into the canyon - friends of the cheatinto the canyon - 2 - friends of the cheat into the canyon...

Into the Canyon - 1 - Friends of the Cheat

Into the CanyonNewsletter of Friends of the Cheat Fall 2005

In this issue

Jenkinsburg Access............... 1, 5, 6Working Upstream ...................... 3, 4Start the (Tour) Bus .................... 7AMD Vocabulary ........................ 8Monitoring and Mapping ........... 8Water Festival ............................. 9AMD Treatment Projects ........... 10,11Preston Rail-Trails Progress .......... 12Rockville Access Purchased ............ 13Ben’s Farewell ................................ 14FOC Updates .................................. 14

Jenkinsburg River Access Project Completeby Charlie Walbridge

Two years ago the State of West Virginia made astrong effort to purchase the spectacular CheatRiver Canyon. After they were outbid by AlleghenyWood Products (AWP), a large logging company,river access became an immediate concern. AWPnow owned Jenkinsburg, the site of an old loggingtown, which had been used by paddlers since themid-1950’s. It’s the only takeout for the Cheat belowCheat Canyon and the lower Big Sandy, both popu-lar whitewater runs that draw thousands of canoe,kayak, and rafting enthusiasts to the area each year.It is also a popular place for swimming and picnick-ing in the summer. But the area has been the sceneof considerable abuse. Heavy use by ATV riders andparty groups had caused considerable damage overthe last two decades. The area has been notoriousfor waist-deep mud holes and industrial-strengthlitter.

The Cheat Canyon Coalition, a group of organi-zations that had worked together to support thestate’s purchase effort, contacted AWP immediatelyafter the sale and offered to raise money to fix upthe area at no cost to the company. But AWP wasunwilling to agree to a long term lease, withoutwhich fundraising would be impractical. After an ini-tial meeting and a tour of the area with companyrepresentatives, meaningful contact ended. Accessremained open, but without a long term agreement.A year after the purchase of the Cheat Canyonlands, AWP closed the Allegheny Trail through theCheat Canyon with no prior notice to the organiza-tion maintaining it. In light of this, the paddling com-munity became increasingly concerned about ac-cess from the Cheat and Big Sandy Rivers.

Some months before the Cheat Canyon pur-chase effort a piece of privately owned land at the

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A geotextile erosion control mat was installed on theslope that is used for taking out the large rafts. Thiswas covered with coarse gravel and the banks wereseeded and mulched to hold the soil.

All of the work done is to decrease sedimentation intothe river. We continue to monitor the area for signs ofATV damage, trash and abuse of the restoration work.


Into the CanyonPublished by:

Friends of the Cheat119 S.Price St., #206

Kingwood, WV 26537phone: 304-329-3621

fax: 304-329-3622web: www.cheat.org

email: [email protected]

Friends of the Cheat Board of DirectorsJim Snyder, Chair and Secretary, Charlie Walbridge, Vice-Chair, Dave Bassage,

Dave and Lena Cerbone, Paul Hart, Dan Lenox, Tom Nutter, Ralph Teter, Troy Titchenell

Business SponsorsAdventure’s Edge • Alpine Lake Properties • Another World Glass • Appalachian Wildwaters • Aquafix Systems • J. Claudia

Atkinson Catering • Backlund Paddles • Big Bear Lake • Bishop House and Conference Center • Bishop House Millworks •C.E.Bolyard and Son • BoofGEAR • Bubba’s Bistro • Cheat River Outfitters • Cool Runnings • Custom Inflatables • Delightful

Dozens • East/West Printing • Filtersource • Fluid Kayaks • Grateful Heads Helmets • iPlayOutside.com Jan’s Novelties •Laughing Fish Coffee • Mario’s Fishbowl • MARPAT Corporation (WKMM) • Monroe’s Deli • Morgantown Energy Associates •Mountain Mist Products • Mountain Streams and Trails • Mountain Surf • Muskrat Paddles • Mylan Pharmaceuticals • Mystical

Crystals • Ohiopyle Massage • Potesta & Associates • Preston Distributors • PS Composites • Pyranha • Rapidstyle •Riversport School of Paddling • Rocky Mountain Kayak • S&L Realty • Sony • Surface Dynamics • Sweet Annie’s Bakery •Teter’sCampground • The Underwear Guys • Tygart River Metalworks • Useful Solutions • Gail Anderson Vincent • Wavesport • We’re

Nuts • West Virginia Brewing Company • WFSP • Whitewater Video.com

Major Donors with thanks to all of our members

Steven Barnett • Dave Bassage • Guy Alan Clark • Amy Congers • David & Linda Davidson • Stratford Douglas • Michael Farrell •Robert Gedokah • Joe Greiner • Ken Gfroerer & Lisa Smith • Mary Lynn Harden • John Harvey • Steve Ingalls& Anne Kmieck •

Jack Kangas • Blakely Lacroix • Dan and Janet Lenox • Roberta Levine • John Logar • Tom McCloud • Constance Miller • EloiseMilne • Arch Moore • Anne and Wayne Nelson • Larry Pethick • Howie Pentony • Randy Robinson • Pamela Schwer • Peter F.

