Community to Gather at Blue Hole Aug 1 in remembrance of a creek
The Mountain Watershed Association hosts a remembrance at Blue Hole in Forbes State Forest on August 1, honoring a beloved creek it says is now polluted.
The Mountain Watershed Association is inviting the Youghiogheny watershed community to Blue Hole on Saturday, August 1, for a remembrance ceremony and a call for stronger state action on a creek it says has been polluted.
The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. at Blue Hole Spring in Forbes State Forest, off Blue Hole Road near Rockwood in Somerset County. Organizers plan a few short readings, possibly an acoustic song or two, and time for people to share stories and connect. Those who want to bike in can park at the old CCC Camp at 9:30 a.m. and ride to and from Blue Hole. Anyone driving can park at Blue Hole at 10 a.m. The association asks attendees to dress for the weather and bring water, snacks and bug spray.
For generations, Blue Hole was a deep, rock-lined swimming hole where locals went to beat the summer heat. The creek that feeds it was once classified as an Exceptional Value waterway, a reliable water source for backpackers on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail and, further downstream, a home for wild trout.
According to the Mountain Watershed Association, that has changed. The association says upstream pollution from a shooting range has left the creek listed as impaired, with its own testing showing lead levels as high as 400 parts per billion and acidic water. READ MORE HERE:
The gathering, billed as a remembrance, is also meant as a show of solidarity to demand stricter action from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Blue Hole gave a lot of people a lot of good summers. On August 1, the community will gather to remember them, and to ask what it will take to bring the creek back.