SCRA site #15, one malodorous conundrum Traditional Cache
SCRA site #15, one malodorous conundrum
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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Cache is on level terrain with parking nearby.
Pennsylvania has led in the production of coal since the middle of the 1800's when "Coal Was King" in the Commonwealth. Prior to 1977 one third of all coal mined within the United States of America came from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
ABANDONED MINE DRAINAGE
Outdated coal mining practices and unscrupulous mine owners have left this area with open strip mining pits, coal piles, soil erosion, polluted storm water runoff, abandoned mine drainage, abandoned mine lands, degraded streams and inadequate, if any, reclamation. Low pH (acidic) and high dissolved metals, minerals and sulfides make up abandoned mine drainage. The acidic nature of these pollutants are harmful to plant and animal life in the streams and lakes. Of the 67 counties within Pennsylvania, 45 are affected by coal mining. Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) pollutes approximately 3,000 miles of streams. It has been estimated that it would cost $15 billion to solve the abandoned mine problems within Pennsylvania alone. AMD is now the number one source of non point water pollution within the commonwealth.
The Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance (SCRA) is comprised of citizens from all walks of life, who are working to restore the central Pennsylvania Shamokin Creek watershed which has been polluted by acid mine drainage. Scarlift site #15 is one of several projects attempting to clean up the problem of Acid Mine Drainage pollution in this part of Pennsylvania. This is a large, partly biological treatment system that was completed in September 2006 and has achieved excellent results in meeting its intended purpose with one exception, it STINKS!
The treatment system produces hydrogen sulfide (a rotten egg like smell) as a non-desirable but necessary by-product when it is functioning properly. The smell is much more intense than had been anticipated. The odor has raised the ire of residents living up to several miles from the ponds.
SCRA is working with several partners, including the designer, to find an effective way to reduce this odor. The smell emanating from the project site is partly the result of the use of spent mushroom compost in the process. Hopefully in the near future they will have been successful in reducing the odor to a less obnoxious level.
Please keep away from the ponds, do not enter the fenced off area.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Qba'g sbetrg gb CBFG lbhe svaq.