Fish kill impact will be felt for years
Train derailment ramifications far from over
BY JEFF MULHOLLEM OUTDOOR WRITER

Large, mature small mouth bass and wild trout fry are about all that's missing from the streams that were devastated by a chemical spill two years ago. By all estimations, anglers will be pleasantly surprised when they hit the local waters for the first day of trout season April 12. Jim Zoschg Photo

Time heals all wounds, including a devastated river.

Therefore, the public will have to be patient with the recovery from the summer 2006 lye spill that wiped out two high-quality streams in Cameron and McKean counties. It will be some time before wild trout return to the Sinnemahoning Portage Creek and wild smallmouth bass to the Driftwood Branch.

"While some initial recovery has begun, it will take more time and a considerable effort for the waters, fish populations and aquatic organisms to fully recover," said Pa. Fish and Boat Commission President Bill Sabatose.

The commission considered trying to speed up the natural healing process on the streams, but opted to let them recover on their own, allowing wild trout from the tributaries to repopulate the upper portion of Portage Creek.

"We did carefully consider transplanting wild trout and we had an inquiry from Norfolk Southern about stocking domestic trout," said Mark Hartle, a biologist with the commission who headed up a study on the streams damaged by the lye spill. "Based on our experience with the recovery of another central Pennsylvania stream that was devastated by a chemical spill a few years ago, we decided to let nature run its course." The wild trout in the tributaries to Portage Creek and the Driftwood Branch are uniquely suited to that drainage, having evolved there. And it's not just the trout that would have to transplanted, Hartle noted. The aquatic insects, sculpins and the rest of the food chain would have to be reintroduced as well. "Better to just let the streams recover on their own," he said.

Some of the food chain in the streams did survive and is thriving, according to Jim Zoschg of Emporium, a watershed specialist. "The one thing I saw this spring was that the numbers of insects were unbelievable," he said. "People have speculated that there were no fish to eat the bugs - that might have accounted for the fantastic hatches."

The predictions of economic calamity resulting from the spill and resulting fish kill now seem exaggerated, Zoschg believes. "Because trout stocking took place in the Driftwood Branch and the lower end of the Portage Creek last spring like it has every year, economically the fish kill was not a big blow to area communities," he explained.

"It is just a blessing that the chemical flushed its way through and didn't have any lasting impact on the food chain."

The smallmouths were mostly gone from the Driftwood Branch, but that didn't seem to cause a large economic impact. And there are some bass left in the stream. It will take years to replace the biggest wild trout and bass from the Portage Creek and Driftwood Branch.

At the same time, a settlement paid by Norfolk Southern Railroad will pay for acid mine drainage abatement; habitat protection, enhancement and restoration; the acquisition of properties for public fishing and access and improvements to existing access areas.