York County Rail Trail Authority has moved one step closer to restoring Oil Creek, a tributary of Codorus Creek and ultimately the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay.

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced a grant award of $135,000 for design and permitting of two impaired sections of Oil Creek located in Heidelberg Township, York County, previously listed by the department as Impaired for Aquatic Life and not attaining Recreational Use. A $20,000 grant from York County Community Foundation's Codorus Watershed Endowment and private donations to the authority complete the project's expected budget of $160,000.

LandStudies of Lititz was recently awarded the contract to complete the work following recommendations made in an August 2021 Oil Creek Watershed Restoration Plan. Design and permitting is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

Authority chairman Frank Kempf explained that the goal of the project is to improve water quality, address stormwater impacts, increase productivity of adjacent agricultural lands and provide additional public recreational opportunities.

Restoration of the watershed is a key component in the authority's project to convert a nearby dormant rail line purchased in 2020 into a non-motorized trail as part of the Hanover Trolley Trail. Early investigations of this rail line revealed that sections of the corridor west of Spring Grove were seriously and negatively impacted by nearby Oil Creek, spurring the authority's efforts to develop a plan that would improve the health of the creek, stabilize adjacent lands and allow trail development to begin.

The authority recently began efforts to meet the stream's expected $2.3 million restoration construction cost through a promotional campaign to reach a broad audience of potential funding sources.

For more information, visit http://www.YorkCountyTrails.org or http://www.facebook.com/YCRTA.