Smith • Patty Snow • Jan Steckel • Toddi Steelman & Joe Sinsheimer • Keith Strausbaugh •Steve Taylor • Ann and CecilTickamyer • Fred Wright • Charlie and Sandy Walbridge • Ed Westfall • Nick and Amy Zervos

OrganizationsAmerican Canoe Association • American Whitewater • Blue Ridge Voyageurs •

Canaan Valley Institute • Canoe Cruisers Association • Cheat Lake Environmental and Recreation Association •Coopers Rock Foundation • Downstream Alliance • Friends of Deckers Creek •

Friends of Laurel Mountain • Greater Baltimore Canoe Club • Harper’s Ferry Outdoor Festival • Keel Haulers Canoe Club •Kingwood Junior Women’s Club • Monocacy Canoe Club •

Philadelphia Canoe Club • Preston County Commissioners •Project Wet • Richmond Whitewater Club • River Network • Shavers Fork Coalition • Three Rivers Paddling Club •

Trout Unlimited • Upper Monongahela River Association • US Army Corps of Engineers • US EPA •US Office of Surface Mining • WV Department of Environmental Protection • WV Raptor Rehabilitation Center •

WV Rivers Coalition • WV Save Our Streams • WV Stream Partners • WV Watershed Network •Zoar Valley Paddling Club

Friends of the Cheat StaffKeith Pitzer - executive director, Sally Wilts - office assistant, Ben Mack - Mapping and Monitoring, Danielle Adams - OSM VISTA


Working Upstream By Keith Pitzer, Executive Director, Friends of the Cheat

Fall came late this year. All through October,the mountainsides stayed mostly green with verylittle of the colorful expression we look forward to.Then winter gave us a surprise early visit on Octo-ber 24th. By the next morning the ground hadthree or more inches of wet heavy snow coverand trees still in leaf were bent over with the extraweight. Branches broke, whole trees came downand power outages and roadblocks were commonover a broad area of the Cheat and neighboringwatersheds.

My house was without power from Tuesdaymorning until the following Sunday evening. Sittingat home alone on a couple of those evenings, Icertainly had the time and quiet to muse on thepower of Mother Nature. But the house waswarm, I had kerosene lamps to cast a sort of glowthrough a couple rooms and the dog didn’t mind atall. All things eventually change and the snowmelted, the utility company and workers from sur-rounding states did get the power back on, thewater came up in the river and by Halloweenweekend, boaters were enjoying possibly a lastwarm weekend paddling. This was the situationlast weekend as I thought about this column…..

The summer months were full at the Friends ofthe Cheat office. Three AMD treatment projectswere constructed. OSM VISTA Danielle Adamsand OSM Summer Intern Sheila Westfall took ourwater quality education to 4-H Camp and to ScoutTroops. Various members of FOC staff and vol-unteers sampled 80 different sites on Pringle Run,Greens Run and Muddy Creek. In addition to this,we pursued various grants with proposals, visitedwith congressional office staffers about projects inthe works, kept abreast of watershed issues andcommented when appropriate, all the while plan-ning for future AMD projects and conservationwork here in the Cheat Watershed.

In this issue, you will be able to read about ourfirst public AMD tour offering. More folks from out-side the watershed attended than those that livehere, but it was still a resounding success. We

realize that we should have offered this soonerand we will do it again in the future.

There is also an update on the monitoring andmapping project that continues to grow in scopeand importance each season. This information,compiled and mapped using GIS, gives us a ma-jor tool to prioritize future AMD treatment, and toget the best response for resources invested.

Across the lower Cheat watershed that we callhome turf, we have finished the last of three acidmine drainage treatment projects built this yearthrough Friends of the Cheat and funded byWVDEP/Non-Point Source Program and Office ofSurface Mining. The already completed projectsare performing very well, fresh and new, the neu-tralizing capacity of limestone and steel slag at fullforce these first few months. You can read aboutthese in the AMD project updates….

So….are we making progress in trying to re-store this watershed? ….and what are we tryingto restore it to? (I was recently asked this ques-tion by a newspaper reporter) Rest assured it willnever be the same as before coal mining came tothese West Virginia hills. Even if the churned uptopography of a surface mine is covered withearly succession species or even strugglingmaples and oaks, the productivity of the land isforever changed. The water under it and comingout from collapsed portals, seam outcroppingsand abandoned pit lakes is typically a lower pHthan pickle juice. Steep mountain streams thatwould have been habitat for the eastern brooktrout are too acidic to support aquatic insects andfish and often exhibit the telltale orange precipitateof iron dropping out as the acid mine drainagemixes with fresh water and the pH rises.

But the answer is yes, we are doing somegood. Far downstream in the Cheat River mainstem the water no longer stings the eyes of swim-mers or boaters. Fish are being caught in theriver at Jenkinsburg and downstream. An osprey( a fish-eating bird of prey) was documented in theCheat Canyon this spring. Cheat Lake hostsbass fishing tournaments and is rated as the thirdbest bass fishery in the state. An increase in anglers

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traveling to the area to enjoy mountain river fishingis being noted. With improved water quality on theriver, we may see a resurgence of recreational raft-ing and kayaking on the Cheat, bringing dollars tolodging establishments, restaurants, gas stations,etc. Even more direct is the economic impact ofthe construction of acid mine drainage treatmentsystems in the watershed, now in the millions ofdollars, and that number is multiplied through thelocal economy, affecting businesses up and downthe local and regional community.

The goal of restoring streams, and ultimately awhole watershed, is to revive the whole aquaticecosystem . We speak of anyone that lives in,works in, recreates in, or has interest in a water-shed as a stakeholder. When does a caddis fly,darter, brook trout, or beaver also become a stake-holder? Each relies to some extent upon the other,and all too often, its very existence depends on theactions of people.

