Morgantown Dominion Post
12 November 2005
By Judy Bevan
Friends of the Cheat River received an $835,000 grant to over-see the restoration of Muddy Creek, a tributary of the Cheat River.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the award this week. Friends of the Cheat River is one of 12 grant recipients nationwide, according to the EPA.
Muddy Creek is the largest contributor of acid-mine drainage to the lower Cheat River Basin in West Virginia, according to the EPA.
Keith Pitzer, executive director of Friends of the Cheat, said the group was notified Friday.
"Muddy Creek enters the Cheat just downstream of Albright (Preston County)," Pitzer said. "It carries about 45 percent of the acid load of the Cheat. By far, it's the largest contributor of the drainage to the lower Cheat River."
The grant is expected to be awarded in early 2006 and will support treatment technologies to remove and contain the sources of mine-drainage contamination, according to Donald S. Welsh, regional administrator for EPA's mid-Atlantic region.
"This funding recognizes the public and private partnerships and will accelerate the pace of restoration efforts," Welsh said in a prepared statement. "The continued dedication of the Friends of the Cheat River strives to regain the environmental integrity of the lower Cheat River basin, and restore the recreational potential of the river."
Pitzer said the project will take about three years to complete.
"We will be constructing passive treatment systems in the Glade Run area, which is also a tributary to Muddy Creek, and on Dream Mountain, which drains into Muddy Creek," Pitzer said.
Passive treatment systems are constructed underground using limestone as a basic material. Lime-stone, Pitzer said, raises the pH level toward the base side to reduce the acid mine drainage. Pitzer said a low pH level from mine drainage adds metals to the water, including iron and aluminum.
Pitzer said mine companies have been doing active treatments, which is quick and effective in lessening the amount of acid mine drainage, but that takes continuous treatment and continuous monitoring.
"Our part of this project will involve siting and building these passive treatment systems, water monitoring and measuring benefits," he said.
The Cheat River is one of the larger tributaries to the Monongahela River, which, with the Allegheny River forms the Ohio River in Pittsburgh. The 1,426 square-mile Cheat River water-shed is located almost entirely in Monongalia and Preston counties, with small segments in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Congress appropriated $9 million for the Targeted Watershed Grant Program, developed to encourage community-based approaches to restore, preserve and protect the nation's watershed and promote public/private partnerships for environmental results.