The Oneida Number Three Tunnel (also known as the Oneida #3 Tunnel) is a mine tunnel in

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 Tomhicken Creek downstream of the mouth of Little Tomhicken Creek. The tunnel was constructed in the 1930s and a

passive treatment system A passive treatment system is a method for removing metals from acid mine drainage. There are several types of passive treatment systems, each of which may be used on their own or in combination to treat effluents. The type of system selected is dep ...

was installed at the site of the tunnel in 2009. The tunnel is more than a mile long.

Hydrology

The average discharge of the Oneida Number Three Tunnel is 3,820,000 gallons per day (approximately 2,653 gallons per minute). The tunnel is the largest discharge 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 ...

to Tomhicken Creek. The pH of the water being discharged from the Oneida Number Three Tunnel ranges from 3.9 to 4.7. The average pH of the waters is 4.53. The concentration of

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 ...

in the tunnel's waters is 17.35 milligrams per liter and the daily load of acidity is . The acidity load requires an 89 percent reduction to meet its

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 ...

requirements. The

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 ...

concentration of its waters is 7.40 milligrams per liter and the load of alkalinity is per day. The net concentration of acidity is 15.8 milligrams per liter. The concentration 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 ...

in the discharge of the Oneida Number Three Tunnel is 0.18 milligrams per liter and the daily load is . The iron load does not require any reduction to meet its total maximum daily load requirements. The

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

concentration is 0.59 milligrams per liter and the load of manganese is per day. The manganese load requires a 79 percent reduction to meet its total maximum daily load requirements. The

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 is 1.59 milligrams per liter and the daily load of it is . The aluminum load requires a 71 percent reduction to meet its total maximum daily load requirements.

Description and geography

The Oneida Number Three Tunnel discharges into Tomhicken Creek downstream of Little Tomhicken Creek. The tunnel is approximately long. The upper end of the tunnel is in mines in the South Green Mountain Coal Basin, which it drains part of. The tunnel runs roughly northwards until it reaches Tomhicken Creek. The tunnel is in East Union Township and North Union Township. The Oneida Number Three Tunnel is in the Eastern Middle Anthracite Field. The tunnel is between Tomhicken Creek and a steep hill. The total maximum daily load document for Catawissa Creek suggests reclaiming mined land in the Green Mountain Coal Basin to reduce the discharge of the Oneida Number Three Tunnel. The Oneida Number Three Tunnel has a passive treatment system. The system was constructed in a similar manner to the way in which the Audenried Tunnel was constructed. However, it only has one

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) ...

tank, as opposed to the Audenried Tunnel's three. There are plans to construct a second limestone tank for the passive treatment system.

History

The Oneida Number Three tunnel was constructed during the 1930s. It was one of five mine drainage tunnels in the Catawissa Creek watershed to be constructed during this time (the others being the Audenried Tunnel, the Catawissa Tunnel, the Green Mountain Tunnel, and the Oneida Number One Tunnel). The Catawissa Creek Restoration Association started working on constructing a passive treatment system for the Oneida Number Three Tunnel as early as 2003. The organization's work was funded by the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...

. The construction of the passive treatment system was completed in December 2009. The system was the third such system in the Catawissa Creek to be constructed. The Oneida Number Three Tunnel was damaged to the point of being useless during heavy rain in March 2011. It was repaired later in 2011. The tunnel's water quality was studied in the same year. It was also studied shortly after the passive treatment system was constructed. As of 2003, the Oneida Number Three Tunnel is not listed on the Pennsylvania Section 303(d) of streams that are impaired due to pH.

References

External links

Map of the Catawissa Creek watershed (where the Oneida Number Three Tunnel is located)
{{coord, 40.9183, N, 76.1472, W, source:wikidata, display=title Drainage tunnels in the United States Tunnels in Pennsylvania Coal mining in Pennsylvania 1930s establishments in Pennsylvania Tunnels completed in the 1930s Transportation buildings and structures in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Environment of Pennsylvania Tributaries of Catawissa Creek

Hydrology

Description and geography

History

See also

References

External links