In considering restoration of watersheds and theresources invested and stakeholders represented, Ithink of a new report published by our watershedneighbors, the Friends of Deckers Creek. It is aninteresting read and I recommend anyone interestedto go to their website at www.deckerscreek.org anddownload it from the publications page. This is ananalysis of local economic benefits of restoringDeckers Creek, which runs from its headwaters inPreston County to Morgantown in MonongaliaCounty.

This makes interesting reading for those of usthat inherently know a healthy living stream withgood aesthetic qualities is preferable to an impairedor dead stream with unsightly trash and garbagealong it. We know this, but it is difficult to translatethat preference into values that can be applied to allstakeholders of that stream. This report does justthat.

Based on local surveys, comparative surveys ofother communities and modeling software for evalu-ating economic impacts, this report describes anddefines the benefits of restoring Deckers Creek intothree categories. (These categories would alsoapply to an analysis of restoration of the lower

Cheat Watershed).

· The first category is the benefit of restora-tion spending at local businesses. This is the costof treatment projects paid out for engineering, con-struction, materials, etc. that provides jobs andhave a direct impact on the local economy.

· The second category is the benefit that res-toration has on the local economy from increasedrecreation opportunities, tourism and increasedproperty values.

· The third category is the benefit of costsavoided from halting or reversing degradation. Thiscould be lower water treatment costs, reducedhealth care costs, less sedimentation, less flood-ing, etc.

A key statement worth quoting from the report isthis: “A community can transform its environmentalliabilities into productive economic assets.” I thinkthis is one of the essential reasons we are here,engaged in restoration work in the Cheat Water-shed. It is one of the reasons you are reading thisnewsletter when it comes every three months orso….it is why we seek a pleasing stream or quietnatural space in which to reflect on life.

We are unwilling to observe diverse, sensitiveecosystems only on the Nature Channel or NationalGeographic. We have tasted enough of the won-ders of the natural world right here in Appalachia toknow that we can do better. These mountains willnever be pristine in the context of the Native Ameri-can (another vanquished stakeholder), but thesemountains can again be a holistic habitat for livingthings in this millennium. It can be an environmentthat affords the human psyche, if not a completelynatural existence, at least a haven for thoughts onthe natural. That may yet make us a bit more hu-man.

In so doing, we strive to justify protection andrestoration against competing values of profitableextraction and exploitation. I hope our efforts tocommunicate that will come through in our work,this newsletter, our website. Toward that end wewill be working upstream.

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upstream end of the Cheat Canyon came on themarket. The parcel, running the length of DecisionRapid on river right, had been owned for severaldecades by Mountain Streams and Trails Outfitters.The company had fallen on hard times and wasnow up for sale. This land was eventually pur-chased by Dave Hough, a member of the groupthat bought the company’s West Virginia opera-tions. Later, when AWP decided to convert an oldrailroad grade into a haul road, they met with Houghto discuss plans to reopen their right-of-way thatran through on the upper portion of his property. Itwas during these discussions that Hough ex-pressed his interest in purchasing the JenkinsburgTakeout. After months of negotiations, AWP agreedto a land swap, exchanging the portion of his prop-erty above their haul road for the area between thestate road and the Cheat and Big Sandy Rivers.

Hough saw that possession of the takeout wasonly a first step. He wanted to allow public river ac-cess, but he also wanted to put a stop to the atro-cious littering and land abuse that had become thenorm. He wanted it to become an attractive place,an asset to his business and a source of pride tothe community. He’d participated in Cheat CanyonCoalition meetings when possible strategies formanaging Jenkinsburg were discussed, so he ap-proached Charlie Walbridge, an AmericanWhitewater board member who is active in theCoalition, to ask for help. Walbridge, who is also onthe Friends of the Cheat board, immediately dis-cussed this with their Executive Director, KeithPitzer. Both saw an opportunity to make a win-winproject. They were excited to have a landowner whowas willing to join forces with them and ready to beginwork.

The first challenge was funding, and here thetwo groups quickly found a valuable partner. Sincebecoming FOC Director in 2001, Pitzer had man-aged several acid-mine remediation projects locallyand developed a solid relationship with the WestVirginia Department of Environmental Protection(DEP). He believed that our work at Jenkinsburgmight qualify for EPA 319 money. This funding isprovided to the states to deal with non-point sourcepollution like the massive erosion at theJenkinsburg site.

Agencies like the DEP, which deal with hugeprojects costing many hundreds of thousands of

dollars, often have 10-20 thousand dollars remain-ing in these accounts at the end of a fiscal year.While not enough money to fund another majorproject, these sums could be very helpful on a jobthe size of ours. Lou Schmidt, a DEP Non-PointSource Specialist familiar with FOC, made severalsite visits and presented the idea to his superiors.FOC submitted a proposal and after considerablestudy they told us that the project qualified for amatching grant of $15,000. There was only onecatch, these funds had to be used by end of fiscalyear, September 30, so we had to raise at least$10,000 in private funds very quickly in order tohave time to go through bid procedure and con-struction.

Fundraising, which American Whitewater hadbegun soon after the land transfer, now went intohigh gear. Friends of Cheat, with its well-managedoffice and credit card capabilities, became the hubof the effort. Our main vehicle was an Internet cam-paign. Appeals were posted to whitewater club

Jenkinsburg continued from page 1

Upper photo: Trucks unloading gravel. Lower photo:Lower parking area after completion of work. Mulch isvisible over newly seeded areas.


websites and chat rooms, regional messageboards like Local Paddler, and national forums likeBoatertalk and the American Whitewater website.We also encouraged interested people to copy ourmessage and forward it to their paddling friends. AtCheatfest, one of the largest river festivals in thecountry, we offered “Cheat River Access Sponsor”stickers to encourage small donations.

