Making clean water a top priority
Jennifer Dann, watershed specialist for Washington County Conservation District, looks over a group of plans for individual watersheds.
Those driving east on major highways may have noticed signs that read, “You are now entering the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.”
If Laurie Popeck of Washington had her way, travelers heading west would be informed by signs noting, “You are now entering the Ohio River Watershed.”
She said she brought this up for years with former state Sen. Tim Solobay, but has yet to see signs posted.
The watersheds in Washington County either drain to the Monongahela or Ohio rivers, but all are part of the larger Ohio River basin.
“I not only want to save the bay, I want to save the Ohio,” said Gary Stokum, manager of the Washington County Conservation District on Tuesday. “They forget too easily about the Ohio.”
Popeck, a former employee of the conservation district, attended the Washington County commissioners’ meeting last week to talk about both watersheds and advocate for stream and river restoration.
The commissioners adopted a clean water resolution calling on state officials to make clean water a top priority which, according to a news release prepared by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, made Washington County the 10th county in the state to do so.
The foundation launched its “Clean Water Counts” campaign in response to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s most recent statewide assessment of surface water, which shows that of the 86,000 miles of waterways flowing through the commonwealth, nearly 20,000 miles are polluted. According to the DEP, the most prevalent pollution sources are agricultural and urban and suburban runoff and abandoned mine drainage.
More than 1,400 miles of waterways flow through Washington County, but more than half of these waterways are polluted. According to the foundation, urban and suburban runoff is the greatest source of pollutants in the county, affected nearly 200 miles. Other pollution sources in the county include agriculture, which accounts for 171 miles of polluted waterways; abandoned mine drainage, which pollutes 178 miles. Other pollution sources impair 155 miles of local creeks and streams.
Stokum was able to link problem pollutants to various areas of the county based on studies the DEP conducted. The Raccoon Creek Watershed has the county’s biggest problem with drainage from abandoned deep mines, with more than 100 discharges. The Pittsburgh coal seam surfaced there, making the coal accessible. Ten Mile Creek also has this problem, as do other areas.
“All you had to do is drive up from Donora and look at the hillsides,” Stokum said. “You can see the orange coming out from the old mines.”
Consol Energy’s Hahn plant in McMurray treats water that drains from an old mine, as does a similar operation in Arden and one run by the DEP at the former Clyde Mine in Fredericktown. Raccoon Creek has a passive treatment system.
Stokum called Chartiers Creek “one of the most complicated in the state for variety of pollution. It’s a real Pandora’s box.” The Hickory and Prosperity areas send agricultural pollutants to the creek. Beef and sheep farms give way to horse farms. Urban and suburban areas contribute storm water runoff, and the creek still contains particles from the now-closed Vitro radioactive metals plant in Canonsburg and the Molycorp molybdenum plant in Canton Township. Sediment from dirt roads mixes with runoff from high construction. Although Chartiers Creek flows in both Washington and Allegheny counties, there are separate plans to cope with pollution from each of the jurisdictions.
Monitoring the presence or lack of insects and larger invertebrates in waterways is another way to determine the water’s cleanliness. While residents may not be eating either the bugs or the crayfish, Popeck pointed out “this impacts the whole food web.”
King’s Creek, which drains into the Ohio River through the West Virginia panhandle, is the county’s only cold-water fishery, Stokum said, which is the habitat trout prefer. The rest of the watersheds are all warm-water fisheries.
“What happens in one watershed effects water quality on a much larger scale. Washington County has 15 main watersheds, some of which are shared with neighboring counties and West Virginia,” according to the Washington County Conservation District website.
“Through public education and engagement, the Cheasapeake Bay Foundation is hoping to increase awareness of water pollution issues, like those in Washington County,” according to a news release. “The goal is to urge state officials to make clean water a priority and commit the needed funding and programs to ensure that the waters we rely on for drinking and household uses, recreation and to grow our food all meet clean water standards.”
Also Tuesday, the Corbett administration announced a $56,890 grant to the Washington County Watershed Alliance for nonpoint source surface water pollution monitoring. Nonpoint source pollution results when small amounts of contaminants from a large number of sources are carried by rainfall runoff into streams.