SMETHPORT — The McKean County Conservation District (MCCD) was awarded $164,181 to conduct a surface-water quality assessment of the Scaffold Lick Run watershed in Liberty Township.
Funds were awarded through the Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Abandoned Reclamation Abandoned Mine Land and Acid Mine Drainage Grant Program. The grant will fund a watershed-based surface-water quality assessment of the Scaffold Lick Run watershed, located primarily in Liberty Township.
MCCD representatives explained this stream flows from one of the only parts of McKean County that contains economic coal reserves, and historic mining activity has left approximately 520 acres of abandoned mine land. A total of 16.4 miles of stream are listed as impaired due to acid mine drainage on DEP’s Integrated Water Quality Report of impaired and threatened waters.
The district has secured the services of Hedin Environmental to provide an updated, detailed assessment of the current water quality and watershed conditions and provide a plan for the most cost-effective restoration projects. Through partnerships the district has developed with private landowners and Pennsylvania Game Commission, the project’s primary goal is to develop a watershed restoration plan that will remove all streams in the Scaffold Lick Run watershed from the DEP report and remove abandoned mine land hazards.