Ten $500 donations came from whitewater pad-dling clubs and individuals; the rest of the moneycame in donations of $100 or less. In all, we raised$12,000 in just 30 days. Working through the WestVirginia Wildwater Association, we also applied for,and received, a $1000.00 grant from the AmericanCanoe Association’s Club-Fostered Stewardshipfund. Sponsored by LL Bean, these grants are de-signed to provide quick cash for worthy river accessprojects. That, combined with the $2000 raised byAmerican Whitewater, put us way over the top.Dave Hough signed a 20-year access agreementallowing non-commercial access through his land inreturn for this investment.

During the months of May and June a plan for thearea had been developed by DEP’s Lou Schmidt,WV Conservation Agency’s Brad Durst and FOC’sKeith Pitzer. This plan was discussed with ownerDave Hough and other outfitters on the Cheat at asite visit in June. The upper parking lot would beenlarged, then ringed with large boulders to cut offATV access to the rest of the property. The lower lotwould also be expanded, and the road to it straight-ened out to accommodate outfitter busses andequipment trucks. This road would be gated, and agraded path created for river users from the upperlot to the river. All access beyond the upper parkingarea, except for authorized outfitter vehicles, wouldbe on foot. At the same time, the badly eroded andtrampled areas would be seeded and mulched.

FOC advertised the project, created a bid pack-age, and conducted an onsite bid meeting. The win-ning bid was submitted by Allwood Company ofClarksburg, WV. The project was managed byFriends of Cheat executive director Keith Pitzer inconsultation with the outfitters, AmericanWhitewater, and the West Virginia DEP.

Construction began on August 22nd, and aidedby a spell of dry weather took only eight days tocomplete. First the upper parking lot was graded toestablish positive drainage. All the mudholes were

drained and filled, including the deepest one wherea large sport utility vehicle could sink clear up to itswindows! Then boulders were plucked from theedge of the county road right-of-way and carried tothe upper parking lot, forming a long lasting barrierto vehicle access. Illegal four-wheeler trails from theroad below the switchback were also closed offwith large boulders. The road to the lower parkinglot, once passable only by four-wheel drive vehicles,was graded and straightened to accommodate out-fitter busses and trucks. The lower lot was ex-panded so that several companies could load tripssimultaneously, and the path to the main takeout atthe mouth of the Big Sandy River was hardened toresist erosion with a special honeycomb fabric.Dump trucks then added a thick coating of gravel tothe lots, the road, and the trail. At the last minuteAWP committed $950 to get a giant mud wallow ontheir property across the road graded, filled, andmulched.

Now that the work is complete we want to takethis opportunity to thank all the paddlers and organi-zations who contributed to the project. There isgreat strength in numbers, and we could neverhave done it without all of you. Let’s all look forwardto a clean access site for the next rafting season!

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Keith Pitzer (left) and Dave Hough solidify the 20year access agreement for private boaters at theJenkinsburg take out location on property owned byHough.


Start the (Tour) Bus ! by Danielle Adams, OSM VISTA

NOTE: italic words in this article are defined inthe section entitled AMD Vocabulary Every ReaderShould Know, which is on the following page.

On Saturday September 17th 2005, seventeenpeople enjoyed the first ever public watershedtour of the Cheat River Watershed. The tour wasdesigned to teach about acid mine drainage(AMD) formation and treatment as well as theextent of the problem in Preston County andFriends of the Cheat’s role in the process. Every-one enjoyed themselves and learned a lot at thesame time. For those who did not make it to thetour, a synopsis of the stops is below.

Woolen Mill Road Interpretive Trail SiteThe ‘River of Promise Interpretive Trail’ was

designed to show the contrast between cleanstreams and streams that are impaired with acidmine drainage (AMD)*. At this stop we gave anoverview of the tour, background information onFriends of the Cheat and a basic description ofAMD.

T & T #2This site introduced participants to active

treatment, a method that uses daily chemical in-jections to treat AMD-impaired water. At T & T#2, water discharged from the mine is treatedwith anhydrous ammonia and peroxide before it

enters a series of settling ponds. It must be moni-tored 365 days a year and requires strict atten-tion due to its high flow and the amount of sludgegenerated.

Rockville (Permit # S-65-78)This site actively treats water using an Aquafix

Treatment System. The Aquafix dispenses cal-cium oxide directly into the water using a waterwheel. The system is mostly self- regulating be-cause water flowing through the structure turns awheel that dispenses the correct amount ofchemicals. This type of treatment uses fewerchemicals and requires less monitoring than T &T #2.

Titchnell PropertyThis site introduced participants to passive

treatment; a method that treats water without thecontinual addition of chemicals. This site utilizesan open limestone channel, a limestone leachbed and a steel slag leach bed to passively treatthree sources of acidic water entering SovernRun.

Sovern #62At this passive treatment site, Limestone in-

jections, a collection pond and an open lime-stone channel (OLC) are used to treat the waterbefore discharging it into Sovern Run.

We would like to thank Panera for donatingbreakfast food, and to the Buckwheat Expressfor providing affordable transportation. If you areinterested in scheduling a group watershed tourplease contact [email protected].

Tour participants visiting Aquafix doser at Rockville site. A settling pond lies to the right of the photo to allow metals tosettle out before theyenter a stream.

