Resilience & Sustainability

Like many Central Pennsylvania towns, Williamsburg enjoys recreational opportunities and ecosystem services from the local natural landscape while also facing the question of unused, degraded industrial land from bygone eras. These two conditions can complement one another in future planning. With enough commitment to continued management (already underway through local volunteer work with support from groups like Interfaith Power and Light, ClearWater Conservancy, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation), some areas along the Lower Trail and Frankstown Branch can be recovered as robust ecological systems similar to the preindustrial landscape. Other areas have been so severely modified by previous uses that they suggest new opportunities for interacting with the natural world beyond managed wilderness.

For example, current best practices for habitat maintenance and flood mitigation suggest minimizing “hard” infrastructure on riverbanks, but existing features like old bridge abutments can provide more ways to engage with the water’s edge without further compromising bank conditions. A low-lying former power plant site with degraded soil conditions may be a more suitable site for a constructed marshland than the native riparian forest of centuries past. Constructed ecological systems can be combined with new infrastructure in a way that poses less risk to longestablished plant and animal communities, creating a net benefit for both habitat and human use. Amenities that may be accommodate in this “new nature” include boardwalks and other accessible circulation, tent, and RV sites, outdoor recreation facilities, boating and fishing access — all of which have the potential for new business and revenue for the Borough.

Williamsburg experienced several devastating floods in the 20th century. The acquisition of over 50 acres of new land upstream of the historic residential area, much of it in the floodway, could be an opportunity to think big about flood mitigation while managing the remnants of the former power generating facility. One of the biggest questions is the fate of the nearly 100-foothigh ash waste hill on the edge of the floodplain just on the other side of the Lower Trail from the Frankstown Branch. Of course, the hydrology and the conditions of the soil in this area need to be carefully evaluated by specialists before any significant intervention, but hopefully this Workbook can help generate the right questions to ask of the site.

Finally, the Borough’s expanded property can have potential for more than recreation and rehabilitation of habitat; the existing electrical substation and power line corridors could support locally produced electricity once again in the form of solar generation. Just across Juniata River Road, the Cenveo campus offers additional roof area and open ground if Cenveo and the Borough are open to collaboration.

FEMA Mapped Flood Zones

Typical River Channel

FEMA Regulatory Floodway

FEMA 1% Flood Hazard

FEMA 0.2% Flood Hazard

Historically dammed water levels reached near current 1% Flood Hazard elevation at approx. 6’ above current water level

Base of ash waste hill near the 0.2% Flood Hazard elevation, approximately 862’

Extensive invasive tree removal, including Ailanthus (host for spotted lanternfly) which occurs throughout the river corridor

Electrical substation and existing power line corridors could support new modes of power generation (See ZONE 4 Section B)

Extensive native tree planting underway in clear area (See Zone 4 Section A)

Wide, shallow flood plain at Farm Show could support boat launch and river access along with current recreation fields

Forested ash waste hill from former coal power plant with approx. 2-foot of top soil. 10-foot topographical contour lines shown (See ZONE 4 Sections C, D, & E)

Approximately 275,000 SF roof area plus lawn area at Cenveo campus for potential solar generation

New borough parcel composed of former power plant and wastewater facilities with unimproved soil and industrial remnants. Volunteer wet meadow and scrubland area has become quality bird habitat.

Former dumping ground for paper mill, currently forested

Abutments and central bridge pier from conduit transporting waste across the river remain.

Big Spring outlet into river (See ZONE 2 Section E)

Pavement damaged by tree root intrusion in narrow corridor between steep slopes and river