$17.5M in grant money awarded to Earth Conservancy for work
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By coincidence, two months ago to this day we published an editorial praising the restoration of Espy Run, bringing the lost creek back to the surface 70 or so years after it had been diverted to make way for strip mining. As noted then, it was a Herculean task that took more than 20 years from completion of a study identifying water quality problems caused by the diversion. To quote that editorial:
“That’s some 50 years ignoring the problem, 15 years figuring out what to do and how to pay for it, and nearly seven years to get it done. So, yeah, it’s worth understanding just how big an achievement this is, even if the sight of a little creek and some riparian forest for protection isn’t exactly the Grand Canyon, or even the Lehigh Gorge.”
The Earth Conservancy got the lion’s share of credit for this truly monumental restoration, and Tuesday’s paper included some good news from the organization about another, similar (and similarly important) project. President/CEO Terry Ostrowski announced Monday that the Conservancy has been awarded more than $17.5 million in grant money for restoration of the upper sections of the Nanticoke Creek watershed.
“This grant will ensure Earth Conservancy can accomplish our goal of reconnecting the Nanticoke Creek headwaters to allow flow to once again reach the downstream areas of the watershed, while eliminating a major source of water to the underground mine pools which resurfaces as Acid Mine Drainage in the lower reaches of Nanticoke Creek,” Ostrowski said. “The grant highlights the partnerships and support we have had with federal and state agencies, as well as local municipalities and conservation organizations, without whom we could not have been able to accomplish such successful projects.”
As reporter Bill O’Boyle pointed out, the watershed is just 8.2 square miles of the much larger Susquehanna River Basin. Yet it endured multiple problems courtesy of King Coal, including obstruction, flow loss, dry streambeds and of course anthracite mining’s most depressing ecological legacy, acid mine drainage discharges.
All told, only 30% of the streams in the watershed have the hydrologic, ecologic and aesthetic qualities of a natural stream. All that should change thanks to the new grant.
Nearly 15,000 linear feet of permanent stream and floodway improvements are planned, much of it involving Nanticoke Creek and Leuders Creek. That’s more than double the linear feet of the Espy Run restoration.
And make no mistake, that successful work almost certainly improved the odds of getting this new grant. “Earth Conservancy has already proved it can successfully complete impactful work after its completion of restoring Espy Run,” State Department of Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary John Stefanko said. “The PA Department of Environmental Protection appreciates the opportunity to once again work with the Conservancy who will continue to exceed in its environmental healing efforts, this time by restoring the Nanticoke Creek and its ecosystems damaged from legacy coal mining.”
It is an old cliche that “success breeds success.” When it comes to eradicating the many ecological maladies mining inflicted on our waterways, here’s hoping for many more such successes.
— Times Leader