Larry Harriswith WVDEPshows theextent ofundergroundmining at T&Tduring thewatershedtour.


AMD Vocabulary Every ReaderShould Knowby Danielle Adams, OSM VISTA

Have you ever felt confused and frustrated when read-ing articles about Acid Mine Drainage due to the technicallanguage? Well fear no longer! This trusty vocabulary listis designed with simple definitions to keep you in theknow. Feel free to use it as reference for this newsletterand future ones to come!

· Acid Mine Drainage (AMD): when rocks containingpyrite are exposed to air and water the resulting water isoften characterized by low pH, high metal content andhigh acidity. This is known as Acid Mine Drainage.1

· AMD Seep: Impaired water that trickles out of theground at a given point or in a given area. 2

· Portal: An opening in the ground where a mine waspreviously accessed.

· Active Treatment: A method that uses daily chemi-cal injections to treat acidic water. It uses alkaline chemi-cals to neutralize the acidity in AMD polluted water. 1

· Aquafix Treatment System: A self regulating ma-chine that deposits calcium oxide (pebble quicklime) di-rectly into a polluted stream for treatment. (The alkalinityof calcium oxide neutralizes the acidity of AMD). 1

· Passive Treatment: A method that treats water with-out the continual addition of chemicals. This method usu-ally uses limestone rocks or steel slag to neutralize theacidity of AMD waters.1

· Limestone: A rock used to treat AMD because of itsalkaline properties.

· Steel slag: A by-product of the steel making processthat is used to treat AMD because of its alkaline proper-ties.

· Limestone injection: Injecting small gravel-sizedpieces of limestone directly into a borehole or portal fortreatment.

· Open Limestone Channel (OLC): “An open, freeflowing channel lined with coarse limestone.”1

· Limestone leach bed / Steel slag leach Bed: Acollection area lined with limestone (or steel slag) thatallows water to pass through.

SOURCES1 Skousen, Jeff and Paul F. Ziemkiewicz. Acid Mine

Drainage Control & Treatment. West Virginia Universityand the National Mine Land Reclamation Center.Morgantown, WV. 1995.

2http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/landrec/passtrt/passtrt.htm

Monitoring and MappingProject Updateby Danielle Adams, OSM VISTA

On the positive side, we managed to make it throughthe whole summer without poison ivy, heat stroke, brokenbones or any emergency room visits. On the negativeside, there were a few days this summer where we wouldhave given up our first born for a ‘Friends of the Cheat’machete. Tromping through brush and tall grass in theheat of summer can do that to a person.

Despite the obstacles, we survived - and now wehave the data to prove it. We have field sheets, labsheets, spread-sheets (pretty much any ‘sheet’ you canimagine) all documenting the 80 sites we sampled thissummer. At each site on Muddy Creek, Pringle Run andGreen’s Run, we collected pH (graph below), conductivity,dissolved oxygen, temperature and flow measurements.We also collected water samples and had them analyzedfor acidity, alkalinity, aluminum, calcium, iron, magne-sium, manganese and sulfate.

And this is only the beginning! We will be samplingMorgan Run, Lick Run, Heather Run, and Bull Run nextsummer, and Beaver Creek and Buffalo Run in the sum-mer of 2007. Once completed, we will have a comprehen-sive idea of the area water quality and we will be able tobetter assess where to place treatment projects. This willmean cleaner water in the tributaries of the Cheat, andthus in the Cheat River itself.

The chart below will give you a sneak peek at thecurrent water quality. Keep in mind that a neutral pH is 7.As you can see, the majority of our water has a pH below7, which is a result of the acidity caused by acid minedrainage pollution. Our future treatment projects wouldraise the pH to neutralize the acidity, thus making manyof the streams a more hospitable environment. Stay tunedfor more exciting project updates in the future!

pH Values for 2005 Sampling

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

pH 2 - 3 pH 4 - 5 pH 6 - 7pH Values

Num

ber o

f Site

s

pH 2 - 3

pH 4 - 5

pH 6 - 7


The Fourth Year Is the Charm !by Danielle Adams, OSM VISTA

Students measuring dissolved oxygen in watersamples during the Water Festival at Aurora School.

On the morning of Friday October 21st, there was athunderstorm in the Aurora School gymnasium! Rain, andthunder roared through the walls as seventy-five studentsin grades 3-6 worked together to create the storm. Stu-dents rubbed their hands to signify drizzle, snapped theirfingers to signify rain, clapped their hands for heavy rain,and stomped their feet to represent thunder. After the‘storm’ was in full-force, the students then reversed themotions, and the storm moved into the distance. This funactivity was a great introduction to the fourth annual waterfestival!

The ‘Water Festival’ began four years ago, in 2002,with Friends of the Cheat’s AmeriCorps OSM/VISTA, SallyWilts. Sally worked with teacher Karen Toothman to orga-nize an in-school field trip, where students could partici-pate in water-related educational activities throughout theday. The first festival was a success and thus continued in2003 with Sally Wilts and in 2004 and 2005 with OSM/VISTA Danielle Adams. The Aurora Festival was held inconjunction with Project WET - Water Education forTeachers. Project WET is a national program working toeducate young people about water in a creative, interac-tive way. Nestle, a major sponsor of Project WET, pro-vided educational booklets and water for participants.

