A $146,984 remediation system for abandoned coal mine drainage will be dedicated at 2 p.m. today near the intersection of Clinton and McCaslin roads in Findlay.

The facility was built under the sponsorship of the Montour Run Watershed Association in western Allegheny County.

It's an outgrowth of the Montour Run Watershed Assessment and Cleanup Plan Project funded by the Growing Greener grant program of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Conducted from 2001 to 2003, the assessment project sought to identify environmentally harmful discharges of contaminated groundwater from abandoned coal mines in the 37-square-mile Montour Run Watershed.

It included a yearlong program of monthly sampling of these discharges, leading to recommendations for treatment approaches for the most damaging.

A discharge from the Clinton Lake Mine complex along Clinton Road was identified as a significant source of pollution of the West Fork of Enlow Run due to elevated levels of acidity and aluminum.

The scope of the McCaslin Road project has included the siting, design, permitting and construction of a passive treatment system.

This facility includes a steel-cased bore conducting the untreated drainage beneath Clinton Road; PVC drainage conveyance piping; limestone treatment bed with automatic flushing device; and 8,000-square-foot settling pond.

This remediation system will improve the health of nearly two miles of the West Fork of Enlow Run. An estimated 14,000 pounds of acid and 1,700 pounds of aluminum will be prevented from entering the stream each year from this site alone. The resultant improvement in water quality will go far toward improved survival of fish and the aquatic life forms that support them.

The $146,984 total cost of the McCaslin Road project has been funded through the DEP's Growing Greener program. In addition, matching cash, goods and services valued at more than $30,000 have been provided by the prime contractor, BioMost Inc., and its partners, Quality Aggregates Inc., Stream Restoration Inc., and G&C Coal Analysis Lab.

The MRWA is a 501(c)(3) incorporated nonprofit, chartered in 2000, which seeks to protect and improve water resources in the Montour Run Watershed.

The McCaslin Road project is the fourth abandoned mine drainage treatment facility constructed to date in the watershed.

This joins Boggs Road, Clinton Road and North Fork mine drainage treatment projects. These projects implement recommendations of the River Conservation and Land-Use Plan for the Montour Run Watershed, established in 1998 by the Montour Valley Alliance, forerunner coalition to the MRWA.

A falcon demonstration, children's activities, S'mores by the fire pit, pony rides and music will be featured at the South Fayette Conservation Group's fall hayride from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Boys Home Park on Battle Ridge Road in South Fayette.

The free event will offer hay ride tours through the 200-acre park, which is now being preserved through a state Department of Agriculture conservation easement.

The ride departure times will be 11 a.m. and 12:30 and 2 p.m.

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History and The Regional Environmental Education Center will sponsor hands-on children's activities, and music will be provided by folk rock musician Waldo Young.

A folk music jam session will start at 2 p.m.; the audience is invited to bring an instrument and join.

Visitors can learn about the history of the Boys' Industrial Home of Western Pennsylvania through the Historical Society of South Fayette.

Food and beverages will be sold.

For information, contact Sue Caffrey, sue.caffrey@yahoo.com or 412-221-8700.

The ninth Penn State Beaver Alumni Society Golf Outing netted $18,000 to benefit the society's endowed scholarship for Beaver campus students.

The outing was held in September at Seven Oaks Country Club, Brighton Township.

For information about next year's golf outing, call 724-773-3558.

• Moon Area High School seniors and Moon Lady Tiger volleyball players Casey Pattyn and Maddie Fecko raised $3,630.30 for breast cancer research during the district's first Dig 4 the Cure volleyball fundraiser.

The funds will be donated to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Pittsburgh affiliate and will be used to support breast cancer research.

Casey and Maddie organized the Oct. 6 fundraiser as part of their senior projects in conjunction with a match versus the Baldwin-Whitehall Lady Highlanders.

To raise the funds, they sold 101 pink T-shirts at the high school and in the community after soliciting donations for screen printing from businesses. Volleyball team members also acquired pledges.

At the game, where Moon players wore pink jerseys, spectators donate funds for a chance to win an autographed Sidney Crosby Penguins jersey.

• Moon Area High School Senior Tara Gorndt recently raised $4,900 for the Autism Society of Pittsburgh through Auction for Autism held on Oct. 19 at the Moon Lady Tigers volleyball senior recognition night.

As her senior project, Tara organized an auction that featured 20 baskets and a silent auction that raffled four items including a Montour Heights Country Club golf outing and an autographed Marc-Andre Fleury jersey.

• Clearview Federal Credit Union raised more than $600 during a garage sale at its Moon office to benefit the Epilepsy Foundation.

Employees and their families sold items in the parking lot of the office for the public to purchase. Funds for the Epilepsy Foundation were raised through concession sales, registration fees, table fees and donations taken during the sale. Unsold items were also donated to the American Veterans of War.

• A spaghetti dinner and prize raffles at Carlynton High School raised $4,325 last month to benefit 22-year-old Heather Sherba, a 2005 Carlynton graduate and a recent graduate of the Robert Morris University nursing program.

Ms. Sherba was one of the LA Fitness shooting victims. Her medical costs exceed $50,000 and she was without insurance at the time of the shooting.

Old Economy Village in Ambridge is recruiting volunteers for positions such as tour guide, historic craft demonstrator and maintenance support. Hours are flexible and training is provided by museum staff.

Unpaid internships and volunteer positions are available to college students and others who are interested in meeting people with similar interests, receiving discounts at the museum store, paying a reduced tuition for lectures and classes offered by The Friends of Old Economy Village and being included in invitations to museum programs and events.

Volunteers also have an opportunity for career exploration in museum studies, history and education.

Old Economy is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

For information, call 724-266-4500, ext.108, or e-mail ra-oldeconomy@state.pa.us.

Old Economy is one of 25 historic sites and museums on the Pennsylvania Trail of History, administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Visit www.oldeconomyvillage.org.

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