Audubon program on restoration of Lehigh Gap

Atop Blue Mountain before restoration began

For nearly a century, the New Jersey Zinc Company smelted zinc along Lehigh Gap in Carbon County. Its smoke stacks spewed airborne particles of zinc, cadmium and lead across Blue Mountain, contaminating the soil to the point where few plants were able to grow. Near Palmerton, the company town, an enormous 100-foot-high residue pile remained as a byproduct of the New Jersey Zinc's mining operations.

When the zinc company closed in 1980, its property became one of the largest federal Superfund cleanup sites east of the Mississippi River. Work began immediately on undoing decades' worth of damage to the area's land and water. 

Dan Kunkle will tell about the challenges and accomplishments in the restoration of Lehigh Gap during the next Lehigh Valley Audubon Society's meeting on Thursday, October 8. 

Kunkle, executive director of the Lehigh Gap Nature Center and a consultant on the restoration, will explain how the site is being revegetated. He also will share information on the birds and wildlife sightings that have occurred since the restoration began.

The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at the Wildlands Conservancy Education Center Building of the Pool Wildlife Sanctuary at 3701 Orchid Place in Emmaus. The program is open to the public.

Directions: From Allentown and points north or east, travel on South Cedar Crest Boulevard (Route 29). Just outside Emmaus, turn left onto Riverbend Road. Follow the road over the bridge and up a small hill. Turn right onto Orchid Place. The entrance to the Pool sanctuary is down than hill, less than a half mile, on the right.