PROJECT PARTICIPANTS:
 

PA DEP Knox District Mining Office	Quality Aggregates Inc.
Grove City College	BioMost, Inc.
SRWC Volunteers	Private Landowners
Girl Scouts	PA Game Commission
Stream Restoration Inc.	Jack Camberlain Surveying
Venango Township Supervisors	Scrubgrass Generating Plant
Aquascape

COMPLETION DATE:
Major construction to be completed: Spring 2001
Water Quality Monitoring ongoing: PA DEP, Knox DMO and Grove City College

DRAINAGE ABATEMENT:
Five discharges with an average total flow of 385 gpm.  Four Vertical Flow Ponds (two sets operating in parallel) with a total of 8200 tons AASHTO #1, 90% CaCO3, limestone aggregate.  Three of the four Vertical Flow Ponds have about ½ -foot of spent mushroom compost overlying the aggregate. One pond is limestone only.  Four acres of naturally-functioning aerobic wetlands are being created. Innovative cleanouts, bioswale, pit ponds as treatment wetlands, two- tiered underdrain system in the Vertical Flow Ponds.

The treatment media generates alkalinity.  Two tiers of perforated plastic pipe installed in the aggregate collect the water flowing through the Vertical Flow Ponds.  The treated water discharges through the outlet control structures into a settling pond.  This settling pond allows periodic flushing of the Vertical Flow Ponds in order to remove accumulated metal precipitates (mainly iron and aluminum).  The wetland facilitates additional iron oxidization and settling of iron and aluminum precipitates.

OTHER RESTORATION ACTIVITIES:
Removal, neutralization with circulating, fluidized-bed coal ash,
and use of about 78,000 CY of abandoned coal refuse to reclaim an abandoned surface mine.

Creation of a unique bat hibernaculum, the first in the Commonwealth.

EXPECTED MEASURABLE RESULTS:
Neutralization of about 87,100 lbs/yr of acidity and retention of about 12,600 lbs/yr of metals in settling ponds.  Final discharge expected to have alkalinity of over 100 mg/L with individual metal concentrations of about 1 mg/L or less.

FUNDING SOURCE:
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania “Growing Greener” initiative and WRAP
Contributions from project partners