State honors South Fayette Conservation Group

South Fayette Conservation Group gets environmental award

State honors Gladden treatment plant for cleaning up creeks

By Andrea Iglar

South Fayette has been recognized for completing one of the top environmental projects in the state.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in April presented a 2022 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence to the South Fayette Conservation Group.

The citizen-led nonprofit is responsible for building the Gladden Acid Mine Drainage Treatment Plant on Parks Road in the Gladden neighborhood of South Fayette.

The plant has cleaned up polluted water from abandoned coal mines, turning orange creeks blue.

The South Fayette project was among 15 honored statewide for environmental protection, economic impact and more.

“The Environmental Excellence honorees show the creative and innovative ways we can improve our environment,” Governor Tom Wolf said.

Steve Frank, president of the conservation group, said the $14 million Gladden plant will help with economic development.

“This should be really great for the new development downstream, around Newbury and Millers Run, because the streams look so much better," he said.

Representatives of South Fayette and project engineer Tetra Tech Inc. attended the award ceremony in Harrisburg in April. Seated from left:Stephen Frank, the South Fayette Conservation Group president, and Tom Gray, Heather Trexler and Mark Perry of Tetra Tech. Standing, from left:Eric Cavazza of Tetra Tech; South Fayette resident John Alan Kosky,whose family provided land to build the plant; conservation group treasurer Bob Milacci; and Gwen Rodi, president of the South Fayette Township Board of Commissioners.

Photo courtesy of Pennsylvania Environmental Council

The nonprofit Pennsylvania Environmental Council hosted a dinner in Harrisburg April 26 to honor winners.

Representatives from South Fayette and project engineer Tetra Tech attended the award ceremony.

“A lot of people came together to get this done,” Frank said.

Since the plant began operating in January 2021, it has eliminated the largest source of iron pollution in the lower Chartiers watershed by pumping and treating more than one million gallons of polluted water daily. Creeks that had appeared orange now run clear.

Trout were stocked this year upstream of the plant, and if the water quality is good enough, fish may swim further down Millers Run than they have before.

Following 10 years of work, conservation group members installed the treatment plant with federal grants.

The group also has been awarded Growing Greener state money to help fund operation and maintenance, and to seal a creek, Fishing Run, so its water does not infiltrate an abandoned mine.

Featured speakers at the ceremony were Cindy Adams Dunn, secretary of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and Patrick McDonnell, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

“It is always a privilege to spotlight people going above and beyond to improve the environment and make our great outdoor spaces more accessible,” McDonnell said.

Join the South Fayette Conservation Group: southfayetteconservation.com.

Follow the water

Did you know a drop of water in South Fayette can end up in the Gulf of Mexico?

Follow a raindrop's potential path through natural waterways at river-runner. samlearner.com.

From South Fayette, water can travel to the gulf via Millers Run, Chartiers Creek, the Ohio River and the Mississippi River.

Keeping water clean locally helps keep water clean in places you might not even imagine.