 Mining has been done in the Solomon Creek watershed in the past , causing considerable environmental damage . The mining began in the beginning of the 1800s and continued until the 1970s . However , there was one strip mining permit in the watershed in the late 1990s . Starting in 1967 , the mine pools under the creek stopped having water pumped out of them . This led to them flooding and damaging buildings in the watershed in 1972 during Hurricane Agnes . To remedy the problem of the flooding , the Buttonwood Tunnel and three boreholes known as the South Wilkes @-@ Barre Boreholes were created . The water quality of the creek was assessed in 1970 as part of Operation <unk> . A 1977 study by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission observed brook trout inhabiting the watershed , although the stream was listed as impaired on account of the mining . A plan called the Solomon Creek Cold Water Conservation Plan was initiated in the summer of 2011 and continued into 2012 . 
