Governor's Award for Watershed Stewardship 2001

Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition
c/o Stream Restoration Inc.
3016 Unionville Road
Cranberry Township, PA 16066

Contact:
Timothy Danehy
(724) 776-0161
(724) 776-0166
sri@salsgiver.com

Environmental Results:

8 acres of abandoned mine land reclaimed.

80 tons per year of acidity and 20 tons per year of metals eliminated from the stream.

2 stream miles substantially improved in the most heavily impacted major tributary in the headwaters.

2 acres of naturally functioning wetlands created.

$1.5 million savings over 25 years from use of passive treatment technology compared to conventional treatment.

Protection & Restoration
Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition

Making Restorative Headway at the Headwaters

Once devoid of fish for more than a century, segments of Slippery Rock Creek are beginning to repopulate thanks to the Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition. Established in 1994, the coalition's mission is to restore a 27 square-mile headwaters area, which is heavily impacted by drainage from extensive, now abandoned, underground and surface coal mining activities.

The Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition stresses the importance of its public-private partnerships in order to launch, monitor and evaluate the success of its environmentally friendly, self-sustainable solutions to reclaim mineland and abate 57 identified pollutant discharges within the headwaters target area. The long list of coalition partners includes government agencies, academic institutions, private companies, nonprofit organizations, watershed residents and volunteers.

The coalition has designed and implemented numerous restoration innovations including:
• 125 gallon-per-minute vertical collection system for acid mine discharge;
• Containment of an anoxic limestone drain in a "bladder" due to the close proximity of a small lake;
• Use of 175,000 tons of circulating, fluidized-bed coal ash to reclaim 100,000 tons of abandoned coal refuse on 21 acres; and
• Flushing and distribution systems for vertical flow ponds.

More than 500 million gallons per year of abandoned mine drainage from 11 discharges are being abated by passive treatment systems installed since the inception of the coalition. Because of these efforts, approximately 200 tons per year of acidity and more than 150 tons per year of metals no longer enter the Slippery Rock Creek Watershed streams. Moreover, approximately 100 acres of abandoned minelands have been reclaimed and converted to productive farms and wildlife habitat.

" With generally more than ninety participants per project, our success is due to the partnering spirit among local industry, academia, government agencies and volunteers."
Margaret Dunn, Co-Founder
Slippery Rock Watershed Coalition

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