Welcome to the Milk Run abandoned mine drainage treatment system!! This passive remediation system restores one mile of stream using natural limestone and gravity to remove an estimated 72,000 pounds of acid and 7,000 pounds of aluminum per year.
A project of the Montour Watershed Association (see their informational signs along the Montour Trail), this project was funded by Range Resources, US Office of Surface Mining, The S Kent Rockwell Foundation and the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds with additional support of the Allegheny Conservation District and the land owners. It was completed in July of 2019
Milk Run flows parallel to Mahoney Road and has been polluted for over a century. The discharge, known as MKR3, was the single largest source of acidity and aluminum pollution in the Montour Run watershed.
The MKR3 discharge had been flowing from an old, abandoned, underground coal mine into Milk Run since the early 1900s.
Sulfur, typically pyrite, in and around the Pittsburgh Number 8 coal seam oxidizes when exposed to air in the mine. When the oxidized sulfur comes into contact with ground water, it creates dissolved iron and sulfuric acid.
The acid dissolves additional minerals, including aluminum, found in the clay strata underlying the coal seam.
When the mine drainage that contains dissolved aluminum is mixed with alkaline or higher pH water, the aluminum precipitates out as a white substance, giving the stream a milky appearance.
This system will restore one mile of stream and improve the downstream Montour Run for miles.
This is an easy park and grab cache. There is a gravel pull off that you can access to get a view of this treatment system and grab the cache!