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2 Berks conservation groups get grants for $169,149 to improve Schuylkill watershed

Tue Aug 25, 2009 / Agricultural

2 Berks conservation groups get grants for $169,149 to improve Schuylkill watershed

By Darrin Youker

Reading Eagle

8/26/2009

Two local conservation groups learned Tuesday that they have received grants totaling $169,149 to help improve water quality in the Schuylkill River watershed.

The Schuylkill Headwaters Association will receive funding toward a $100,000 effort to reduce the amount of acid mine drainage that discharges into the west branch of the Schuylkill River.

The Berks County Conservancy will get money to help install a manure storage facility and establish stream bank fencing at the Guntz farm in Oley Township. The cost is $75,000.

The grants were awarded through the Schuylkill River Watershed Restoration Fund supported by Exelon Nuclear, which operates the Limerick Generating Station in Montgomery County.

The Schuylkill River Heritage Area distributes the money to nonprofit organizations working to improve the watershed. Since the grant program began four years ago, Exelon has given more than $750,000 for watershed-protection projects.

By using grants from this program, the Berks County Conservancy has been able to perform restoration projects on four farms, said Kim Murphy, conservancy president.

The 2009 grant will help prevent barnyard waste from reaching the Little Manatawny and Manatawny creeks, Murphy said. The Guntz farm is at the confluence of both streams.

"Agriculture runoff creates high nitrate levels in our drinking water," she said.

The Schuylkill Headwaters Association has been trying to address the problem of acid mine drainage coming from the Pine Knot Mine Tunnel in Cass Township, Schuylkill County, said Bill Reichert, president of the association.

During dry periods, the Pine Knot tunnel is the sole source of water reaching the west branch of the Schuylkill River, Reichert said. More than 8,000 gallons of contaminated water leave the mine pool every minute, he said.

The project involves removing a wooden flume installed by miners to prevent water from reaching the mine. The flume has all but rotted away, and a mountain stream is now draining into the mine pool, Reichert said.

Money will be used to direct the stream out of the mine and restore its natural flow, he said.

Contact Darrin Youker: 610-371-5032 or dyouker@readingeagle.com.

See article on the Reading Eagle website