More than 400 fish have died this week in the downtown-Meadville waters of Mill Run. That’s the bad news — and, in one way, it’s the good news, too.
Officials at
Mill Run originates east of town, near
A DEP employee leaving the building on Tuesday noticed some of the dead fish and saw that the slowly-flowing water had a strange blue-green color at that spot.
Something entered the creek, contaminating the waters, officials report, but they don’t know exactly what or where. So much of the creek is underground that the entry point will be difficult to find.
DEP staffers have done some preliminary investigation, however, and a 1,000-foot stretch between the new Walgreens drug store (at
Some people have reported smelling an odor that could be an indicator of the trouble, but DEP officials have not detected it themselves.
It is not yet known what substance caused the water’s blue-green color.
The 400 fish represent various species, and some of the fish were somewhat surprising to DEP officials. “We were happy to see the diversity of the fish we have found so far. It says good things about Mill Run. Many of the ones we found need to live in extremely clean environments,” said Freda Tarbell, DEP community relations coordinator.
The find indicates that “Mill Run contains a good, healthy aquatic community,” she said, with waters that are generally very clean. In fact, a species of sculpins and at least three species of darters that were found all require extremely clean environments to survive.
Anyone with information about the contamination problem is asked to call 332-6816.
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