Eddy Creek is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Lackawanna River The Lackawanna River 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 Northeastern Pennsylvania. It flows through a region of th ...

Lackawanna County Lackawanna County (; unm, Lèkaohane) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania and had a population of 215,896 as of the 2020 census. Its county seat and largest city is Scranton. The county ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through Olyphant and Throop. The watershed of the creek has an area of . The creek experiences serious flow loss and is considered to be impaired. It has a natural channel in some reaches, but its channel disappears in other reaches.

Rock formation A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock formation'' can also refer to specific sediment ...

s in the creek's vicinity include the Catskill Formation and the Llewellyn Formation. The creek is a

second-order Second-order may refer to: Mathematics * Second order approximation, an approximation that includes quadratic terms * Second-order arithmetic, an axiomatization allowing quantification of sets of numbers * Second-order differential equation, a di ...

stream. A bridge carrying

Pennsylvania Route 347 Pennsylvania Route 347 (PA 347) is a state highway located in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at State Route 6011 (SR 6011) at Green Ridge Street in Dunmore. The northern terminus is at PA 524 in Scott Township. The ...

across Eddy Creek was built in the 20th century. More recently, a restoration of of the creek has been planned. The creek is designated as a Warmwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. A greenway/connecting trail in the vicinity of the creek was proposed in the early 2000s in the Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan.

Course

Eddy Creek begins near

Pennsylvania Route 247 Pennsylvania Route 247 (PA 247) is a state highway located in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Susquehanna, and Wayne County, Pennsylvania, Wayne Counties in Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at ...

in Olyphant, not far from the border of Jessup. It flows west for several tenths of a mile before turning southwest and then north. After a short distance, the creek for several tenths of a mile before turning southwest. A few tenths of a mile further downstream, it turns west-northwest and enters Throop. The creek crosses

US Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to P ...

and turns west-southwest and then west. After some distance, it turns north for several tenths of a mile before turning northwest for some distance. The creek then turns west for a short distance before tuning north and then north-northeast, reentering Olyphant and receiving an unnamed tributary from the

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of Liberty, freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convent ...

. It then turns northwest and crosses Pennsylvania Route 347 before reaching its confluence with the Lackwanna River after a few tenths of a mile. Eddy Creek joins the Lackawanna River upriver of its mouth.

Tributaries

Eddy Creek has no named tributaries. However, a 1916 book stated that several small streams discharged into the creek in its upper reaches. At the time, these streams had clear water, but were dry in the summer.

Hydrology

Eddy Creek experiences total flow loss. Some reaches of the creek have been entirely destroyed by historical mining or by post-mining development. The creek loses all of its flow at above sea level via infiltration into mines. However, a near-constant flow is restored further downstream by

stormwater Stormwater, also spelled storm water, is water that originates from precipitation (storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil ( infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed la ...

from the Keystone Sanitary Landfill. It also has extensive deposits of culm and

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...

left over from mining. The creek is considered to be impaired by flow alterations. The likely source of the impairment is abandoned mine drainage. Eddy Creek used to have flow, but has turned into a "leaky slow trickle" that carries

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 or coal mines. Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the rock weathering ...

. In 2014, Joseph D'Onofrio, a senior engineering technician for

GTS Technologies GTS may refer to: Education * General Theological Seminary, in New York City * Grace Theological Seminary, in Winona Lake, Indiana * Great Torrington School, in Devon, England Computing *Giga-Texel Shader, a line of GPUs marketed by Nvidia Or ...

, compared the creek to an "old perforated pipe". Eddy Creek is an

ephemeral stream A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams ar ...

. The

electrical conductivity Electrical resistivity (also called specific electrical resistance or volume resistivity) is a fundamental property of a material that measures how strongly it resists electric current. A low resistivity indicates a material that readily allow ...

of Eddy Creek was once measured to be 203.50 micro-siemens per centimeter. The concentration of

total dissolved solids Total dissolved solids (TDS) is a measure of the dissolved combined content of all inorganic and organic substances present in a liquid in molecular, ionized, or micro-granular ( colloidal sol) suspended form. TDS concentrations are often report ...

was measured to be 140 milligrams per liter and the concentration of

dissolved oxygen Oxygen saturation (symbol SO2) is a relative measure of the concentration of oxygen that is dissolved or carried in a given medium as a proportion of the maximal concentration that can be dissolved in that medium at the given temperature. It ca ...

was 66.50 percent. The pH of the creek was 6.99, and the concentration of

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...

was 100 parts per million. In the early 1900s, Eddy Creek lacked culm deposits at its mouth. However, its water was colored yellow by sulfur at that location. Further upstream, two pipes discharged mine water into the creek. One of these pipes had reddish water. However, upstream of an

ash dump Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non-gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash i ...

on the creek, the water was clear.

Geography, geology, and climate

The elevation near the

mouth In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...

of Eddy Creek is above

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

. The elevation of the creek's

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...

is between above sea level. At one point, Eddy Creek flows through a restored

channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...

at a reclaimed mining site. Further downstream, the creek flows through its natural channel and cuts across a number of rock ledges. However, by the time it crosses

, it has lost its flow. Nevertheless, its channel is still discernible and its gradient is shallower. The creek loses its channel completely at the intersection of an electric transmission corridor and the Eddy Creek Mine Tunnel. It eventually reappears, but disappears again in strip pits and sinks. From Birds Eye Mine to Underwood Road, the stream channel has been completely destroyed. The creek has an engineered channel in one reach where it passes through a residential area. The streambed of Eddy Creek is dry in some reaches. Its banks are steep and contain

riprap Riprap (in North American English), also known as rip rap, rip-rap, shot rock, rock armour (in British English) or rubble, is human-placed rock or other material used to protect shoreline structures against scour and water, wave, or ice erosion. ...

and concrete headwalls. A total of 20 percent of the land in the creek's vicinity is on impervious surfaces. The creek flows through one

pipe Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ...

