1
Matt Kuhl
Eng 115
Kristin Messuri
1 August 2014
Pollution in the Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River flows through three different states and is one of the
largest rivers in the United States. The Susquehanna River basin is approximately 27,000
square miles and it flows through many cities and communities as it winds through New
York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. The river starts in the town of Cooperstown, NY and
eventually flows into the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. There is one serious problem
with this river though, and this problem is pollution. In the past few decades this river has
been subjected to some of the worst pollution of any waterway in the country. It was even
named the most endangered river in the United States for many consecutive years now.
This pollution is not only affecting the Susquehanna River, but also the land and
communities surrounding this waterway. Something needs to be done to help stop this
pollution right now before it is too late.
Many forms of pollution has affected the water quality of the Susquehanna over
the years, in this paper I will discuss some of the main causes of the contamination. The
Susquehanna was a very clean, healthy river until around the turn of the twentieth
century. It was around this time that cities started to pop up on the banks of the river,
which began the start of the river’s pollution problems. The growth of these cities meant
that many factories were beginning to manufacture goods, and the manufacturing process
meant that there was an excess of waste products. These factories simply dumped many
2
of their waste products into the river and thought nothing of it. This was not happening
in just one place either, almost every city along the Susquehanna was adding to this
pollution.
Another form of pollution that has harmed the river was raw sewage. This was a
very large problem in the early twentieth century, when there were no sewage water
treatment facilities, so when toilets were flushed, everything flowed straight into the
river. Due to the aging infrastructure of the current sewer systems, some sewage still
finds its way into the river. In addition to sewage seeping into the Susquehanna, there is
also a large amount of trash that is dumped into the river on a daily basis. People simply
ignore laws against dumping into the river, adding to the river’s serious pollution
problem.
It can be said that coal-mining industry was one of the most important economic
developments to have happened to the state of Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna flows
through one of the most heavily mined areas in the United States, Northeastern
Pennsylvania. All of this mining had a very destructive impact on the river and the
surrounding areas. There are mineshafts scattered all over the river’s basin, many of these
shafts even flow under the river. Because of this, the river is constantly being polluted by
acid from these mines. Mine drainage impacts approximately 2,000 miles of
streams/rivers in the basin, and represents the second largest source of pollution in the
Susquehanna River Basin ("Mine Drainage"). There are also many streams that flow into
this river that are heavily polluted with mine drainage. One creek that flows into the
Susquehanna in my hometown, Solomon’s Creek, is stained orange from acid pollution
due underground mines.
3
Another form of pollution that is heavily affecting the river, and is one of the
main sources of pollution today, is chemical runoff from agricultural areas. Farm fields
surround many parts of the Susquehanna. These fields are often sprayed with many
different kinds of chemicals and fertilizers that flow into the river whenever there is a
heavy rainfall. Even though these chemicals and fertilizers are safe for plants, they are
very harmful to the river and the species of fish that call the river home. Two of the most
heavily concentrated chemicals that enter the river when this happens are nitrogen and
phosphorus. It is estimated that 77% of the nitrogen and 53% of the phosphorus that is
found in the Chesapeake Bay entered through the Susquehanna.
The pollution affecting the Susquehanna has had a very detrimental effect on
many of the fish species. The fish species that has been affected the most is the
smallmouth bass. The Susquehanna has always been known to be one of the best
smallmouth bass fisheries in the United States, but in recent years, the bass population
has plummeted. The biggest problem that these bass are facing is simply surviving past
the early stages of life. Baby bass are dying at an incredible rate due to disease, which is
caused by poor water quality. This has diminished the bass population to the lowest it has
been in over 100 years. Even if the bass make it to adulthood they are often found with
lesions or black spots up and down their body. Because of this, the Pennsylvania fish
Commission recommended that no fish out of the Susquehanna should be eaten. This can
all be traced back to the horrible water quality.
The question is, what can we do to not only stop further pollution from
happening, but to try to clean the pollution that is currently found in the river? This is
affecting the species that live in and around this river in a very negative way. A change
4
needs to be made soon before the river gets to a point of no return. There has been much
improvement in the Susquehanna in the last fifty years, but there is still a lot of room for
improvement. There are many things that could be done to improve the water quality, and
many of these things are quite simple, and can be done simply with enough manpower.
As a start, there are many conservation groups that are working toward making
the river cleaner, even if it is just by taking small steps. One small step that these groups
are taking is organizing river cleanup days. I have personally been to one of these
cleanup days and they really do make a difference. The amount of trash that a group of
around fifty people pulled out of the water in a matter of just a few hours was staggering.
There was everything from tires, to mattresses and even a baby stroller. If enough people
were to volunteer to help in these river cleanups, it could help to improve the quality of
the water in the Susquehanna.
The most important thing that needs to be done is to set laws that require farms
whose runoff finds its way to the river, to either stop using harmful fertilizers, divert their
runoff, or find a safer way to use them. If chemical runoff from these farms can be
stopped, it would help the water quality in the Susquehanna dramatically. The most
effective way to stop the harmful runoff would be to make these harmful fertilizers illegal
to use close to the river. Although this would be a very large burden on the lives of the
farmers, its impact on stopping pollution in the Susquehanna River would be huge.
The DEP and EPA have recently began to look deeper into the pollution. They
took samples of the water, algae, and many fish and mussel species. They are determined
to try to help clean the Susquehanna, and help return it to the beautiful state it was once
in. Scientists and environmentalists realize that the pollution is having a negative effect
5
of the people and communities that surround this river and are researching many different
ways to improve the water quality, and make the Susquehanna a much cleaner and
healthier river.
The Susquehanna River watershed is one of the most beautiful in the United
States, but if we continue to allow the damaging forms of pollution to continue to
contaminate the water, this may no longer be the case. The river has made a lot of
progress over the last few decades, but there is still a way to go. If we do not act now, the
Susquehanna may be lost forever. If you care about the health of the Susquehanna you
should contact your local representatives and tell them what needs to be done. The health
of the Susquehanna River is up to us, and if nothing is done in the near future, it will be
too late.
6
Works Cited
Susquehanna River Basin Commission. Mine Drainage. Harrisburg, PA: Susquehanna
River Basin Commisson, Web.
<http://www.srbc.net/stateofsusq2013/docs/SOTS_Indicator
4_Mine_Drainage_low _res.pdf>.