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

Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania Schuylkill County (, ; Pennsylvania Dutch: Schulkill Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the heart of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the popula ...

, 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 th ...

. The tunnel discharges into Tomhicken Creek downstream of the mouth of

Little Tomhicken Creek Little Tomhicken Creek is a tributary of Tomhicken Creek in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and flows through East Union Township and North Union Township. The watershed of the stream has an area of ...

. 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 Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from serv ...

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 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 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 requirements. The alkalinity 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 with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) 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, right in f ...

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 with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

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 (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It 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 Tomhicken Creek (also known as Tomhickon Creek) is a stream in Luzerne County and Schuylkill County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately long and is the largest tributary of Catawissa Creek. Named tributaries of the creek ...

downstream of

. 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 ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

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 Audenried Tunnel, also known as the Audenried Mine Tunnel, is a drainage tunnel located in East Union Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately three miles long and drains the western portion of a co ...

, the Catawissa Tunnel, the

Green Mountain Tunnel The Green Mountain Tunnel is a mine drainage tunnel in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is one of five major mine drainage tunnels in the watershed of Catawissa Creek. The tunnel discharges into Catawissa Creek near the Aud ...

, and the Oneida Number One Tunnel). The

Catawissa Creek Restoration Association Catawissa may refer to the following: * Catawissa, Missouri, an unincorporated community *, a registered historic place in Waterford, New York *Catawissa, Pennsylvania, a borough in Columbia County **Catawissa Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvani ...

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 executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

. 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 the United States 1930s establishments in Pennsylvania Mining 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