. Its size is . The headwaters of Eddy Creek are in springs and wetlands in the vicinity of Marshwood, near the edge of Moosic Mountain.

Sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

s and

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

s of the Llewellyn Formation are located in the watershed of Eddy Creek. Some drift is located near the creek and reddish

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

and sandstone of the

Catskill Formation The Devonian Catskill Formation or the Catskill Clastic wedge is a unit of mostly terrestrial sedimentary rock found in Pennsylvania and New York. Minor marine layers exist in this thick rock unit (up to ). It is equivalent to the Hampshire Form ...

can be seen in this area. In early October 2013, the temperature in the vicinity of Eddy Creek was found to be . The water temperature of the creek was found to be in a 2013 study.

Watershed

The watershed of Eddy Creek has an area of . The creek is entirely within the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

quadrangle of Olyphant. A

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

or morphologic site known as the Marshwood Slides is in the watershed of Eddy Creek.

Wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s in the watershed include the Dunmore Swamps and Marshwood. The Marshwood Reservoir is located in the upper reaches of both the Eddy Creek watershed and the Little Roaring Brook watershed. Eddy Creek flows through forested land in a reach downstream of US Route 6. Other

land use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long h ...

s include industrial land and open space. Neighborhoods in the vicinity of Eddy Creek include the Keystone Industrial Park, the Keystone Sanitary Landfill, and LaCapra Stone & Supply. It is estimated that there is one stormwater detention facility in the watershed. According to a 1992 report, development in an area near the creek would have little adverse impact on the creek. In a visual assessment of six tributaries of the Lackawanna River in 2013, Eddy Creek received the lowest visual assessment score, 100 on a scale from 0 to 200. This was within the "marginal" range of 56 to 105. The creek received the lowest score in seven categories: instream cover, epifaunal substrate, embeddedness, velocity/depth regimes, sediment deposits,

riffle A riffle is a shallow landform in a flowing channel. Colloquially, it is a shallow place in a river where water flows quickly past rocks. However, in geology a riffle has specific characteristics. Topographic, sedimentary and hydraulic indica ...

frequency, and channel flow status. Eddy Creek is a

, mid-sized stream.

History

Eddy Creek was entered into the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1198695. Historically, two breakers known as the Eddy Creek Shaft and the No. 2 Shaft were situated on the banks of Eddy Creek. In the late 1800s, a

mine fire A coal-seam fire is a burning of an outcrop or underground coal seam. Most coal-seam fires exhibit smouldering combustion, particularly underground coal-seam fires, because of limited atmospheric oxygen availability. Coal-seam fire instances ...

started in the No. 2 Shaft. As a last resort, water from Eddy Creek and the Lackawanna River were used in an attempt to extinguish it. Historically, there was a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

on the creek. The dam was owned by the Delaware and Hudson Company and was used for impounding water to flush ashes from a

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many pow ...

. The creek also supplied water for a washery at the Underwood Colliery. A concrete culvert bridge carrying

was built over Eddy Creek in 2008. It is long and is situated in Olyphant. A number of historic sites are located in the watershed of Eddy Creek. These include the South Valley Arch, which is in Olyphant, and the DL&W Pancost Arch, the DL&W Winton Arch, and the Erie Arch, which are all in Throop. The Hudson Coal mine railroad, a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railroad that operated until 1959, shared a culvert under South Valley Avenue with the creek. The borough of Throop once requested a permit to discharge stormwater into the creek. As of the early 2000s, the Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation has been restoring the stream corridor and

of Eddy Creek. In the early 2000s, it was expected that of the creek would be reclaimed by 2006. As of 2014, there were plans to restore of the creek, starting in Spring 2015 and ending in December 2015. The project would span of territory and feature regrading 30 properties. Three wetlands and two bat habitats will be affected, but no historic or archaeological sites will be, and the flow of the Lackawanna River will not be impacted.

Biology

The drainage basin of Eddy Creek is a Warmwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. Some areas of the

riparian buffer A riparian buffer or stream buffer is a vegetated area (a " buffer strip") near a stream, usually forested, which helps shade and partially protect the stream from the impact of adjacent land uses. It plays a key role in increasing water quality i ...

of Eddy Creek contain woody

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

Strip mine Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in whic ...

overburden piles covered in forests also occur in the creek's riparian area. Eddy Creek was described as a "low-quality aquatic resource" in a 1992 report.

Recreation

In the early 2000s, the Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan recommended the creation of a greenway/connecting trail along Eddy Creek. Such a trail could link the campus of the

Mid Valley School District Mid Valley School District is a small, suburban, school district located in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, comprising the boroughs of Olyphant, Dickson City, and Throop. Mid Valley School District encompasses approximately . According to 2000 ...

to the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail at the mouth of the creek.

References

{{authority control Rivers of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania Tributaries of the Lackawanna River Rivers of Pennsylvania