GRAMPIAN - A piece of equipment vital to scientific research was stolen from a stream in Clearfield County, according to police.

Police said the equipment was owned by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) and taken from a stream located on the property of Bilger’s Rocks in Grampian.

An SRBC official said the equipment was used to track the patterns of fish in waters impacted by mine drainage.

He said there are six of the trackers throughout Clearfield County’s watershed and estimated each one costs approximately $5,000.

The equipment was part of Jennifer Graves’ thesis project, a graduate student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Graves said the equipment was put into place in July and she discovered it was missing Sunday.

“Data is not being collected right now, which isn’t great when you’re doing scientific research,” Graves said. “The goal is to have continuous data monitoring. It’s also a financial lose to SRBC who owns the equipment, so no more data can be collected until we get the reader back or it’s replaced.”

Officials said the equipment was not close enough to the water to have been washed away. They plan on installing cameras and changing the way they install the equipment.

Bilger’s Rocks is offering a monetary reward for information that leads to the return of the equipment or an arrest.

Anyone with information should call state police in DuBois at 814-371-4652.

ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ56axLR7y6iamqRfp7K0scCrmqFlpKS8rXnUrJydZaSkerW%2BwJyiZp6ZqLVuv9Ooo56mXZu%2FsLmMm6Cln5WnwG6%2BzpyirA%3D%3D