By the end of 2007 the Sunday Creek Watershed Group in cooperation with Ohio DNR-Division of Mineral Resource Management will have finished four restoration projects, three of which occurred in 2007. These projects include the Congo Run Stream Capture Project (2004), Pine Run Stream Capture Project, Corning Gob Pile Reclamation Project and the Rodger’s Hollow Stream Capture and Natural Stream Channel Project. Post construction water quality monitoring has begun and will continue into 2008. The monitoring will determine water quality benefits of the projects.  

Collectively these stream capture projects are annually preventing 168-million gallons of clean, net-alkaline water from entering into the underground mine and becoming Acid Mine Drainage. These estimates are conservative due to the complexities involved in estimating actual captured water, due to rain events and differences in the subsidence location. Capture projects are important because they are relatively inexpensive and they have a double treatment effect on our water quality. They keep the clean water on the surface, which buffers the existing Acid Mine Drainage and prevent the production of additional Acid Mine Drainage at the discharge point.   

The Corning Gob Pile Project involves capping and vegetating 27 acres of old coal gob that was left behind in the early 1900’s. Fire erupted at the gob site two times in the past, once in 1988 and again in 2000. Reclaiming the gob pile prevents large slugs of sediment, iron and aluminum from being washed into the main stem of Sunday Creek during precipitation events.

The last project to be wrapped up in 2007 will be at Rodger’s Hollow, which will involve planting 10,500 trees consisting of willow, buttonbush, silky dogwood and swamp white oak trees. The Watershed Group along with ODNR, the project landowners (Maxwell’s and Kessel’s), Rural Action’s Forestry Team, and a slew of volunteers will plant the trees in late February and early March of 2008. We could use some assistance with this venture so please contact us if you would like to help out.

If you are interested in our restoration projects and would like to visit these sites or learn about our future projects don’t hesitate to contact Kaabe Shaw at shaw@Sundaycreek.org.