Our Treatment Systems

Also known as Sagamore, this project is named after the now-deceased owner of the land where the project is located. This project was the first undertaken by MWA. The system consists of the collection of two underground mine discharges from the abandoned Sagamore Coal Company’s Big Chief Mine and the relocation and reclamation of a 70,000 cubic yard gob pile. This system also includes two windmills, designed to add oxygen to the water in order to cause the iron to drop out faster. The treatment system now removes about 87% of the iron load, 70% of the aluminum load, and 61% of the acid load.

You can see the ponds, windmills, and discharge of the Sagamore treatment system pictured above when walking on the trail. AMD from the Big Chief mine is treated here by exposing it to limestone and oxygen. The limestone is slowly dissolved by the acidic water, raising its pH to a level closer to drinking water. Raising the pH allows the dissolved metals (mainly iron and aluminum) to oxidize to solid particles and settle at the bottom of the ponds. After the system has done its work, the treated AMD then flows into Indian Creek.

This is a passive method of AMD treatment therefore the system does not require much technology or oversight, but it does require regular maintenance to keep it working correctly.

The Sagamore Treatment System was the first system built by Mountain Watershed Association and about a month before the system was built, the chemistry of the discharge changed alarmingly. Since then, a rogue mine drainage discharge has surfaced very close to Sagamore, releasing iron-rich water into Indian Creek beside the Sagamore treatment system.

The Sagamore treatment system treats two underground mine discharges from the Sagamore Coal Company’s Big Chief Mine. Based on the location of the discharge and the location of the Indian Creek Valley Trail the only suitable location for a treatment system was that of a 70,000 cubic yard refuse pile along the banks of Indian Creek. Thus, the relocation and reclamation of this refuse pile was incorporated into the project.

The system was designed to treat two mine discharges, one highly acidic and iron-laden and the other alkaline, but also containing high iron concentrations. Both discharges were piped into the first pond where they mixed and began to neutralize and treat each other. Windmill aerators were also installed to increase oxygen levels assisting in the iron and acid removal of the treatment process. By the time the water left the first basin the pH ranged from 6.2 to 6.8. In the second settling basin the water was given additional time for the iron to precipitate out of solution before it discharged back into Indian Creek with a pH between 6.5 to 6.9. 

Due to the last minute chemistry change an anoxic limestone drain was installed to catch the acidic discharge and try to reduce the increase in acidity, iron concentration, and aluminum. Although the exact reason for the change is unknown it is probable that a subsidence event occurred in the underground mine exposing pyretic material to the discharge. 

This change in chemistry may be more important than originally speculated as we periodically have flushes of a high aluminum discharge that seeps out of the ground and discharges into Indian Creek completely avoiding the treatment system. This altered discharge seeps out along the Indian Creek Valley Trail and travels along the drainage ditch before diverting under the trail and following the old discharge channel to Indian Creek. Capturing this discharge and adding it to the system would only harm the treatment system as the system was not built to address the high concentrations of aluminum this new discharge contains. Mountain Watershed Association is working with the Bureau of Abandoned Mine Drainage to identify and understand this discharge so that we can establish a treatment option for this discharge without harming the existing treatment system. 

Water samples at the site have been collected for over 20 years and are instrumental in treatment design options. 

Built in 2001 the installation of the Sagamore Treatment System cost $358,000. 

It is also estimated that MWA spends $12,200 annually on monitoring and maintenance tasks at the Sagamore Treatment System

Funding for construction and maintenance provided by:

♦ Natural Resources Conservation Service

♦ Environmental Protection Agency—319 Funds

♦ PA Department of Environmental Protection

♦ Foundation for PA Watersheds 

♦ Richard King Mellon Foundation

♦ Colcom Foundation

♦ Anna & Joseph Gartner Foundation

♦ McKenna Foundation

♦ Baltimore Life Company

♦ Community Foundation of Fayette County

♦ Eberly Foundation

♦ Allegheny Power

♦ Alice Meadows

♦ Max B. Nobel Family 

Mountain Watershed Association (MWA) is responsible for operation and maintenance of this system. Monitoring and maintenance of passive treatment system are important steps often overlooked and their cost underestimated.

In 2013, with funding provided through the Growing Greener program MWA completed an Operation, Maintenance, & Replacement Plan for all of its project sites, including Sagamore. This document outlines the routine practices needed to keep the system working at optimal levels.

Maintenance Tasks include:
♦ Annual Catch Basin Pipe Cleaning
♦ Vegetation Control

Monitoring Tasks include:
♦ Quarterly water samples
♦ Flow monitoring
♦ Bi-annual macroinvertebrate surveys
♦ Quarterly Site Inspections

Effluent return into Indian Creek has returned to a neutral 7 pH.