Abandoned mine program funds to push Blacklick Creek cleanup forward

Jan. 27—VINTONDALE, Pa. — An effort to clean up Blacklick Creek is getting a financial boost from a statewide environmental fund.

Work will be put out for bid in the coming months to build a new facility just west of Vintondale to treat acid mine drainage that's polluting the creek, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Neil Shader told The Tribune-Democrat on Tuesday.

If all goes according to plan, a second phase of the project would add parking spots and trailside campsites, said Cliff Kitner, director of the Cambria County Conservation and Recreation Authority.

In recent weeks, federal officials approved 13 projects that have been funded by both public and private investments across Pennsylvania totaling $130 million, said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell. The 2020 Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization Program made that possible, he added, adding $25 million to the funding pool.

"This program demonstrates that investments in environmental cleanup can have strong economic benefits to communities, creating new opportunities for recreation, land reuse and clean energy development," McDonnell said in a joint statement with Gov. Tom Wolf. "There has been $130 million invested into projects like these in partnership with local governments, other state agencies and private companies, and these investments are paying dividends for the communities and environment of Pennsylvania."

The Blacklick Creek treatment plant will be designed to clean up 25 miles of Blacklick Creek, to its confluence with Two Lick Creek, increasing opportunities for fishing, boating and other recreation. The project has been in the works for several years.

The treatment plant is set to be built just across the Indiana County line from Vintondale, in Buffington Township.

From that point, it will divert, treat and then discharge mine-polluted waters flowing from the Vinton No. 6 mine, the Wehrum mine and the Commercial No. 16/Red Mill mine, according to Wolf's office.

Shader said that the project's timetable is not yet settled, but bids should be advertised for a future contract award soon so that work can begin "in a few months."

Indiana County's and Cambria County's conservation districts partnered on the project, as did the Cambria County Conservation and Recreation Authority and the Blacklick Creek Watershed Association.

Kitner said the recreation authority donated land for the treatment facility project. The opportunity to improve dozens of miles of polluted streams in Cambria and Indiana counties made it a "no-brainer," he said.

He envisions campsites along the corridor, which runs adjacent to the Ghost Town Trail near Vintondale.

There's no timetable for the outdoor recreation component of the project because it's dependent on the treatment facility's completion, he said.