This year, the water festival was filled with excitingnew activities and enthusiastic presenters from local orga-nizations. Our first presenter was Bill Thorne of Trout Un-limited, who led a very popular fly-fishing activity. Hetaught students about why people fish, where people fishand fishing safety. He then spoke about what to use forbait, emphasizing how bait mimics the macro-inverte-brates (bottom dwelling bugs) and minnows that live in thestream. This allowed students to make a connection be-tween the biological health of a stream, and recreationactivities. It also drew upon the macroinvertebrate streamsampling activity that the students participated in last

year. After his presentation, all the students enjoyed shar-ing their fishing stories about the ‘one that got away’ (andyes, the fish got bigger each time they told the story). Billwas invited back to help with a fishing trip in the spring.

Our second presenter, the person instrumental ingetting the water festival started, was Karen Toothman.Karen and Becky Friend, represented the Master Garden-ers and Master Naturalists, and led an activity called“Where are the Frogs” from the Project WET Curriculumguide. During this activity, students tested the pH of localwaters to learn how acidic water has endangered the qual-ity of aquatic life in Preston County. The activity specifi-cally emphasized how frogs and other aquatic life can bean important indicator of stream health.

Another dedicated volunteer, Kelly Pack, came allthe way from the West Virginia University Recreation,Parks and Tourism Resources Graduate Department.Kelly led and activity called “Cookie Mining” where stu-dents learned about mining by excavating chocolate chipsfrom a cookie. They used toothpicks and paper clips to‘mine’ their ‘land’, and paid reclamation costs for anycrumbs that went astray. Overall, the students enjoyed theactivity and learned about mining. For the students, thebest part was that they got to eat their ‘land’ at the end!

Tara Miller, another volunteer from WVU, used aGroundwater Flow Model to teach students how ground-water can become polluted. The model was loaned byRose Long of the West Virginia Department of Environ-mental Protection. It had layers of sand, clay, coal, androck that showed students what it might look like under-ground. There were wells drilled into these various layersthat gave students an opportunity to see how water ispulled from the ground. The most intriguing part of themodel, however, was dye that was used to demonstratehow pollution moves through the ground and into wells. Itgave students a clear idea of the importance of groundwa-ter protection.

The final presenter was Ben Mack, of Friends of theCheat, who taught students about Dissolved Oxygen. Hespoke about how the oxygen in the water is important tofish and then allowed students to test the dissolved oxy-gen in samples of surrounding stream water. Studentswere able to see how watershed groups across the nationtest for oxygen in water, and were able to see the fun sideto science!

With the festival activities over, we would like to takethis opportunity to thank all of the presenters for their hardwork and dedication. We would also like to thank AuroraSchool for recruiting parent volunteers, offering lunch, lend-ing technical equipment, and for being so enthusiasticabout the festival. We would especially like to thank LindaMartin, the coordinating teacher at Aurora School for help-ing with scheduling and room assignments. We truly ap-preciate the help of all of our volunteers because withoutthem, the festival would not be possible. We look forwardto seeing you all next year!


Acid Mine Drainage TreatmentProjects Updatesby Keith Pitzer

This fall marks the completion of four projectsfunded last year through WVDEP’s Non-PointSource program and Office of Surface Mining’sWatershed Cooperative Agreement Program.The former comes from USEPA 319 funds (sec-tion 319 of the Cleat Water Act) while the lattercomes indirectly from the coal severance taxthrough the Surface Mining Control and Recla-mation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). This is the pro-gram we have frequently written about as it livesnow on extensions and is in need of re-authoriza-tion by Congress.

The contractor for all four projects wasBolyard & Son, Inc. of Kingwood. Engineeringwas split between Triad Engineering andPotesta & Associates. Conceptual design work

was done by National Mine Land ReclamationCenter (NMLRC) at WVU. NMLRC’s BradyGutta, WVDEP’s Non-Point Source Basin Coor-dinator Lou Schmidt, and FOC Director KeithPitzer made up the project management team.

The first project was completed last fall. Itis on the Charles Pase property north ofTunnelton on a fork of Pringle Run. Water comesfrom two collapsed portals from one of the oldJessup mines, then crosses route 26 and goesdown through timberland owned by AlleghenyWood Products and into Pringle Run. This sitewas limited in space on which to construct pas-sive treatment structures and so an innovativetechnique was used incorporating a small verti-cal flow pond into an anoxic limestone drain andsmall settling basin was used. Adjustments con-tinue to be made on the material used in the ver-tical flow pond, but acidity is being substantiallyreduced.

The next project was Sovern Run on the


Dennis Clark property. This site, at the headwa-ters of Sovern Run, was part of a WVDEP/AMLproject completed in 2001, but it did not include awater treatment component. This project con-sisted of an open limestone channel (OLC) andtwo small steel slag check dams. Steel slag is ahighly alkaline byproduct of the steel industry.The initial result of this project is net alkaline wa-ter. (see map)

Downstream from the Clark site is theTitchnell family property site. This is a large sitefeeding another fork of Sovern Run and is a largereclaimed surface mined area with a highlyacidic portal discharge. A large limestone leachbed at the portal discharge followed by a longOLC and enhanced by fresh water treated with asteel slag structure makes up the project. Initialresults here are also net alkaline water. (seemap)

The final project of the season was on upperMuddy Creek. This site is on properties of land-owners John Vincent, Bobby Dunn and Dr. LarrySchwab. Drainage from four distinct points ofdischarge ran down a steep wooded hillside toMuddy Creek upstream of the Brandonville Pike.This site resulted from successive old mining op-erations that left mostly unconsolidated materialin which to construct leach beds. Water seekingpaths of less resistance would pop out downhillduring construction. Contractor Bill Bolyardproved to be patient and resourceful as the planswere adapted again and again.

