Sewickley Creek
| Sewickley Creek Tributary to Youghiogheny River | |
|---|---|
A bend in Sewickley Creek as seen from the Five Star Trail, just southeast of the campus of Westmoreland Community College in Hempfield Township, PA, December 2018. | |
Location of Sewickley Creek mouth Sewickley Creek (the United States) | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Pennsylvania |
| County | Westmoreland |
| Borough | Hunker Youngwood New Stanton |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Fourmile Run divide |
| • location | about 1 mile north-northeast of Pleasant Unity, Pennsylvania[2] |
| • coordinates | 40°15′57″N 079°26′07″W / 40.26583°N 79.43528°W[1] |
| • elevation | 1,145 ft (349 m)[2] |
| Mouth | Youghiogheny River |
• location | Collinsburg, Pennsylvania[3] |
• coordinates | 40°13′45″N 079°46′39″W / 40.22917°N 79.77750°W[1] |
• elevation | 740 ft (230 m)[3] |
| Length | 29.53 mi (47.52 km)[4] |
| Basin size | 167.49 square miles (433.8 km2)[5] |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Youghiogheny River |
| • average | 205.64 cu ft/s (5.823 m3/s) at mouth with Youghiogheny River[5] |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Youghiogheny River → Monongahela River → Ohio River → Mississippi River → Gulf of Mexico |
| River system | Monongahela River |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Welty Run Boyer Run Wilson Run Belson Run Buffalo Run Lick Run Hunters Run |
| • right | North Branch Sewickley Creek Brinker Run Township Line Run Jacks Run Pinkerton Run Kelly Run Little Sewickley Creek |
| Bridges | Schmuckers Road, PA 981, Kemerer Road, Phillips Road, PA 130, Bingham Road, Dutch Hill Road, Pollins Road, Fairground Road, United Road, Mt. Pleasant Road, Brinkerton Ext., Udell Road, Mt. Pleasant Road, Trouttown Road, Stone Church Road, US 119, I-76, S Center Avenue, Chaney Brothers Road, New Stanton-Ruffsdale Road, Hunker Waltz Mill Road, Waltz Mill Road, I-70, Yukon Road, Creek Road, Bells Mills Road, PA 136, Apples Mill Road, Sutersville Road |
Sewickley Creek is a 29.53 mi (47.52 km) long 4th order tributary to the Youghiogheny River in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. This is the only stream of this name in the United States.[1]
Variant names
According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known historically as:[1]
- Sewickey Creek
Course
Sewickley Creek rises in a pond about 1 mile north of Pleasant Unity, Pennsylvania,[2] and then flows westerly to join the Youghiogheny River across from Collinsburg.[3]
Watershed
Sewickley Creek drains 167.49 square miles (433.8 km2) of area, receives about 43.3 in/year of precipitation, has a wetness index of 370.17, and is about 45% forested.[5] Non-EPA-compliant drainage of oil and gas drilling waste from the nearby Max Environmental landfill has polluted the creek in the 2020s, with elevated radiation levels downstream of the landfill drainage outlet.[6][7]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "GNIS Detail - Sewickley Creek". geonames.usgs.gov. US Geological Survey. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Get Maps". USGS Topoview. US Geological Survey. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Get Maps". USGS Topoview. US Geological Survey. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
- ^ "ArcGIS Web Application". epa.maps.arcgis.com. US EPA. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Sewickley Creek Watershed Report". US EPA Geoviewer. US EPA. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
- ^ Bense, Kiley (February 23, 2025). "Pollution From a Pennsylvania Landfill Caused Problems for Decades. Fracking Waste Made It Worse". Inside Climate News. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
- ^ Badertscher, Lauren M.; Hill, Memphis J.; Cantlay, Tetiana; Stolz, John F.; Bain, Daniel J. (October 2023). "Elevated sediment radionuclide concentrations downstream of facilities treating leachate from landfills accepting oil and gas waste". Ecological Indicators. 154. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.110616. Retrieved May 13, 2025.