2183 Request for comment and notice of public meeting for the proposed total maximum daily load for Catawissa Creek Watershed

Request for Comment and Notice of Public Meeting for the Proposed Total Maximum Daily Load for Catawissa Creek Watershed

[32 Pa.B. 6003]

   The Department of Environmental Protection (Department) is holding a public meeting on December 18, 2002, at 7 p.m. at the Beaver Township Fire Company, Columbia County, to discuss and accept comments on a proposed total maximum daily load (TMDL) established in accordance with the requirements of the section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. Three stream segments in the Catawissa Creek Watershed have been identified as impaired on the 1996 Pennsylvania Section 303(d) list due to high levels of metals and low pH. The listed segments and miles degraded are shown in the following table:

Stream Code	Stream Name	Miles Degraded
27529	Catawissa Creek	44.66
27571	Sugarloaf Creek	3.45
27567	Tomhickon Creek	11.03

   The proposed plan provides calculations of the stream's total capacity to accept metals (iron, manganese and aluminum) and acidity (used as a surrogate for pH) in order to maintain levels below water quality criteria. The applicable water quality criteria are as follows:

	Criterion		Total Recoverable/
Parameter	Value (mg/l)	Duration	Dissolved
Iron	1.50   0.3	1 day average Maximum	Total Recoverable Dissolved
Manganese	1.00	Maximum	Total Recoverable
Aluminum	0.75	One Hour	Total Recoverable
pH*	6--9	At all times	NA

*According to research conducted by the Department, at pH 6.0, the net alkalinity of a stream has been found to be zero. Therefore, the water quality standard for pH will vary based on instream alkalinity at that site with a minimum net alkalinity of zero being maintained. In the case of freestone streams with little or no buffering capacity, the TMDL endpoint for pH will be the alkalinity contained in natural background water quality.

   The primary pollutant for the watershed is abandoned mine workings. Portions of the Catawissa Creek Watershed had been mined for anthracite coal from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s. Gravity-fed drainage tunnels were commonly built in the anthracite regions to help dewater the active mine complexes. Five of these tunnels continue to discharge acid mine drainage into the headwaters of the Catawissa Creek Watershed. All of the allocations made in the TMDL are load allocations that are made to nonpoint sources of pollution.

   The TMDL was developed using mass balance modeling techniques coupled with Monte Carlo simulation to determine the long-term daily average concentrations that each stream segment could accept and still meet water quality criteria 99% of the time. Monte Carlo simulation allows for the expansion of a data set based on its statistical makeup. Since there was no critical flow condition where criteria were exceeded, the Department used the average flow to express the loading values in the TMDL. Analyses were started at the headwaters of each stream segment and a mass balance of pollutant concentration was conducted moving downstream accounting for all sources of pollutants.

   The TMDL sets allowable loading rates for metals and acidity at specified points in the watershed. The basis of information used in establishment of the TMDL is field data collected from 1990 to 2002.

   The data and all supporting information used to develop the proposed TMDL are available from the Department. To request a copy of the proposed TMDL and an information sheet, contact Chuck Yingling, Office of Water Management, Department of Environmental Protection, 400 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8555, [phone], [e-mail].

   Written comments will be accepted at the previous address and must be postmarked by February 7, 2003. Persons who plan to make a presentation at the public meeting should notify the Department by December 13, 2002. The Department will consider all comments in developing the final TMDL, which will be submitted to Environmental Protection Agency for approval.

DAVID E. HESS,   
Secretary

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 02-2183. Filed for public inspection December 6, 2002, 9:00 a.m.]