Conoy Creek Restoration Project
(L - R): Joseph E. Murphy, Chief Executive Officer for Masonic Villages; Dr. Dorothy J. Merritts, Professor, Department of Earth and Environment at Franklin & Marshall College; Dr. William Hilgartner, paleoecologist and lecturer at The Johns Hopkins University; Patrick Sampsell, Chief Environmental and Facilities Officer for Masonic Villages; and Gerald Tracy, Director of Environmental Services and Land Management for Masonic Village at Elizabethtown
Helping Save The Bay - Preserving Our Heritage
A portion of the Conoy Creek, located on the grounds of the Masonic Village at Elizabethtown, Pa., is receiving a much-needed facelift, and in the process, uncovering some clues from the area's past: wetland meadow seeds, discovered in test pits, which have been carbon-dated between 200 and 4,000 years old. It is hoped that a substantial portion of these seed beds will germinate.
Over the next several months, centuries of legacy sediments will be removed and 3,200 feet of the creek's floodplain will be restored, improving local water resources, re-establishing wetlands and enhancing wildlife. Professors and scientists from Franklin & Marshall College and The Johns Hopkins University will be participating in the restoration, including the reconstruction of the wetland environment that existed between 300 and 5,000 years ago.
The project is the result of funding from a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Growing Greener grant, the largest ever for a legacy sediment grant, and cash contributions from the Masonic Village. Elizabethtown Borough; West Donegal Township; State Rep. David Hickernell; Dr. Dorothy J. Merritts, professor, and Dr. Robert Walter, associate professor, Department of Earth and Environment at Franklin & Marshall College; Dr. William Hilgartner, paleoecologist and lecturer at The Johns Hopkins University; the Conoy Creek Watershed Association, RETTEW Associates, Inc. and Flyway Excavating, Inc. are also providing support for the project.
Gerald Tracy, Director of Environmental Services and Land Management for Masonic Village at Elizabethtown, and Patrick Sampsell, Chief Environmental and Facilities Officer for Masonic Villages, will oversee the restoration work.
