Concerned Groups Hope Trout Nursery Doesn't Go Way Of Heath Pump Station

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Concerned Groups Hope Trout Nursery Doesn’t Go Way of Heath Pump Station

August 31, 2017 12:50 am·

HEATH TWP., Pa. (EYT) – A Jefferson County landmark that has stood for more than a century will soon cease to exist.

National Fuel Gas is in the process of tearing down the Heath Pump Station.

The landmark is known to virtually anyone who has spent more than a passing moment fishing, hunting, hiking, or canoeing in the area.

The station was built in 1912 to compress natural gas that’s shipped far and wide to heat homes and propel various makes and models of cars, trucks, and vans.

According to National Fuel’s Paul Hoffman, the pump station is being retired because it doesn’t meet the station’s minimum gas production. A smaller station is being built in the vicinity.

The landmark piece of equipment at the station was a 1912 compressor pump made by Snow Steam Pump Works, of Buffalo. The pump weighs a little more than 96 tons and is 50 feet long. The 13-foot flywheel weighs 11 tons. It was sold to a Gas & Steam Engine Association.

The station actually shut down about a decade ago.

While the station and the spot where it sits will soon be a memory, there is another historical element to the site that area residents don’t want to see disappear. Callen Run, a stocked and native trout fishery, flows next to the station shortly before it enters the Clarion River.

The waters of the stream, dammed by the company to provide water for its operation, is also a source of water for the trout nursery run by the Heath Township Sportsmen’s Club. The club built the hatchery and began raising fish there in 1955.

For more than 60 years, the hatchery has depended on cold water from the dam to keep the trout there happy and growing before they are stocked for several kids’ fishing derbies that the club supports every year.

Because of the uncertainty of the fate of the trout nursery, around two dozen concerned citizens gathered at the club’s hatchery on Wednesday afternoon.

There were representatives from National Fuel Gas; Western Pa. Conservancy; Trout Unlimited; the Pa. Fish & Boat Commission; Bureau of Forestry; and Jefferson County Conservation District.

All pledged their assistance, and Conservancy members pledged to prepare grant proposals to fund the dam removal and ensure the hatchery would continue to get the quality, cold water it needs to continue raising trout.

Luke Bobnar, a watershed technician with the Conservancy, said his group is looking forward to the removal of the dam, so native trout can leave the Clarion River and move up Callen Run when warmer water conditions make it necessary for their survival.

Everyone acknowledged there will be challenges to get things done.

Ty Desiderio, a watershed consultant for the Conservancy, said his group had never conducted a dam removal of this magnitude.

“We know the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) would prefer to have the dam removed, but we will be able to do stream improvement projects that the fish will prefer,” Desiderio said.

The sediment that has collected over the decades was another concern, but Bobnar said that could be used in a Clarion River project to prevent bank erosion in the Clear Creek State Park area.

Some members of the Sportsmen’s Club were concerned about the costs of such a project.

“The Conservancy has quite a bit of experience getting grant money to do these projects,” Kylie Maland, Watershed Manager for the Conservancy. “We typically don’t ask groups for much money. We appreciate any volunteer help and we’d welcome any help from National Fuel.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                            SEE VIDEO;    http://www.explorejeffersonpa.com/heath-station-story/