COUNTY COMMISSIONERS APPROVE INTEREST-FREE LOAN TO TURTLE CREEK WATERSHED ASSOCIATION

Efforts to remediate mine-related pollution in Brush Creek may finally be coming to fruition.  The Trib reports that the County Commissioners yesterday approved a $75,000 interest-free loan to the Turtle Creek Watershed Association that will kick-start the mine drainage remediation effort.  Officials said the creek is among the largest mine drainage sites in the state and is polluted by discharge of underground mine water through a pipe that empties into Tinker’s Run, a tributary just west of Irwin. About 9 million gallons of polluted water a day flows into the creek. Officials said plans to remediate polluted discharge from an underground mine that stretches from the Export area through Irwin has been in the planning stages since at least 2013.