The Oneida Number One Tunnel (also known as the Oneida Tunnel 1 or the Oneida #1 Tunnel) is a mine

drainage tunnel A drainage tunnel, called an emissary in ancient contexts, is a tunnel or channel created to drain water, often from a stagnant or variable-depth body of water. It typically leads to a lower stream or river, or to a location where a pumping stati ...

Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Schuylkill County (, ; Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: Schulkill Kaundi) is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the ...

, in the United States. It is one of five major mine tunnels in the watershed of

Catawissa Creek Catawissa Creek (colloquially known as The Cat) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in east-central Pennsylvania in t ...

. The tunnel discharges into Sugarloaf Creek near Lake Choctaw and Lake Susquehanna. The water quality of the tunnel's discharge has improved significantly since the installation of a treatment system at the site of the tunnel in 2001.

Hydrology

The Oneida Number One Tunnel is the only source of acid mine drainage to Sugarloaf Creek. The Oneida Number One Tunnel has a treatment system. This treatment system causes water from the tunnel to flow through an

oxic Hypoxia (''hypo'': 'below', ''oxia'': 'oxygenated') refers to low oxygen conditions. Hypoxia is problematic for air-breathing organisms, yet it is essential for many anaerobic organisms. Hypoxia applies to many situations, but usually refers t ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

drain, increasing its pH and raising its concentration of

alkalinity Alkalinity (from ) is the capacity of water to resist Freshwater acidification, acidification. It should not be confused with base (chemistry), basicity, which is an absolute measurement on the pH scale. Alkalinity is the strength of a buffer s ...

. Before the installation of the treatment system, the pH of the Oneida Number One Tunnel had a pH ranging from 4.6 to 4.2. The

was 0 milligrams per liter and the

acidity An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis acid. The first category of acids are the ...

ranged from 40 to 50 milligrams per liter. The tunnel had trace amounts of

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

and an

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

concentration of 1.4 to 4.9 milligrams per liter. Following the installation of the treatment system was installed on the Oneida Number One Tunnel, the pH of the tunnel's waters averages 6.5. The alkalinity ranges from 9 to 26 milligrams per liter and the acidity is 0 milligrams per liter. The iron concentration is 0 milligrams per liter and the concentration of aluminum has decreased to 0.70 milligrams per liter. The treatment system has significantly improved the water quality of Lake Choctaw, Sugarloaf Creek, and Tomhicken Creek. Prior to the installation of the treatment system on the Oneida Number One Tunnel, its discharge ranged from 560 to 3000 gallons per minute.

Geography and geology

The Oneida Number One Tunnel drains the North Green Mountain Coal Basin and is the only tunnel to drain this basin. The tunnel is located in the middle reaches of the watershed of Catawissa Creek. It discharges into Sugarloaf Creek near Lake Choctaw and Lake Susquehanna. The elevation of the Oneida Number One Tunnel is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. The tunnel discharges its water into a narrow and deep draw approximately from Sugarloaf Creek. The tunnel begins in coal mining land in East Union Township, Schuylkill County. It flows north-northwest, crossing under Tomhicken Creek to its other end, which is near the border between East Union Township, Schuylkill County; North Union Township, Schuylkill County, and Black Creek Township, Luzerne County. The tunnel is located in the Eagle Rock Resort. The tunnel is a rock tunnel that causes water to flow from mines in its upper reaches via gravity. The Oneida Number One Tunnel is the second-largest source of acid mine drainage in the watershed of Catawissa Creek. The opening of the Oneida Number One Tunnel was collapsed as early as the 1970s. There are recreational

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

s both upstream and downstream of the point where the Oneida Number One Tunnel discharges into Sugarloaf Creek. The

total maximum daily load A total maximum daily load (TMDL) is a regulatory term in the U.S. Clean Water Act, describing a plan for restoring impaired waters that identifies the maximum amount of a pollutant that a body of water can receive while still meeting water qualit ...

document for Catawissa Creek suggests reclaiming mined land in the Green Mountain Coal Basin to reduce the discharge of the Oneida Number One Tunnel.

History

The construction of the Oneida Number One Tunnel was completed in the 1930s. It was one of five mine

s in the Catawissa Creek watershed to be constructed during this decade (the others being the Audenried Tunnel, the Catawissa Tunnel, the Green Mountain Tunnel, and the Oneida Number Three Tunnel). A treatment system was constructed for the Oneida Number One Tunnel in July 2001. The treatment system was built by the Catawissa Creek Restoration Association and a number of other organizations. These organizations included the Schuylkill County Conservation District, the Columbia County Conservation District, the Office of Surface Mining, the landowners of the Double Diamond Development Corporation, the Eagle Rock Homeowner's Association, the Eastern Pennsylvania Council on Abandoned Mine Reclamation, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service. The treatment system has significantly reduced the effect of

acid mine drainage Acid mine drainage, acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD), or acid rock drainage (ARD) is the outflow of acidic water from metal mines and coal mines. Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the rock weatherin ...

on Sugarloaf Creek. The total cost of the system was $375,000.

References

External links

Map of the Catawissa Creek watershed (where the Oneida Number One Tunnel is located)
{{coord, 40.9256, N, 76.1236, W, type:landmark_region:US-PA_source:wikidata, display=title Drainage tunnels in the United States Tunnels in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Coal mining in the United States 1930s establishments in Pennsylvania Mining and the environment Mining in Pennsylvania Environment of Pennsylvania Tributaries of Catawissa Creek Tunnels completed in the 1930s

Hydrology

Geography and geology

History

See also

References

External links