Chapter II The Lackawanna River Corridor Association
The Lackawanna River shares much with the great rivers
of America. Like the Potomac and the Mississippi, the Lackawanna
has retained its Native American name. Like so many of our
majestic rivers, its waters have been tapped for power and
sustenance for growing communities. The Lackawanna has also been
abused; perhaps a bit more than other rivers. Yet, the Lackawanna
has always had friends even in its darkest days when it ran black
and red with coal and slaughter house waste.
In 1987, the Lackawanna River gained a new friend or
more accurately, hundreds of friends. Several hundred citizens
joined together and formed the Lackawanna River Corridor
Association known by friends of the River as the "LRCA".
The citizens task force which formed the LRCA defined
a broad mission for the Association to promote the restoration
and protection of the Lackawanna River and its watershed
resources and to involve the entire community in the process. The
LRCA organized as a tax exempt non-profit corporation and
developed a series of goals to help the community revitalize the
Lackawanna River.
The LRCA learned that the
National Park Service
which was developing the new Steamtown National Historic Site offered assistance to
local river conservation groups. The Park Service co-hosted
several public meetings during the summer and fall of 1987. These
meetings led to the LRCA's Lackawanna River Citizens Master Plan
(CMP). The LRCA received a challenge grant from the Scranton Area
Foundation and matched state and Park Service funding to begin
the CMP study in 1988.
For two years the LRCA volunteers worked with Chuck
Hoffman, a noted river conservation planner and a team of Park
Service and local planners. All aspects of the River were
studied, problems were identified and assessed. Case studies from
other rivers and communities were prepared and opportunities for
projects to benefit the Lackawanna River were identified.
In 1990 the LRCA published the Lackawanna River
Citizens Master Plan. The plan has four major goals and
recommendations. The first is Project River Clean, a
comprehensive environmental cleanup of the River including
upgrades to sewer facilities, treatment of mine drainage,
restoration of natural habitat and removal of trash and debris.
Public involvement, awareness and education is the
second recommendation, addressing our community's need to
understand and value the River and stream corridor habitats.
Thirdly, a Lackawanna River Park or Greenway system,
is proposed using river levees and abandoned railroad beds to
develop a trail and access system joining existing neighborhoods,
parks, and commercial areas together.
A Lackawanna River Partnership is the fourth major
recommendation of the master plan. The partnership involves the
LRCA, local civic organizations and private property owners
working together with local, state, and federal agencies to
develop clean-up, recreation and educational programs and to
coordinate all efforts to improve and restore the Lackawanna
River.
The plan has received the backing and endorsement of
the Lackawanna County Commissioners and many local municipalities
through resolutions adopted by councils. The restoration efforts
moved ahead during 1992-1993 with the completion of a Lackawanna
River Greenway Study by the Corps of Engineers, the National Park
Service and the LRCA.
The Corps portion of the study developed project
recommendations to deal with acid mine drainage, abandoned mine
lands, river habitat restoration and innovative improvements to
the sanitary sewer system. The Park Service component built on
LRCA recommendations for a greenway trail and recreational access
points along abandoned rail lines parallel to the River.
Since 1989 the LRCA has worked closely with the
Lackawanna Heritage Valley Task Force which developed the Plan
for the Lackawanna Heritage Valley and the recently created
Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority
(LHVA).
The LRCA is working with the LHVA to begin building
the Greenway trail. In July 1993 the first link in the trail was
inaugurated with the Bridge at Heritage Valley Crossing. This
one-hundred fifty foot steel arch pedestrian bridge crosses over
the Lackawanna River between Blakely and Olyphant. It joins the
trails of Robert Mellow Park in Blakely with Philip Condella Park
in Olyphant.
The next link is underway from Mellow Park through
Winton on the old Ontario and Western rail bed to Laurel Park in
Archbald. In September 1994, the LRCA secured additional funds
for several more strategic miles of Greenway trail in north
Scranton, Archbald, Jermyn, Mayfield, and Carbondale. The
Lackawanna River Heritage Trail is envisioned to follow the River
for forty miles, linking with rail trails in Luzerne County to
the south and Wayne and Susquehanna Counties to the north and
east. There are other trail connections possible through Leggetts
Gap to the Abingtons and along Moosic Mountain, Roaring Brook and
Spring Brook to the Poconos.
