10 Fun Facts About the Middle Susquehanna River

450 MILES ​

1. The Susquehanna River is the longest commercially non-navigable river in the United States, and it is the largest river lying entirely within the United States that drains into the Atlantic Ocean. Its main stem is 464 miles in length and flows through three states: New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. It starts in Cooperstown, New York, and ends at Havre Grace at the Chesapeake Bay, in Maryland. Its West Branch is 241 miles in length and joins the main stem near Sunbury, Pennsylvania

43% POLLUTION 

3. The Susquehanna River contributes approximately 50 percent of the freshwater entering the Chesapeake Bay and 43 percent of its pollution. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Pennsylvania is “substantially off track” in meeting its goals to reduce the amount of agriculture-based nitrogen and dirt polluting the Chesapeake Bay by way of the Susquehanna River.  

Images courtesy of the Susquehanna River Valley Visitors Bureau

2. Geologically, the Susquehanna River is considered the oldest major river system in the world. It dates back to the Paleozoic Era (543 to 248 million years ago), and there is evidence that the flow of the ancient Susquehanna was established early enough that it predated the formation of the Appalachian mountains over 300 million years ago.

Images courtesy of the Susquehanna River Valley Visitors Bureau

4. According to the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, more than 50 percent of the Susquehanna River Basin population obtains drinking water from watersheds that are susceptible to a wide range of pollutant sources, including, but not limited to, agriculture, mine drainage, urban/suburban runoff, atmospheric deposition, personal care products, antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and hormones.  Of the six sub-basins, the West Branch Sub-basin is the most impaired

"Of the six sub-basins, the West Branch Sub-basin is the most impaired"

​5. As of January 9, 2015, 1,961 natural gas well pad locations were approved by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, which has stated that there are numerous water-related concerns with regard to hydraulic fracturing in the watershed: impact of withdrawals from small, remote, forested streams and their associated biota; impact on local public water supplies; potential for water contamination due to spills, improper well casing, and flooded or leaking waste fluid holding pits; runoff and sedimentation of streams from well pad sites, pipelines, and unpaved roads; methane migration into nearby water wells; handling and disposal of flow-back and production fluids; and riparian zone and wetland impacts

"WATERKEEPER® Alliance is a global movement uniting more than 350 WATERKEEPER® Organizations"

7. ​The Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association hired John Zaktansky as its executive director and riverkeeper on Feb. 17, 2020. He took over for the association's founding riverkeeper, Carol Parenzan, who left in the fall of 2019. The association is part of the greater Waterkeeper Alliance, which is a global movement of more than 350 organizations focused on citizen advocacy on issues facing our waterways and striving to protect and promote our water-based resources.

“People should avoid consuming fish that have visible signs of sores and lesions.” 

6. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that about 4,600 miles of new interstate pipelines could be completed by 2018, which is in addition to the 6,800 miles of existing pipelines. Pennsylvania Secretary of Environmental Protection John Quigley has stated that pipeline capacity could more than double — with another 25,000 miles of gathering lines and up to 5,000 miles of mid-sized and large-capacity transmission lines within the next decade.  Pennsylvania does not have one regulatory authority that oversees intrastate gas pipelines. In fact, out of 31 states that produce natural gas, Alaska and Pennsylvania do not. 

"1,961 natural gas well pad locations"

8.Professor of Environmental Science and Biology at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Brian Mangan said studies have shown that over 90 percent of male smallmouth bass in the river are growing eggs in their testes. The intersex condition indicates that these males are being exposed to endocrine disrupting compounds that are feminizing them. Mangan believes that these compounds are likely coming from places such as sewage treatment plants and agricultural runoff

Images courtesy of the Susquehanna River Valley Visitors Bureau

9. ​Don Williams, Susquehanna River Sentinel, successfully petitioned American Rivers to proclaim the Susquehanna River the most threatened river in the country not once but twice (2005 and 2011). American Rivers, which every year names the 10 most endangered rivers in the country, in 2011 stated that its selection of the Susquehanna was due to the rush to develop the enormous (Marcellus shale) natural gas reserves in the region without considering the risk to clean water, rivers, and human health. In 2005, multiple Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) throughout the watershed and the threat of a new inflatable dam in Wilkes-Barre drove the threatened river designation.

10. Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission announced that a smallmouth bass caught in the middle section of the river in late 2014 was found to have a malignant tumor. The discovery marks the first documented case of a cancerous tumor being found on a smallmouth bass in Pennsylvania. The tumor was confirmed by both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory at Michigan State University. The Pennsylvania Department of Health has stated that there is no evidence that carcinomas in fish present a health hazard to humans, but “people should avoid consuming fish that have visible signs of sores and lesions.”