In the end, the project is catching 90% of thewater discharged from this area. Consideringthat downstream from here, Muddy Creek is fitfor trout stocking, this project will increase alka-linity and enhance the fishery there.

To review, the Pringle Run project markedour first on this uppermost acid tributary of theCheat mainstem. Our monitoring/mappingproject is supporting our intentions to continuesiting projects on Pringle . The two projects onSovern Run should make a large increase in al-kalinity in this stream that flows into Big Sandy atRockville. This should enhance the lower BigSandy fishery and lower Cheat River above

Cheat Lake. The Muddy Creek project shouldenhance the downstream fishery there. We areplanning a set of projects on the Dream Moun-tain site along Woolen Mill Rd. downstream andhopefully will extend the fishable portion ofMuddy Creek to Martin Creek.

The combination of funding sources, ourproject management team and willing landown-ers made these projects successful in severalways. We now have an approach to projectsthat can be replicated again and again and im-prove the quality of our streams and communi-

Open limestone channel on Upper Muddy Creek project,demonstrating the minimal disturbance required inplacing these treatment structures. The landownersrequested that as many trees as possible be leftundisturbed.


c

Preston Rail-Trails Progress

In 2004, FOC secured an $80,000 dollargrant from the Department of Transportation’sRecreational Trails Grant program for the ac-quisition of a 10 mile stretch of rail corridor thatconnects the towns of Kingwood and Tunnelton.This is the former WV Northern rail line. Thisgrant is matched by a $20,000 grant from theWest Virginia State Department of Tourism,thanks to State Delegate Larry Williams.Preparations are currently underway to get thecorridor appraised and to have the rail-trailopen for public use by fall 2006.

We are continuing to communicate withCSX Corporation regarding the abandoned railline that runs between Albright and Rowlesburgalong the Cheat River. We plan to submit aTransportation Enhancement grant in Novem-ber for acquisition of at least part of this corri-dor.

We are still seeking involvement and sup-port for making rail-trails a reality for PrestonCounty. See the membership and donationform on page 15 if you’d like to donate, checkour website at www.cheat.org or email us [email protected]. This is the list of rail-trail do-nors to date:

$1000 or moreJanet and Imre SzilagyiMon River Trails ConservancyCheatfest 5K race

$250 to $500Pam SchwerJuddson Lindley

$50 to $100Gene and Yvonne HarlowEdna HollandsworthKingwood Lion’s ClubEdna MachamerGreg MessengerDon MillardMark SchooleyPatty SnowDave ToothmanBill WardGary Williams

Under $50Stephen DorickBob & Carol FriendSusan GrosecloseLillian KotchekGarth LindleyBen McKeanFrank MucciaroneGreg NaylorTracy & Linda ReaganMarilyn SnyderBob ThompsonMicheal Workman

View of the Cheat River from the CSX rail line


Rockville Access Purchasedby Charlie Walbridge

Rockville, West Virginia is the site of an oldlogging town best known today for providing ac-cess to the beautiful Big Sandy River. Most of theriverside land owned by Allegheny Energy passedto Allegheny Wood Products in the big Cheat Can-yon sale several years ago. Since then we’vebeen worried that AWP might try to block accessto the river.

But they didn’t get all the land! Last winter,while doing research in the Preston County Court-house, Sandy Walbridge found a third-of-an-acreparcel that was still owned by Allegheny Energy.The land is located on the upstream, river rightside of the bridge where paddlers and hikers haveparked for years. Friends of Cheat executive di-rector Keith Pitzer contacted the company. Theydidn’t know they still owned it. After some negotia-tion the parcel was purchased for public use. Agenerous $500 donation paid part of the acquisi-tion costs, but to fully fund the purchase and makeit attractive we need to raise an additional $2500.

Jeff Mayfield was an expert kayaker wholoved to kayak the streams in the Cheat Riverdrainage. When he lost his life paddling the Lower

Big Sandy in April, 2003 rivers and paddlers ev-erywhere lost a friend. The acquisition of this landgives those who of us who knew and loved him anopportunity to honor him. We can create a facilityto help people like him enjoy the river. In additionto boating access the parking will serve those whowish to hike the old railroad grade to WonderFalls, Big Splat Rapid, and beyond.

Friends of Cheat has created the JeffMayfield Fund to raise money to buy and improvethe access. We propose to call it the Jeff MayfieldRiver Access. Out plan is to grade the parkingarea, remove a troublesome boulder, and applygravel. A small kiosk will tell people about Jeff andthe river that lies upstream and downstream fromhere. Any additional funds will be earmarked formaintaining this facility and the recently refur-bished Jenkinsburg Access five miles down-stream.

To donate you can send a check to Friendsof the Cheat, 119 South Price St. #206, KingwoodWV 26537 or call the office at 304-329-3621. Weaccept both Mastercard and Visa. Friends ofCheat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and your donationsare tax deductible. Donors will be recognized onor website: www.Cheat.org when the project iscompleted.


FOC UpdatesLate Breaking News

On November 10th, just as the newsletterwent to the printer, we were notified thatFriends of the Cheat had been awarded an$835,000 grant to oversee the restoration ofMuddy Creek.

The US Environmental Protection Agency an-nounced that FOC is one of 12 grant recipients ofthe Targeted Watershed Initiative nationwide. Thisa program to which encourages community-basedapproaches to restore the nation’s watersheds bypromoting strong public/private partnerships thatlead to measurable environmental results.

