The Monongahela River is off a list of Pennsylvania rivers impaired by pollution, in part because sewage treatment plants on it are no longer handling natural gas drilling wastewater.
The change was included in a report issued Monday by the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the reduction in sulfate contamination on the Monongahela also was helped by a drop-off in coal mine runoff and the closure of several coal-fired power plants along it.
The Monongahela was first listed as impaired by sulfates for drinking water use in 2010.
A stretch of the Susquehanna River wasn't listed, although the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission believes it should be, and a section of the Allegheny River in northwestern Pennsylvania was added due to commercial wastewater discharges.
