Money could change water from orange to clear

by Gail Cetnar
THE POST

In some areas, the Hocking River’s tributaries have waters the color of orange juice. They also are just as acidic.

Many people hope this will change, however, with the Ohio Department of Transportation’s allotment of $200,000 to two local environmental groups. Rural Action and the Hocking River Commission will each receive $100,000 to improve water quality.

The Monday Creek Watershed covers 116 square-miles in Athens, Hocking and Perry counties. Monday Creek is a 27-mile-long tributary of the Hocking River.

ODOT provided the money because state Route 50 construction has hurt the watershed, said Anthony Durm, the ODOT project coordinator for environmental work on Route 50.

"In some cases, it was necessary to shift the alignment of the stream so we’d have room to put the road in," Durm said.

The funds will be used to remove open mines and mining debris along the watershed, said Mike Steinmaus, coordinator of the Monday Creek Restoration Project. The restoration project is a non-profit organization affiliated with Rural Action.

"A large portion of the Monday Creek Watershed, especially the eastern and central portions, have been impacted by coal mining that took place in 1800s and the first half of the1900s," Steinmaus said.

Run-off from these coal mines still adds to the water’s acidity, he said.

"When the water becomes acidic, it dissolves minerals in the water so you have metals such as sulfur, iron, aluminum and manganese in the creek," Steinmaus said.

Healthy water has a pH level of about six or seven, but Monday Creek’s water has a lower level, meaning it is acidic, said Kelly Johnson, assistant professor of biological sciences at Ohio University.

Parts have pH levels ranging from about two to six, with an average about four, Steinmaus said. On the pH scale, seven is neutral and less than seven is acidic.

"When you get below five, things start getting stressed, and when you get below four, most things die," she said.

Consequently, the water has killed fish, larval amphibians and insects in some areas, she said.

One of the affected areas is Big Four Hollow, near Buchtel Village. The Monday Creek group will use all of its $100,000 to improve water there, Steinmaus said.

The group will find mine openings where water runs through fractures in the rocks and channel that water into wetland ponds, he said. The ponds have limestone beds and compost material that filter the water and reduce its acidity.

"We are going to drain the strip pits and close the mine openings," he said.

The Hocking River Commission, on the other hand, will use the money to buy land to preserve. The commission is a non-profit organization that is affiliated with the Ohio University Institute for Local Government and Rural Development

The money also will be used to pay some land owners to use conservation practices, said Scott Miller, a member of the commission and the environmental project manager at the institute.

"They’re basically trying to prevent large-scale pollution to the river — things like acid mine drainage, sedimentation and run-off from an abandoned industrial park," Miller said. "They also might use the money to preserve what’s already really nice."

The funding only will put a dent in the amount of work the commission wants to do, though, he said.

"$100,000 sounds like a lot of money, but it doesn’t go very far." Miller said. "It’s a nice start though."