Settlement is 'call to action' for local watershed users

The recent settlement with Norfolk Southern over the June 2006 chemical spill has revealed the severity of the damage. A full report can be found on the Fish and Boat Commission website (fish.state.pa.us).

On the 11 miles of the Sinnemahoning Portage Creek affected by the spill, there was a complete fish kill: about 368,000 gamefish and baitfish.

In the section directly below the spill, 98 percent of aquatic invertebrates -- mayflies, stoneflies, crayfish, etc. -- were killed. Farther downstream on the middle section of the Portage, mortality was 91 percent. On the bottom of the Portage Creek before it enters the Driftwood Branch, mortality was 63 percent.

Biologists predict a two-year recovery for invertebrate populations, a three-year recovery for non-game fish species, and six years for wild trout populations.

When the sodium hydroxide reached the bottom of Portage Creek, it mixed with the water in the Driftwood Branch, significantly diluting the pollution. Surveys detected no significant damage to the diversity or abundance of the Driftwood Branch's aquatic invertebrate community.

Sadly, that was not the case for other inhabitants of this fantastic fishery. Along the 20- mile section of the Driftwood Branch from Emporium to Driftwood, an estimated 97 percent of the smaller non- game fish species were killed in the riffle and run habitats.

In pools and runs, 80 percent of larger fish other than smallmouth bass were killed. Some 87 percent of the smallmouth bass were killed by the high pH. In total, almost 150,000 fish were killed in the Driftwood Branch.

It will take an estimated three years for non-game fish populations to recover and six years for the recovery of smallmouth bass and other game species.

Prior to the spill, the Driftwood Branch was one of the few watersheds in Pennsylvania inhabited by the hellbender. Growing up to 29 inches in length and weighing up to five pounds, hellbenders are Pennsylvania's largest amphibian.

These large salamanders are believed to live up to 50 years. The spill was especially devastating to them. It will take an estimated 25 years for hellbender populations to recover.

If anything, I would guess that the fish kill estimates in the report were quite conservative.

For example, the Driftwood Branch has approximately four times the flow as the Portage Creek at its mouth and probably 20 times the flow of the upper Portage Creek in its wild trout section. Just due to the difference in size of the stream and the fact that the affected portion was twice as long, the fish kill on the Driftwood Branch was likely greater than ten times that on the Portage.

The report conservatively lists the kill on the Driftwood Branch as approximately onehalf of that on the Portage. This is an incredible underestimation, considering over 80 percent of the fish on 20 miles of a large, productive stream were killed.

Regardless, local sportsmen should be pleased with the settlement. Over $6 million dollars will be used to improve the Driftwood Branch watershed.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done. There is acid mine drainage in Sterling Run that must be cleaned up. There are stream habitat projects and streambank erosion projects to construct and tree plantings needed to stabilize banks and cool our streams through shading.

No longer is money a factor. Volunteer manpower will be what limits the amount of work that will be done.

To become involved in the Bucktail Watershed Association and its restoration efforts, contact Todd Deluccia at 486-9354 or bucktailwatershed@yahoo.com.

To be involved in the Jim Zwald Chapter of Trout Unlimited, contact Craig Hudson or Stan Hastings.

The time has come to pull together and make our local streams the best that they can be.