The grant extends over three years and will besupplemented with funding from other agencysources. The grant, which will be awarded early in2006, will support treatment technologies to treatacid mine drainage.

Muddy Creek is the greatest contributor of acidmine drainage to the Cheat River. The NationalMine Land Reclamation Center will be assistingwith conceptual design of the treatment projects.

Funds will also support stream monitoring,public education and citizen involvement projectsin planning further restoration activity within thelower Cheat River basin. See our website formore information.

More Awards! In September the WV Watershed Network

gave us the 2005 Recreation Award for our workon Preston Rail-Trails and for our cooperativeproject at Jenkinsburg, which will allow privateboaters access to this important takeout point.We also maintain a put in for boaters at our festi-val site at the head of the Cheat Canyon.

The Monongahela Conservation Districtchose us for the Outstanding Watershed GroupAward for protection of watersheds. Brad Durst,Environmental Specialist with the WV Conserva-tion Agency, helped with the Jenkinsburg Projectby quantifying the amount of erosion (run-off ofsoil) from the site and advising us on materialsand design of the project.

To FOC, and Beyond..... by Ben Mack

Ah, the retrospective…a woefully underused(not!) form of writing that allows us the benefit ofrecounting our pasts to others. This seems like agood time for me to take advantage of this form ofwriting to let you all know that I will be leavingFriends of the Cheat this December to pursue amaster’s degree in Soil Science (focusing onmine reclamation). On with the reminiscing…

I joined FOC in the fall of 2003, and the timehas just flown by. Here we are, in the fall/winter of2005 and I am looking back and wondering what Ihave accomplished. Have I really made a differ-ence in my time here at FOC? I’d like to think so,but let’s take a look at what I have been involvedwith for the past two years, and I’ll leave it up toyou to decide.

I first came to FOC as an OSM/AmericorpsVISTA, and the first project that I worked on (andone that is still in progress) is the Cheat RiverMonitoring and Mapping Project (CRMMP). Youhave all heard a great deal about this projectthrough the last few newsletters, and it is proceed-ing very well. It has already helped us to use ourproject funding more efficiently and also to priori-tize possible project sites. This project has alsoallowed FOC to gather all the water quality datafor the Cheat River in one place.

Other projects I have helped with include:Adopt-A-Highway cleanups, stream cleanups, theannual Cheat River Festival, the volunteer streammonitoring program, and any other work thatlanded on my desk.

However, this unpredictability is what makesnonprofit work exciting, as no day is ever thesame as the one before it! So, I say to all of youloyal Friends of the Cheat, thank you for all thegood times, and don’t be surprised if you see meat Cheatfest 2006!


Why Get Involved with the Friends of the Cheat?From its headwaters in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, the Cheat River flows 157 miles to the

Pennsylvania state line. In its lower 20 miles the river has been so severely polluted by acid minedrainage that it is effectively dead. Most of this damage is caused by underground and surface coalmines that were abandoned decades ago. The continuing legacy of this pollution has been the loss offish and wildlife, aesthetic damage, degraded drinking water, and losses to the local ecomomy fromdiminished recreation activities such as fishing and boating.

Our objective is to foster cooperative efforts by federal and state agencies, private industry, andlocal landowners to address the severe acid mine drainage problems that paint the Cheat Canyon or-ange and render it ecologically sterile. We need your support to create a new legacy for the CheatRiver. Our membership includes fishermen, paddlers, guides and outfitters; land owners and renters;politicians and activists; geologists and biologists; small businesses and large industries; residentsand folks from many states away. We are a diverse group with a common goal. Ours is a vision of ahealthy river that provides multiple recreational opportunities and sustains viable local economies. Help us make that vision a reality. Remember...Rivers carry the lifeblood of the planet... butthey should not run red. Restore water quality on the Cheat! Consider making a planned gift toFriends of the Cheat in your estate planning. Making us a beneficiary of a retirement plan, insurancepolicy or as a bequest can provide you or someone you designate with favorable financial or taxbenefits. Become a member by completing the form below or by visiting our website at www.cheat.org.

Yes, I Want to Be a Friend of the Cheat!Membership and Donation Form All donations are tax-deductibleMembership includes our quarterly newsletter Into the Canyon

Basic Membership Supporting Contributors___ Individual/family $20 ___ Stream Steward $100-$249 includes ball cap___ Non-profit Organization $50 with FOC logo and choice of video___ Business $100 ___ Watershed Watch $250 or more includes Tshirt & choice of video

Contribution for Preston Rail-Trail Committee _______ (make check out to Friends of the Cheat)

T-shirt - $15 ($10 with $50 or more donation) Size __Medium __ Large __ XLarge __ XXLargeChoose ___Cheat Map Shirt or ___ Cheatfest shirtCap – Low Profile Twill Cap with FOC logo. Camel, khaki, putty $15.00 ______Tote bag Roomy organic cotton (natural color) tote with FOC logo $15.00 ____

Total amount enclosed: $____________ Payable to: Friends of the Cheat 119 S. Price Street, Suite 206

Kingwood, WV 26537Name _________________________________

Address _________________________________________________

City, State, Zip _________________________________________________

Email ____________________________________________________________

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

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BRUCETON MILLS,WV

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Friends of the Cheat119 S.Price StreetKingwood, WV 26537

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The Jenkinsburg or Bull Run Bridge across the Cheat River, a popular takeout forpaddlers in the Cheat Canyon. See our lead story to read about dramatic improvementsat this site.

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