$3M in grants announced for Southwestern Pa., including Mill Creek in Ligonier Township

Well before starting a 32-year career with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Jim Miller said he enjoyed fishing as a teenager along Mill Creek in the village of Waterford in Ligonier Township.

“It was well known even then as a cold-water fishery back then and had natural trout. It was really fun to fish there,” said Miller, who grew up near Johnstown and is now DEP’s Southwest Regional director.

Miller returned to his boyhood fishing hole Thursday, at its lower end where the stream meets the Loyalhanna Creek in Ligonier Borough, to announce $3 million in Growing Greener Plus grants for 12 projects in six area counties, including Allegheny, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland.

“We’re thrilled to highlight Loyalhanna Watershed Association’s approach to watershed restoration here and support each of the fantastic projects funded with this round. When you’re out here and can see the streambank erosion and sediment in the channel, the need is clear,” Miller said.

A $233,000 grant awarded to the Loyalhanna Watershed Association will go toward improvements on Mill Creek in Ligonier Township and Four Mile Run Stream nearby in Cook Township, both tributaries of the Loyalhanna Creek, Miller said.

Josh Penatzer, project manager of the Loyalhanna Watershed Association, the Ligonier-based conservation organization, said the Mill Creek work will be done in three phases beginning this June, with the second phase in 2023 and the third phase in 2024. The Four Mile Run project will be completed in 2023.

“With Mill Run, we’re talking about the restoration of about 3,000 linear feet of streambanks that will be reinforced with rocks, and logs and some sediment will be removed from some areas, as well,” Penatzer said.

Penatzer said the work basically will deepen the stream channels and “really improve the fish habitat and will also improve the recreational use in the area, as well.”

“These projects are known to hold up quite well,” Penatzer said.

State Rep. Leslie Rossi, a Unity Republican, noted the improvements will enhance fishing in the Loyalhanna and Mill Creek area, which is an economic draw to the region.

Ligonier Mayor Ormond “Butch” Bellas said the work will be welcome news for the area and is expected to improve the water flow in the flood-prone area along Mill Creek. During extended periods of rain, sections of the creek have been known to flood residences along Chestnut, Indian, and Mill Creek streets and North Avenue in the borough.

“We’re really excited it’s going to help with those problems correcting those sediment problems. The first phase will be 1,200 feet from the confluence with Loyalhanna Creek back towards the borough, so we should see improvement right away,” Bellas said.

The grants designated in southwest Pennsylvania are part of awards statewide totalling $20 million this year. The Growing Greener program is the largest single investment of state funds in Pennsylvania history to address environmental problems.

Penatzer said the group applied for the funding last June. In addition to watershed groups, the grants are eligible to county and local government, municipal authorities, conservation districts, council of governments, county planning commissions, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations.

Other grants included:

Allegheny County

• Borough of Castle Shannon: total daily maximum load plan implementation, $108,000

• Allegheny County Conservation District: Findlay Township Activity Center Stormwater Best Management Practices, $150,417

• North Fayette Township: pollutant reduction plan implementation, $70,125

• South Fayette Conservation Group: fishing run diversion, $90,000

• South Fayette Conservation Group: Gladden Treatment Plant – operation and maintenance, $836,815

Cambria County

• Cambria County Conservation District: Cambria County Chesapeake Bay Watershed sediment and nutrient reduction program in Cresson and White townships and Hastings and Northern Cambria boroughs, $580,916

Fayette County

• Western Pennsylvania Conservancy: Back Creek Stream restoration project in Saltlick Township, $30,891

• Western Pennsylvania Conservancy: Spruell pipe 2 and acid seep remediation project in Stewart Township, $368,539

Greene County

• Greene County Conservation District: Willis Farm stream stabilization and fencing in Cumberland Township, $111,578

Washington County

• North Franklin Township: streambank restoration – construction phase, $262,500

• Washington County Watershed Alliance: Ten Mile Creek restoration project in Morris Township, $156,094

More information on the Growing Greener Plus grant program, is available on DEP’s webpage, dep.pa.gov/Citizens/GrantsLoansRebates/Growing-Greener/Pages/default.aspx.