Another Saucon Creek Bummer

[BradyS]

Wow this stream looks different 🙁

 

[sarce]

Hard for me to tell with certainty from the pics but did the aforementioned bulldozer activity cause any re-grading of the floodplain?

 

[mcneishm]

albud1962 - The Conservation District has been contacted thru TU.

sarce - It's not clear to me whether the bulldozing had an effect on the floodplain. The tracks of an earth mover went into the stream at the lower end of the "destruction". The stream was quite a bit deeper there than it had been. It looked like they had done that to facilitate the movement down the stream of brush they had cut.

 

[sarce]

Thanks for the reply. I was curious if it could potentially have altered a FEMA floodplain which would open a whole new can of worms. Even without altering the floodplain, the tree removal and lack of E&SC are bad enough.

 

[govtmule]

Wow..looks like $hit

 

[mcneishm]

The Conservation District, confirmed by PFBC, indicates the Bethlehem Water Authority has a 3 year plan to clear the berm around the wastewater plant, and that according to best maintenance practices, they never should have allowed large trees and shrubs to grow there. I can understand clearing the berm, a reasonable, tho perhaps unfortunate undertaking 50 or so years after the fact for the trees cut. However, if you've been there, you'll see that in addition to the trees actually on the berm, every other tree was cut as well. There are a few shrubs starting to poke through and, of course, the Japanese knotweed is in the process of colonizing the whole place.

The 3 year plan means that the berm and whatever else they qualify as "berm", will be cleared of trees from where they stopped now to below the confluence with the East Branch.

When/if I get any more information/clarification, I'll pass it along.

 

[BradyS]

Thanks for the update Mike! I'll try to fish that section in the next month and take some pics. I'm curious how much erosion will take place because of the destruction.