Stream pH 10 Million Times Too High

When the train wrecked on June 30 in Gardeau, approximately 40,000 gallons of concentrated sodium hydroxide entered Pennsylvania's waterways. The concentrated sodium hydroxide stored in the train tankers was at a pH of 14.

The pH scale is logarithmic with 7 as neutral. This means that each number above 7 is ten times more basic than the number below it, and each number below 7 is ten times more acidic. For example, 8 is ten times more basic than 7, 9 is one hundred times more basic than 7, 10 is one thousand times more basic than 7, etc. A pH of 14 would be ten million times (107 times) more basic than neutral!

No wonder the 40,000 + gallon spill affected aquatic life so far downstream. Imagine how many gallons of water it would take to dilute 40,000 gallons of something that is ten million times stronger than neutral.

The fish kill witnessed by many individuals as far downstream as Sinnemahoning was unprecedented. I know from the large numbers of fish I saw dead, I had a hard time believing that much of anything could have survived the chemical spill.

I must say that in the last couple of weeks I have been surprised at what I have seen that has survived in the Driftwood Branch. Apparently more aquatic bugs can withstand high pH extremes than they can withstand extremes of the other end of the pH spectrum.

I haven't been involved in any extensive surveys such as those conducted by the Department of Environmental Protection the week after the chemical spill. However, in picking up a few rocks here and there I have found various stoneflies and mayflies, so hopefully the Driftwood Branch hatches haven't been completely devastated.

On the Portage Creek, it is a much different story. The sodium hydroxide was much more concentrated there, and fewer species of aquatic bugs were able to survive the pollution.

Several different individuals have commented about unusual finds in the fish kill in the days following the chemical spill. Almost everyone I spoke with who checked out the fish kill on the Driftwood Branch in the aftermath of the spill, including myself, was surprised at the number of stone catfish that were lying dead.

I always new there were a fair number of stone catfish in the stream, but due to their habit of lying under rocks, had never realized how many there actually were until this pollution event. Stone catfish average 4-5 inches in length and were perhaps the most common fish found in aftermath of the pollution. I never would have guessed this many had inhabited the stream.

One of the most unusual fish kills that washed up was a large orange goldfish or koi that was killed in Cameron. I saw this large exotic fish on Sunday July 2 where it had washed ashore downstream from the Penn DOT building in Cameron. Shame on whoever released this exotic animal into the wild!

However, I would have to say the most unusual dead fish find that I have heard of occurred on the Driftwood Branch in the village of Huntley. During the week after the train wreck Hunter Bardo found the half eaten remains of a large American eel.

This is the second American eel in two years to have been found in the Sinnemahoning Creek watershed. Last summer a young fisherman caught a large eel on the First Fork in the spillway of Stevenson's Dam. The picture of this fish can be seen on display behind the cash register at the Lakeview store at the bottom of Brooks Run off SR 872.

American eels are native to the Sinnemahoning and there are no doubt many individuals who are still alive that remember them inhabiting our waters. They are actually supposed to be fantastic to eat, but I have never had the opportunity to try one.

American eels are catadromous, meaning that they live their life as adults in freshwater, but return to the ocean to spawn. This is the opposite of anadromous fish such as shad, salmon, and sea run trout that live in the ocean, returning to freshwater to spawn.

Acid mine drainage on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River and large dams on the lower end of the Susquehanna River have served as barriers for preventing American eels from inhabiting the Sinnemahoning for many years. However, with the West Branch being cleaned up of its acid mine drainage and with fish passages being constructed on the Susquehanna's dams to restore shad runs, the American eel might start becoming a more common inhabitant of the Sinnemahoning.