The efforts to increase public access to the River are
but one aspect of the LRCA proposals for Lackawanna River
restoration. Cleaning up the legacy of the anthracite coal
industry, improvements for municipal sewer systems, and
encouraging the public to become better stewards of the River and
watershed resources are the other major goals of the Citizens
Master Plan for the Lackawanna River.
Plans are under way with state and federal agencies to
address environmental cleanup issues. The LRCA continues to work
with local sewer authorities to identify problems and advocate
solutions.
River Watch
is a program developed by the LRCA to monitor water and
environmental quality in the River. Eight teams of volunteers
regularly patrol the River looking for pollution sources and
taking various samples of river water for analysis. One method of
water quality analysis is macro-invertebrate collection.
Macro-invertebrates are aquatic organisms such as the larval
stages of caddis flies, stone flies, dragonflies and mayflies,
water beetles, snails, crayfish, and other small aquatic animals.
River Watchers gather these bugs and crustaceans by placing a
kick net in a riffle area of the river. Riffles are shallow
rapids areas where water flows swiftly over the stony substrate
of the stream. Macros live in cocoons among the nooks and
crannies of the river bed cobble stones. One person holds the
net, another picks up stones and rubs off the algae and macros
which cling to the stones' surface. The current carries the
samples into the net. After three minutes of collecting at
several spots in a riffle area, the River Watchers empty their
net on shore into a flat tray and perform the analysis by
counting and identifying the various species of creatures found
in the net.
These counts and the diversity of species are general
indicators of water quality. A healthy and diverse population
represents good to excellent water quality. A small sample with
only a few different organisms indicates poor water quality and a
polluted stream environment.
In addition to macro collections, River Watchers
gather water samples for bacteriological testing. The
Pennsylvania American Water Company water quality laboratory
performs the bacteria counts. Coliform and strep bacteria are
present in sewage. High counts of these dangerous bacteria
indicate the presence of sewage in the stream. Bacteriological
data are an indication of how effective our municipal sanitary
systems are. Unfortunately as of 1994, the data shows that there
is much work ahead before the Lackawanna is consistently safe for
swimming and water contact. The data also shows that there are
fluctuations which could be related to combined sewer overflows
during rainstorms.
A third component of River Watch is chemical testing.
River Watch volunteers receive training for a number of field
level chemical and physical tests. Using portable field lab
equipment, River Watch looks at phosphate and nitrate counts,
iron, dissolved oxygen, pH and temperature.
These criteria provide another picture of water
quality which helps the LRCA assess the health of the River and
pinpoint what adverse impacts may be present. Phosphate and
nitrate levels can indicate ineffective treatment plant
performance, sewer line leaks or overflows and runoff from
agricultural fields. The excess of iron can also indicate sewage
facility problems, mine drainage or urban non-point runoff.
Dissolved oxygen (DO) levels are a crucial indicator for aqua tic
health. DO represents free oxygen molecules dissolved among the
H2O molecules of water. When fish, macros and other aquatic
creatures pass water through their gills they intercept the
oxygen that is necessary to sustain life.
When untreated sewage, urban runoff, or acidic
mineral-laden mine drainage enters a stream, a chemical reaction
occurs which robs the DO from the stream. The oxygen bonds to
chemicals or metals in the sewage or mine drainage and is
unavailable to support aquatic life. If the discharge is small
and the water quality of the stream good, the dilution and
downstream flow of the stream current gradually allow a recovery
of DO.
In its forty miles from Stillwater to Coxton, the
Lackawanna runs a gauntlet of twelve major mine drainage
outfalls, one-hundred forty combined sewer overflows, six major
sewer plant discharges and thousands of urban non-point pollution
sources.
Our roads, parking lots, junkyards and construction
sites drain pollutants into the River. By the time the Lackawanna
flows into the Susquehanna at Duryea, it is nearly biologically
dead and stained bright orange with iron sulfide deposits from
the mine drains.
