By Danish Bajwah, Allegheny Front
A fracking company’s plan to withdraw water from a Western Pennsylvania trout stream is causing concern among biologists and local activists about its potential impact on a Pennsylvania-threatened species that depend on the stream for breeding.
Findlay, Pa.-based PennEnergy Resources received approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for a water withdrawal permit on January 29th. The permit will allow the company to extract 1.5 million gallons of water per day from Big Sewickley Creek. The DEP had previously rejected a plan to withdraw 3 million gallons a day from the stream.
Big Sewickley Creek is a trout-stocked stream that runs through Allegheny and Beaver counties. The company’s permit allows it to withdraw water from a point in Economy Borough, Beaver County.
Brady Porter, an associate professor of biology at Duquesne University, worries the water withdrawal plan will harm the creek’s threatened redbelly dace. “These are really spectacular, colored minnow,” Porter said.
Porter said he is worried withdrawing water will make the stream more turbid, which would harm the dace’s ability to find a mate.
“They have a beautiful red belly, as their name might imply, and golden black stripes on their side,” Porter said. “They obviously use those in their mating rituals and if they cannot see because turbidity’s kicked up, that can impact their breeding.”
Why not from the Ohio River?
If you liked this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Please do not take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.
