Saint Vincent College eyes next step in wetlands rehab, improved stream quality

Jeff Himler, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.
·3 min read

Jan. 20—Before the arrival of the 21st century, Loyalhanna Creek ran orange through Latrobe.

That was before a system of wetlands was developed next to the Saint Vincent College campus to treat water draining from abandoned mines and remove some of the iron pollutants that discolored the creek downstream.

The wetlands have been soaking up that iron for a quarter of a century, and now the college is looking to give the system a rejuvenating boost.

Saint Vincent plans to make improvements to two of three wetlands — to increase oxygen levels in the water flowing from abandoned mining operations and also to prolong that flow through the wetlands, allowing more time for iron to settle out of the water.

Developed in 1997 and 1998, the wetlands of the Monastery Run Improvement Project are located on 20 acres next to an historic gristmill on Saint Vincent Archabbey property in Unity. They treat mine drainage that affects water quality in Loyalhanna Creek, its Monastery Run tributary and Fourmile Run, which connects to Saint Vincent Lake.

Susan Huba, executive director of the Loyalhanna Watershed Association, said the wetlands have helped to revive recreational use of downstream portions of the creek.

"That was the first major project to tackle abandoned mine drainage in the Latrobe area," said Huba. "Many people come out and enjoy the Loyalhanna because of the improvements that have been made."

That includes participants in the annual Loyalhanna Sojourn paddling trip from Latrobe to New Alexandria that the watershed group helps to organize. The tenth edition of the sojourn is slated in May.

A passive treatment system, the wetlands are designed to slow the water flowing from abandoned mining, allowing time for iron and other pollutants to drop out before the water enters the nearby streams.

In 2019, Saint Vincent received a $213,295 grant from Pennsylvania's Growing Greener program to begin rehabilitation of the site's Wetlands No. 1 and No. 2.

That included removing sludge resulting from the build-up of iron and allowing it to dry in an adjacent basin.

That material might be attractive as a pigment ingredient for a paint company, according to Beth Bollinger, lab manager in the college's chemistry department and director of the wetlands rehabilitation project.

Uncovering of additional mine drainage sources revealed that Wetland No. 1 was undersized, Bollinger said. "It had more (polluted) water flow than they anticipated," she said. "It was still going out pretty orange."

The solution, she said, was to capture some of the water flowing into Wetland No. 1 and pipe it into Wetland No. 2.

As the college closes out that project, it's planning to continue rehabilitation of the two wetlands using more than $500,000 from the state's Abandoned Mine Lands and Acid Mine Drainage Grant Program.

"It's going to do more in both wetlands to allow for better treatment," Bollinger said. "We want the water to stay in the wetlands as long as possible and we want to add extra oxygen."

The Loyalhanna Watershed Association has done its part to limit abandoned mine drainage into the creek. Awarded a $500,000 Growing Greener grant in 2010, it constructed its own system of three large settling ponds and a wetland area to treat polluted water in Unity, in the vicinity of Latrobe's Legion Keener Park.

Jeff Himler is a TribLive reporter covering Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant Area and Derry Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on transportation issues. . A journalist for more than three decades, he enjoys delving into local history. He can be reached at jhimler@triblive.com.