Skelly and Loy has designed and permitted the first acid mine drainage (AMD) treatment system in the Blacklegs Creek Watershed in southern Indiana County. It is designed to reduce iron and acidity loading of the Kolb discharges and consists of a wet seal to capture the underground mine discharge, piping network, innovative aeration system and settling pond. The site is located in a memorial park for volunteers and members of the Blackleggs Creek Watershed Association (BCWA) – a group committed to the restoration and improvement of Blacklegs Creek in Indiana and Armstrong Counties, Pennsylvania, that has been polluted with AMD from past coal mining activities.

In 2000, the BCWA received Pennsylvania Growing Greener Grant funding to construct a passive AMD treatment system. To date, the system received regular maintenance thanks to the care of the volunteers including only one piping repair after ten years of successful operation.

Following the Kolb project, Skelly and Loy, in partnership with BCWA, completed three additional projects: Big Run Phase 1 (#2 discharge); Big Run Phase 2 (#7 discharge); and Big Run Phase 3 (#8 discharge). Skelly and Loy is currently underway with design efforts for Big Run Phase 4 (#3 discharge). Once Phase 4 is completed, 8 additional kilometres of Blacklegs Creek will be returned to a viable trout fishery, along with the recovery of more than a mile of Big Run, a tributary of Blacklegs Creek.