This is the challenge that River Watch, the LRCA, the
people of the Lackawanna Valley, our public agencies and private
institutions are facing head on. With the watershed approach
developed in the Citizens Master Plan we are starting to see some
positive results.
River Watchers are identifying everyday problems like
sewer line leaks, incidental dumping, erosion and sediment
problems. Sewer authorities are responding with better
maintenance. DEP is responding with stronger review and
incorporation of progressive requirements on our sewer systems.
Other federal and state agencies are giving the Lackawanna the
serious attention it deserves. More and more local citizens are
coming to discover the River as a wonderful and valuable part of
the community.
Another way the LRCA involves our community with the
River is through the community planning, cleanup and trail
projects. The LRCA promotes good municipal planning and zoning.
The LRCA and its board of directors have participated in updating
community plans and zoning ordinances in several communities. The
LRCA sponsors seminars and lectures by well known community
planning specialists and designers to focus on the relationship
of environmental values, aesthetics, economic development and
quality of life.
The practices of good development and community design
are evident where the natural resources, op en space, woodlands,
wetlands and riparian environments of a community are protected
and integrated with the built environment of roads, buildings and
public infrastructure. Responsible development insures that
erosion and sedimentation control measures protect our streams
from sediment pollution. Responsible development maintains the
natural habitat of a community or building site as much as
possible.
The LRCA community planning mission advocates these
types of development practices as a way to improve social and
economic opportunities for future Lackawanna Valley residents.
The LRCA also promotes River Clean and Heritage Trail
building projects. These roll up your sleeves, volunteer based
efforts have resulted in hundreds of tons of trash and debris
being picked off the river banks or pulled out of the River. From
beer cans to spare tires to shopping carts and the kitchen sink,
you name it and River Clean volunteers have probably hauled it
out of the River and heaved it into a dumpster.
Heritage Trail projects involve volunteers and
neighbors in developing site improvements after the trash is
removed. Some work focuses on building trails and access points,
installing signage, retaining walls, drainage work and grading.
Other work involves tree planting, stream habitat improvement and
stream bank stabilization. All of this volunteer work helps to
improve the environment and enhance the neighborhoods where it
occurs.
The LRCA initiated the
Lackawanna Valley Conservancyprogram
in 1993. Through the Conservancy the LRCA can hold title or
conservation easements on river corridor or watershed property.
Land conservancy or land trust organizations have been developed
as a way to involve private property owners in meeting the
communities' natural resource conservation needs. The LRCA
conservancy program works closely with other conservancies and
trusts in northeastern Pennsylvania.
A conservancy or land trust is a non-profit community
organization which holds title or easements on private property
for conservation purposes. An easement is a legal document which
describes the property or portion of property which the owner and
conservancy agree to protect in its natural condition forever.
The easement is made part of the property's deed.
Conservation easements benefit both the private
property owner and the public. The owner may request reduction in
the assessed value of the property since it can no longer be
developed in a commercial sense. Value of the easement can be
considered as a tax deductible contribution for income and estate
tax benefits.
The public benefits by having the property left in its
natural condition. The property remains part of the fabric of
natural habitat conservation space forever enhancing the
community's quality of life.
The Lackawanna Valley Conservancy can also accept
complete title to property. The long term goal of the Conservancy
program is to assist local communities and property owners in
preserving the valuable woodlands, wetlands, river and stream
corridors of t h e valley. The preserved areas can serve as
amenities to innovative new residential and mixed use
subdivisions. The Lackawanna Valley Conservancy program can help
the community focus on appropriate economic and conservation
development projects into the next century and beyond.
The most important aspect of the Lackawanna River
Corridor Association is that it is a community and membership
based organization created by citizens of the valley to restore
and conserve the River and watershed resources. While the LRCA
works with government agencies, the majority of its funding and
support comes from individuals, families and businesses in the
many towns from Duryea through Scranton to Archbald, Carbondale,
and Forest City. The LRCA encourages your membership and support.
