Treatment of Dunkard Creek Will Continue

Businesses partner to restore area tributary

Morgantown Dominion Post
26 November 2016
Submitted, staff reports

Longview Power and its affiliated coal supplier Mepco LLC partnered with the Dunkard-Bobtown (Pa.) Municipal Authority in an effort to restore the environmental integrity of Dunkard Creek.

A $25,000 donation was made this year, with a commitment to donate again in 2017, to assist Bobtown in the maintenance of its sewage treatment plant.

The donation will be used to purchase a new filter media for the trickle filter of the sewage plant. This component introduces oxygen into the water, breaking down excess nutrients and waste material that contributes to contaminants in the plant’s discharge.

The new filter media is one element of Mepco’s ongoing efforts to improve the fisheries and water quality of Dunkard Creek, to enhance fishing and recreational activities for the local community.

In 2014, Mepco and an affiliate, AMD Reclamation, Inc., partnered with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to implement a Watershed Management Plan (WMP) for Dunkard Creek.

Under that plan, AMD Reclamation constructed an acid mine drainage treatment system that saved Dunkard Creek from an impending catastrophic breakout of acid mine discharge from an abandoned mine.

The WMP will also include the building, over the next five years, of a collection and treatment system for major acidic orphan mine seeps on the lower part of Dunkard Creek.

“Dunkard Creek is a vital environmental and recreational resource to our community here in Greene County (Pa.), and we want to help ensure that it will continue to be enjoyed by our community for years to come,” Jeff Keffer, CEO of Longview Power and Mepco, said.

“Our ongoing partnership with the Dunkard-Bobtown Municipal Authority, along with our plan to clean up acid mine discharge seeps from abandoned mines along the creek, will help restore the creek for fishermen and boaters.”

Dunkard Creek is a 37-mile stream that travels through Monongalia County, near the town of Blacksville, and neighboring Greene County. It empties into the Monongahela River near Poland Mines, Pa.