Wetland Treatment System

 by Darl Dodson

Construction of a wetland treatment system in Lowber for the Marchand mine discharge site has finally become a reality for SCWA.  It took more than two years to acquire the necessary property and almost one year to obtain the required permits.

In August of 2005 a meeting with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP), the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), PA Fish and Boat Commission, Hedin Environmental, and SCWA, was held at the Lowber site to discuss  the proposed treatment system along with its benefits.  After four hours of discussion a plan was agreed upon that all parties could live with.  Hedin Environmental handled the changes required to the construction plans and by mid October SCWA had the required permits.  

The contractor selected for this project was DeBaldo Brothers of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania.  By the end of October, equipment was mobilized into the site and construction for a long awaited project began.

Construction started with the removal of all trees and by late December all that was left were several sycamore trees and two large mulch piles of wood chips.  Earth moving equipment also exposed several old building foundations that would have to be removed.

Work at the site has progressed each month since.   If you were to drive by the site today you would see the treatment and mitigation wetlands roughed in and waiting for planting.  You would see the diversion ditches around the site almost complete.  In the coming months, construction of the different treatment ponds will continue and the project should be complete by the end of June this year.

Members of SCWA and Hedin Environmental have worked many hours to get this project off the ground and make this site and treatment system one of the best in the state.

It is finally coming together and all involved should be proud.