The Allegheny County Parks Foundation has received a Growing Greener grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection for the remediation and restoration of Pinkertons Run in Settlers Cabin Park. Construction is expected to take place in 2019-2020.
Pinkertons Run has experienced diminished levels of aquatic life over time due to contamination from acid mine discharge from abandoned coal mines. Working with Trout Unlimited, the Parks Foundation has mapped out a plan for a passive remediation treatment system to improve the water quality that will eventually support fish and aquatic life. The funding will also provide stream stabilization measures to control erosion and sedimentation now impacting the stream.
The Growing Greener award totals $318,672.
The Parks Foundation is also in the process of collaborating with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy on a full scale study of the ecology of Settlers Cabin Park. The Ecological Assessment and Action Plan, funded by the Benedum Foundation, catalogs the natural resources in the park and suggests beneficial measures such as planting trees and establishing meadows. WPC began this work in 2017 and is expected to complete the report by the end of 2018.
