OVERVIEW
The Allegheny County Parks Foundation worked toward the goal of cleaning Pinkertons Run of abandoned mine pollution so that it could one day be stocked with native fishes and enjoyed for sport. From 2014 through 2016, ACPF partnered with Trout Unlimited to study the environmental impact of pollution from old coal mines in the park and to mitigate its effects. Biological data gathered over the course of many months provided an overview of the organisms living in the stream and helped gauge the outcome of a remediation strategy. In 2018, PA DEP awarded a Growing Greener Grant to the Parks Foundation to design and construct a passive treatment system for the worst discharge. Subsequent grants were also procured to support these efforts.
A treatment system was created to capture the mine discharge by pipe and carry it to a 1,500-ton dolomitic limestone bed, which successfully raised the discharge from a 3.1 pH to 7 pH – think of that as turning orange juice into water suitable enough to host fish! 1,200 linear feet of the streambank was also successfully stabilized along Pinkertons Run using salvaged tree roots and logs from the AMD treatment system construction site. See the conceptual plan.
PARTNERS
- Allegheny County
- Allegheny County Conservation District
- Trout Unlimited
FUNDING
The Allegheny County Parks Foundation raised the funds for this project. Funding was provided by:
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- Allegheny County
- Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
- U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
- Generous individuals