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UPDATE!
The Wildlands Conservancy and their partner organizations just celebrated
a historic milestone in the Lausanne Tunnel Mine project — it's
completion. On June 1st, over 30 people joined the Wildlands Conservancy
staff on site to celebrate the completion of the wetland ponds, and
the opening of the valves that allow the impacted waters to flow directly
into the wetland ponds rather than into the Nesquehoning Creek.
Mine waters have been flowing directly into the creek, a tributary
of the Lehigh River, since the tunnel was constructed in 1906. But
no longer, thanks to the many partners and the direction of the Wildlands
Conservancy.
All that remains for this project are the planting of wetland plant
species like cattails, which will help to filter out the metals.
Congratulations to all involved.
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Lausanne Tunnel
By Kelly Meinhart, Producer
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say patience is a virtue, right? Well, if that’s so, then the
partners of the Lausanne Tunnel reclamation project in the Lehigh
River watershed must be very virtuous. Why? The Wildlands Conservancy
and over 22 partners began the project over five years ago, and are
just now seeing their hard work coming to an end.
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he story really begins way back in 1906 when engineers designed and
built the Lausanne Tunnel in Carbon County, just outside of Jim Thorpe.
The tunnel was originally designed to drain water from an active coalmine
shaft, leaving it dry and safe for the miners. The work of the tunnel,
in those terms, was a success, removing water from the active mine
and carrying it away from the site. The problem lies in that the polluted
mine water was directed into the Nesquehoning Creek, which is tributary
of the Lehigh River. The tunnel pumps an incredible 4,000 gallons
of water per minute from the mines and directs it right into the Nesquehoning
and eventually into the Lehigh. The water is polluted with both aluminum
and iron, which gives it both an aqua blue and bright orange color.
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s you can imagine, this discharge has a huge impact on the health
of the Lehigh River. The Wildlands Conservancy has spent the past
six years focusing their attention on the Lehigh River Watershed,
and in remediating environmental degradation. The watershed itself
covers 1,345 square miles and crosses over ten counties. In their
assessment of the watershed, they learned that abandoned mine drainage
(AMD) was one of the biggest impacts to the watershed, and that the
Lausanne Tunnel itself was the single largest AMD site to impact the
river.
orking together with over 22 separate organizations, the Conservancy
developed a plan to construct two wetland cells to filter out the
pollutants before they reach the creek. An active railroad line and
the Nesquehoning Creek, along with a natural floodplain and an archeological
site, limit the space available for the construction of the wetlands,
providing a challenge from the very start.
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visited the site with Chris Kocher, who is the Chief Program Officer/Director
of Rivers Program at Wildlands to see the progress. He told me that
everyone involved is very excited to see the project finally completed,
not only because it’s been a long time coming, but also because
of the immense impact its going to have on the water quality of the
Lehigh River.
s part of their initial overview of the site, approximately 5 years
ago, they found Native American artifacts like arrowheads, within
the construction area. Working in partnership with the historical
society, Wildlands went through all mitigation steps to ensure that
the artifacts and the area where they were found would remain intact.
In all, over 1/3 of the site was excavated by a professional group
to determine which areas were off limits to the construction. This
process, a very important one, set the project back almost three years.
I’m sure you understand why I say that the project has been
a ‘long time coming.’
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e sure to watch the video clips of Chris Kocher to learn more about
the project, the details of the archeological significance, and just
how the mine pollution is being treated. Also, don’t forget
to check out the photo gallery for more information about the site.
hris hopes to have the project completed and online in just a few
months, and as of Summer 2004, the Lausanne Tunnel will no longer
be such a negative impact to the water quality of the Lehigh River.
Congratulations to all involved.
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For more information
The Wildlands
Conservancy
Related Watersheds.tv features
Abandoned
Mine Drainage Archive Shows
Relief
for the Little Lehigh
My
Name is Jeremiah |
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