollution, like many mine drainage damaged streams, and is the beginning point of contamination that eventually reaches the Loyalhanna Creek. Upstream of where it connects with Monastery Run, the Loyalhanna is a popular fishing spot. Below, however, the Loyalhanna becomes progressively more polluted from mine water.

The polluted mine water enters Four Mile Run from "The Bubbler," a manmade bore hole draining the mine below at a rate of 300 to 550 gallons a minute. This discharge has a high concentration of iron in it, which mixes with oxygen in the air to create iron oxide. Because the area contains limestone rocks, this discharge isn't particularly acidic, since the limestone neutralizes the acid much the way antacids help with human stomach acidity. Still, it causes problems.

Students dissect a Cattail while learning how the dominent plant of a wetlands helps filter iron oxide from polluted mine drainage water.

In 1993 the Loyalhanna Mine Drainage Coalition began a collaborative effort to treat the abandoned mine drainage coming from Four Mile Run. The tool of choice was a passive approach using a system of wetlands.

Water was piped from the Bubbler using only its natural hydraulic pressure to move it the 1,600 feet upstream to the first wetland cell, where it begins the cleaning process. Various subsequent stages use natural tools like cattails, a dominant wetland plant, to slow down the water flow. Slowing the water gives the iron oxide more time to settle to the streambed instead of being carried farther downstream.

In 1999, the effort expanded in a new direction. St. Vincent College, a member of the coalition and owner of a significant portion of the land involved, organized an environmental education center to use the site for teaching and research purposes. The center offers programs for students from kindergarten to college, as well as the general public.

The Loyalhanna Mine Drainage Coalition created a wetlands complex that acts to cleanup the polluted water.

"Our program revolves around the Monastery Run Improvement Program," said Angela Check, the environmental education center coordinator. "We started in '93 when we started collecting baseline data using AmeriCorp volunteers. When we did that, we always had it in mind to do environmental education.

"What's been unique about the project is that we sort of have this niche with mine drainage and wetlands. We currently have from 3,000 to 5,000 (if you count high school) students per year visit the center."

This isn't just a field trip for the kids though. And while it may be fun, it's not a lark either. There's preparation involved for both the students and their teachers in order to get the most from the experience.

"We bring the teachers in," Check said, "and they go through a day long training session to introduce them to coal mining and how it creates mine drainage. We give them guided tours and teacher manuals, and pre-activity kits that they can use to work with the students before they come in.

"When the school children come in they're introduced to coal mines and how they work. The students are then broken down into small groups and visit four stations at Monastery Run. They get a hands-on experience where they do a scavenger hunt and water testing with field kits where they test for iron and sulfates."

Each visit lasts about two hours. Teachers and students then leave with post-visit educational materials to follow up on. There is a $3.00 charge per student.

"At the end, we also play a wetlands simulation game," Check said. "We draw out the system on the parking area, and the students dress in costume as water molecules and go through an obstacle course playing different roles. At various points some of them will be told to drop the iron molecules they're carrying to simulate the effects of the system."