Pennsylvania's Growing Greener Grant Program is awarding a $50,000 grant to Sewickley Creek Watershed Association for removal of iron sludge from the Lowber mine discharge site near the mouth of Sewickley Creek. The goal is to see if the iron sludge can be marketed as a pigment.
This sludge is a deposit of iron oxide that has settled out of the water discharging from the old Marchand Mine near Lowber. The grant will be funding research to determine if the iron oxide can be recovered, processed, and used for products containing iron oxide.
"Specific markets must be identified where iron oxide product can be sold," said Tom Keller, executive director of Sewickley Creek Watershed Association. Once markets are identified, then the value of the iron oxide in those markets must be determined.
The contractor that is to do a year-long study of these issues is Hedin Environmental, Inc. located in Mt. Lebanon. "Hedin Environmental will remove some of the sludge to the lab to test it. Dr. Robert Hedin, president of Hedin Environmental, will study how to remove the iron oxide, determine what form of iron oxide is marketable and identify who would want to use it," said Keller.
Should the refined form of the iron oxide be marketable, the return to SCWA as a nonprofit organization "could be enough to support the cleanup of Lowber or other sites," observed Keller.
Determining if the iron oxide can be removed and how it could be used is the first stage. Studies are also needed to find the depth of the sludge and what lies underneath it. If Hedin Environmental's studies show the sludge is marketable, then plans will be drawn up for the removal of the sludge and then, with funding, the cleanup would begin.
Partners with SCWA in the research project are Growing Greener/Department of Environmental Protection, the Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, the Westmoreland County Conservation District, the Natural Resource Conservation Service and Penn's Corner Resource Conservation and Development.
SCWA, in a cooperative arrangement with Consolidated Coal Company (CONSOL), purchased the property last
year. "Thanks to the partnership we developed with CONSOL we hope to soon begin the cleanup of the largest mine discharge in the lower watershed," said Keller.
"We are looking forward to working with Dr. Hedin as he researches the practical uses of iron oxide," said Keller.
Kellar urges anyone interested in helping clean up the mine drainage from the Lowber Discharge and other areas in Sewickley Creek to contact the watershed office at (724) 925-3621 or scwa@westol.com.
As such the Association shall use its resources to educate the citizens of the watershed as to sound environmental practices. In addition, the Association will seek out and cooperate with government agencies, interested organizations, businesses and individuals to implement programs to improve water quality and encourage proper land use.