Huff Run Watershed to Benefit from $1.7M Grant Funded Mitigation Project

For Immediate Release

July 10, 2015

Mineral City, OH — Rural Action, which coordinates work in the Huff Run Watershed, has announced a new partnership with Oxbow River & Stream Restoration, Inc., to conduct a stream restoration project in the lower sections of the Huff Run Watershed. The proposed plan includes 8,278 linear feet of stream restoration, including the planned creation of a new channel and reestablishment of stream bottom foundations to aid in biological recovery. The mitigation proposal will relocate the stream bed to the floodplain area beside the existing stream. Abandoning the old channel in place will provide the watershed greater area for naturally passive treatment and settling out of the acid mine drainage pollution. The project will cost approximately $1.7 million dollars, with funding provided through a mitigation agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation. Assessment and design work will occur this summer with construction beginning in 2016.

The public is invited to attend the Huff Run Watershed Community Meeting on July 21st, 2015 at the Mineral City Volunteer Fire Department. A business meeting for the Huff Run Watershed Restoration Partnership (HRWRP) will take place at 6:00 p.m. followed by a community meeting at 6:30 p.m. and light refreshments. The public is encouraged and invited to attend this meeting to learn about all of Huff Run’s ongoing reclamation efforts, including the planned $1.7 million dollar stream mitigation project.

The Huff Run Watershed, and the Appalachian Ohio region as a whole, was historically mined for coal through both surface and deep mining. Because of pre-regulation mining Huff Run has been severely impacted by acid mine drainage, an acidic pollutant that discharges from abandoned coal mines. Since 1996 the HRWRP has been working to reclaiming the area and restore aquatic life to the Huff Run Watershed. After nineteen years, in partnership with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and other state and federal agencies, the Huff Run Watershed has had nineteen remediation projects installed that help treat polluted water before it enters the stream. These projects have helped to restore chemical water quality and bring biological life back to the stream.

Oxbow is a design-build company specializing in stream and wetland restoration. Having completed over 200 projects statewide, Oxbow is a leader in restoration projects aimed at improving water quality.

Rural Action, the Huff Run Watershed Restoration Partnership, and Oxbow River and Stream Restoration Inc., invite the public to attend a community meeting on July 21st to discuss the future restoration of the stream. Staff representatives will be on hand to answer any questions about the planned mitigation project.

The Huff Run is located in Tuscarawas and Carroll Counties, between Morges and Mineral City, and drains to the Conotton Creek before entering the Tuscarawas River. Huff Run Watershed staff and volunteers work with local schools, volunteers, landowners, and government agencies to promote restoration and stewardship. Please contact Marissa Lautzenheiser at 330.859.1050, marissa@ruralaction.org, or visit www.ruralaction.org for more information. Huff Run is a project of Rural Action, a member-based organization whose mission is to foster social, economic, and environmental justice in Appalachian Ohio. Rural Action believes every individual can make an impact in their community. Learn more at www.ruralaction.org.

CONTACT