July 30, 1999
Tribune-Review
Group: Get red out of Redstone Creek
Volunteers to test sites Aug. 26
By Joe Abramowitz
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
A group out to get the red out of Redstone Creek met Thursday to establish training and testing schedules for its small army of volunteer environmentalists.
Testing will take place Aug. 26 at more than 41 sites in the Redstone Creek Watershed, which is spread over portions of Brownsville, Dunbar, Franklin, Jefferson, Menallen, North Union, Redstone, South Union and Washington townships.
Most of the sites were chosen because they are easily accessible from bridges and roads, said Mark Killar of the Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation office in Greensburg.
Some of the sites, however, are remote and will require the use of 4-wheel-drive vehicles and 4-wheel, all-terrain vehicles to gain access.
Data from the initial round of testing will be used as a basis on which to establish regular testing schedules and to help identify potential clean-up projects.
Redstone Creek and many of its tributaries are plagued by numerous pollutants, the most serious being raw sewage, iron and aluminum. The red stain that colors the streambed is caused by iron deposits.
About 10 sites on Redstone Creek will be tested. Other test sites are on tributaries of Redstone Creek. Little Redstone Creek also will be tested.
Teams of volunteers will gather at least four samples at each site to measure the stream for 16 substances, including iron, manganese, aluminum, phosphorus, ammonia and fecal matter.
Officials from the Department of Environmental Protection will tour the watershed and mark the test sites with flags before the volunteers begin their work.
At the suggestion of Richard Beam of the DEP's Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation office in Ebensburg, additional teams will monitor flow levels at various sites within the watershed.
Testing purposely will be conducted during the low-flow period associated with late summer to get a clear image of the amount of pollution flowing into the streams.
Franklin Township Supervisor George Bozek warned that testing efforts might be hindered because the drought has left many Redstone Creek tributaries dry.
Before testing takes place, the volunteers will undergo a training session to be conducted from 2-4 p.m. Aug. 19 on a stretch of Bute Run, off Bittner Road in North Union Township.
Training is important not only to protect the samples from being contaminated by the workers but also to educate the volunteers on how to protect themselves from pollutants, said Rita Coleman, watershed coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Protection's Pittsburgh office.
Although much of the discussion centered on large mine drainage sites within the Redstone Creek watershed, officials from the state Department of Environmental Resources suggest that the group start small.
"To get money for a big project like Phillips, you have to establish a track record on smaller projects," said Coleman.
"You have to show you can be effective."
It has been estimated that it would require $2 million and more than 40 acres on which to establish wetlands and holding ponds to solve the massive mine-drainage problem at the Phillips site, situated north of Uniontown on Route 51.
