Science Publications

Koryak, M., Stafford, L., Reilly, R., Hoskin, R., and Haberman, M. (1998) The Impact of Airport Deicing Runoff on Water Quality and Aquatic Life in a Pennsylvania Stream.  Journal of Freshwater Ecology, Volume 13, Number 3 pp 287- 298
(1.7mb pdf)

The impacts of a large airport on the water quality and aquatic life of a small western Pennsylvania stream were examined. The principal adverse effects of airport runoff were related to runway deicing operations.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Ferguson, B., Pinkham, R., Collins, T., (1999) Restorative Redevelopment:The Nine Mile Run Model Published by Rocky Mountain Institute, Snowmass Colorado (web page feature story)

A Pittsburgh-area model demonstrates it's possible to solve problems of sewer overflows, stormwater runoff, and urban revitalization at the source-in the urban areas where the rain falls and the people live-by absorbing costs into incremental redevelopment.
Stormwater | The Journal for Surface Water Quality Professionals

Koryak, M. (1982) Wetland Regulation in Appalachia. Symposium on Wetlands of the Unglaciated Appalachian Region.  West Virginia University, Mogantown W.VA.  pp 234-238 (4.2mb pdf)

Wetlands in the United States have been regulated by national legislation for the last 133 years. In this paper both the historical development and present status of the regulations are reviewed with an Appalachian regional perspective. Public sentiment and the availability of wetland definitions and inventories are presented in the discussion as major factors influencing the evolution and effective administration of the laws.

US Army Corps of Engineers

Koryak, M. Stafford, L. Reilly, R., and Sykora, J. (1998) Aquatic Insect Communities Within the Drainage Basin of a Pennsylvania River Extensively Impacted by Acid Mine Drainage. in "Book of Abstracts: Proceedings of the 6th European Congress of Entomology"  University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic.

(250k pdf)
US Army Corps of Engineers
University of Pittsburgh

Collins, T., Savage, K. (1998) BROWNFIELDS AS PLACES: A Case Study in Learning to See Assets as Well as Liabilities, Opportunities as Well as Constraints in Public Works Management & Policy, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp 210-219 (1.3mb pdf)

The Nine Mile Run site is 18 stories of steel industry waste dumped on 240 acres over 50 years. The site features two broad slag plateaus split by a slag valley and an urban stream. As the development team struggles with issues relative to the site grading, the the surrounding community is currently organizing on the basis of three issues:

Carnegie Mellon University
University of Pittsburgh

Koryak, M., Stafford, L., Reilly, R., Magnuson, P., (2001) Highway Deicing Salt Runoff Events and Major Ion Concentrations along a Small Urban Stream. in Journal of Freshwater Ecology, Volume 16, Number 1. pp 125-135 (383k pdf)

Highway deicing activities can influence the quality of waters draining urban areas that experience multiple winter season freeze/thaw cycles. However, because of the flashy hydrology of smaller urban streams, and the unpredictable nature of deicing runoff, these events are difficult to fully document by traditional monitoring approaches.

US Army Corps of Engineers

Koryak, M. (1976) Proceedings of the Symposium and Specialty Conference on Instream Flow Needs: The Influence of Mainstem Navigation Dams on Water Quality and Fisheries in the Upper Ohio River Basin. Bethesda MA: American Fisheries Society pp- 158-173
(638k pdf)

The Design and Operation of mainstem navigation dams were found to significantly influence a number of physical, chemical and biological parameters. The effect of the mainstem projects on dissolved oxygen was most dramatic.

US Army Corps of Engineers

Koryak, M. (1978) The Occurrence of Peridinium inconspicuum Lemmermann (Dinophyceae) in Minerally Acid Waters of the Upper Ohio River Basin. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia - Vol. 130 pp. 21-25
(222k pdf)
Peridinium inconspicuum Lemmermann (Dinophyceae) is a member of the algal association of several takes affected by mineral acids. Sustained dominance of phytoplankton communities by this pyrrhophyte was observed in at least two large acid impoundments.

US Army Corps of Engineers

Koryak, M., Stafford, L., Reilly, R., Sykora, J. (1999) Rhyacophila Mainensis Banks in Elk County, Pennsylvania. in Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science
(224k pdf)

Rhyacophila mainensis, a member of Sibirica group, is distributed in North Central and Eastern North America (Ross, 1956). It lives in large, clear mountain streams. In addition to Pennsylvania, reliable records are known from Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Newfoundland, New Jersey, New York, Quebec, and West Virginia (Weaver,1990)

US Army Corps of Engineers

Koryak, M., Stafford, L., Reilly, R., Sykora (2001) The Impact of Above Grade Sewerline Crossings on the Distribution and Abundance of Fishes in Recovering Small Urban Streams of the Upper Ohio River Valley in Journal of Freshwater Ecology, Volume 16, Number 4. pp 591- 598 (364k pdf)

The distribution and abundance of fishes along four small urban streams in western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia were examined. The water quality of three of these streams was moderately to severely degraded along various reaches.

US Army Corps of Engineers

Sykora, J., Koryak, M., Fowles, J. (1997) Adult Trichoptera as indicators of water quality in the Upper Ohio River Drainage Basin Prooceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Trichoptera, pp. 441-444
(406k pdf)

The US Army Corps of Engineers light trapped adult Trichoptera at monthly intervals between May and September or October at the inflows and outflows from sixteen reservoirs operated by them in the Upper Ohio River Drainage Basin. The samples contained seventeen families of caddisflies represented by 176 species. We identified four species of Hydroptila as new to science.

University of Pittsburgh
US Army Corps of Engineers

Koryak, M., Reilly, R. (1984) Vascular Riffle Flora of Appalachian Streams: The Ecology and Effects of Acid Mine Drainage on Justicia Americana (L.) Vahl Proceeding of The Pennsylvania Academy of Science 58, Issue 1,: 55-60 (3.3mb pdf)

Luxuriant growths of the emergent aquatic plant Justica Americana (L.) Vahl have been observed on gravel bars and riffles of larger, unpolluted streams throughout the upper Ohio River drainage basin. This plant, however, is conspicuously absent or severely suppresses in stream reaches influenced by acid mine drainage.

US Army Corps of Engineers