Site Work and Land Services in Blue Ball, PA

Blue Ball, PA Success Story

Agricultural Property Grading and Storm Water Management

A farm property owner in Blue Ball — a small rural community in Earl Township, Lancaster County, in the agricultural heartland of Pennsylvania Dutch Country — contacted J&J Services to address recurring storm water runoff issues that were causing erosion across a lane system between outbuildings and depositing sediment into a low-lying area adjacent to a creek tributary. The property had expanded over the years with additional impervious surfaces — barn additions and a concrete equipment wash pad — that had increased runoff volume beyond what the original drainage patterns could handle.

Challenges
Agricultural properties in eastern Lancaster County sit on some of the most productive but also most carefully regulated land in Pennsylvania. The area’s rolling topography and proximity to Chesapeake Bay watershed tributaries means that sediment and nutrient runoff from farm properties is subject to PA DEP oversight, and uncontrolled erosion near drainage channels can create regulatory exposure for the landowner. The property’s lane system had developed significant cross-slope erosion, and the low area near the tributary was accumulating sediment with every significant rain event — a situation that needed to be addressed with proper engineering rather than temporary fixes.

Solution
J&J Services developed a grading and drainage plan that re-directed runoff from the lane system away from the erosion-vulnerable low area and toward a constructed vegetated swale that would allow sediment to settle before water reached the tributary. The lane system was regraded to establish positive drainage to the swale, and a stone check dam was installed at the swale outlet to further slow water velocity and encourage settling. The low-lying area near the tributary was regraded and seeded with an erosion-control native grass mix appropriate for Lancaster County agricultural settings.

Results
The first significant storm after project completion confirmed the drainage redirection was working — the lane system drained cleanly to the swale and the tributary area showed no sediment accumulation. The property owner noted the lane system held up considerably better through the subsequent wet season than it had in previous years.

“We had water cutting across the lane every time it rained hard and sediment ending up near the creek. J&J understood what we needed — regraded the lanes, built the swale, and fixed the whole drainage pattern. Hasn’t been a problem since.”
— Farm Owner, Blue Ball, PA