Sinnemahoning Portage Creek NaOH Disaster of 6/30/2006

The Sinnemahoning Portage Creek is located in McKean and Cameron County and is regionally famous for its excellent trout and smallmouth bass fishing. My family has a cabin in the nearby area and my father lived in the area for his entire childhood. So needless to say this accident really hit me hard. On June 30, 2006 in a tributary of the Sinnemahoning Portage Creek a train derailed releasing 45,000 gallons of liquid sodium hydroxide (NaOH). This highly alkali chemical turned the streams pH from around 7 to 14 causing a devastating aquatic kill which in all reality sterilized the stream of all life. The damaged continued to spread as the contaminated water flowed into Driftwood Branch of Sinnemahoning Creek. In an assessment of the damage from the Sinnemahoning-Portage Creek and Driftwood Branch from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, a total of 517,041 fish (everything from minnow to trout) were killed. Another unfortunate loss was the discovery of 36 dead Hellbenders a unique salamander that can grow to lengths up to 29 inches.
The railroad company responsible for the spill paid $7,350,000 to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

photos: http://mountaincatgeology.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/sinnemahoning-portage-creek-naoh-disaster-of-6302006/

http://www.sizerville.com/Train_wreck/Documents/pon_07-19-2006.pdf

http://www.fishandboat.com/water/streams/sinnemahoning/norfolk_report.pdf
The Good News:
Despite this fact, life rebounded from this catastrophe. On May 12, 2007 I checked the Sinnemahoning Portage Creek for macro invertebrates and was surprised to see the amount of life. Furthermore I managed to hook a native brook trout which gives evidence that fish moved from the small, unharmed tributaries like Four-mile Run and Cowley Run. I also noticed hundreds of Smallmouth Bass fingerlings which I assumed were stocked by the PA Fish & Boat Commission.
Sources:
http://www.sizerville.com/Train_wreck/Documents/pon_07-19-2006.pdf
http://www.fishandboat.com/newsreleases/2007/norfolk.htm
http://www.fishandboat.com/water/streams/sinnemahoning/norfolk_report.pdf