In 2006, DMRM actively provided support for the following watershed projects:
HUFF RUN
The Harsha North Reclamation project was completed to reduce the impacts of AMD draining off of the Harsha North site into Huff Run. This was achieved by reclaiming parts of the toxic mine spoil and coal refuse piles and constructing passive AMD treatment systems. Passive treatment is accomplished by the installation of open limestone channels. Before the project, water quality leaving the site had a pH of 3.5 and iron content of 9 mg/l. Upon completion, the water leaving this site has a pH of 7 and iron content of 2 mg/l.
The project was approximately 23 acres. More than 58,000 cu. yds. of earthwork was excavated and redeposited and 300 tons of debris/trash was removed. A grant from the Stark-Tusc-Wayne Solid Waste District helped pay for the disposal of debris.
Two existing impoundments of more than 720,000 gallons of acid water were treated and dewatered; a third was modified and is now being utilized as a settling pond. More than 3,000 feet of rock channels were constructed using 8,800 tons of limestone. An 1,100 ft. long channel was constructed using a geosynthetic clay liner to prevent water from coming in contact with the existing toxic soils in the area.
LEADING CREEK
Ohio University's Department of Civil Engineering continued to collect data for the Little Leading Creek Sediment Study. The purpose of the study is to quantify mine sediment movement through the Little Leading Creek drainage system and the impact these materials have on water quality and flooding. The study will assess options for improving the macroinvertebrate and fish habitat in Little Leading Creek and reducing the frequency and severity of flooding attributed to past mining activities.
The Leading Creek AMDAT was completed in cooperation with the OU Voinovich Center. The plan identified an unnamed tributary to Thomas Fork as the main contributor of acidity and heavy metal loadings in the Leading Creek Watershed. The watershed group has submitted a proposal to the Leading Creek Improvement Committee (LCIC) to obtain the services of an engineering firm to complete a feasibility study and prepare a preliminary design for the treatment of AMD in the unnamed tributary.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) completed the Natural Resource Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Leading Creek Drainage System. The plan will allow funds from the Leading Creek Improvement Account (LCIA) to be used to implement and monitor projects intended to improve the aquatic life uses of Leading Creek. In 1996, a Court Consent Decree established the LCIA with the compensation paid by Southern Ohio Coal Company for natural resource damages due to the release of acid mine drainage from the Meigs Mine No. 31. Projects are proposed to and approved by the LCIC and the USFWS.
MONDAY CREEK
Construction was completed on the Essex Mine Doser project in the headwaters region of the Snow Fork subwatershed. The project cost of $288,000 was shared between Ohio EPA and the Division. The doser is treating acid drainage from the Essex Mine, which discharges at 1,500 gallons per minute. The Aquafix doser is a water-powered system that treats acid mine drainage by dispensing quicklime at a controlled rate. The Division is also paying for the quicklime at an estimated cost of $30,000 annually.
A second 319 Grant, also jointly funded by Ohio EPA and the Division, paid for Phase 1 construction of four limestone leachbeds and 6,800 linear feet of limestone channel in Lost Run costing $470,000. The leachbeds and channels treat drainage from both underground and surface mines. This subwatershed is 9% of the total watershed area and contributes 9% of the AMD in Monday Creek.
MOXAHALA CREEK
Completion of the West Misco Reclamation project reclaimed 48 acres consisting of coal refuse from the Misco Underground Mine originally placed as valley fill to a depth of 60 feet. Reclamation included installation of a bentonite slurry wall between a 3-acre impoundment and the coal refuse to cut off the supply of groundwater infiltrating the refuse pile. The work has substantially reduced the amount of AMD discharged into Bennett Run, a tributary in the Black Fork subwatershed.
Although not totally impermeable, the bentonite slurry wall has reduced the seep into Bennett Run from 145 g.p.m. to 10 g.p.m. and was the first time this technique has been used by the Division in Ohio. Total construction costs were $1,303,321.
RACCOON CREEK
DMRM and the Raccoon Creek Partnership completed two major acid mine drainage reclamation projects in Flint Run, a tributary to Little Raccoon Creek. Flint Run was identified as the top acid loader in the watershed in the Little Raccoon Creek AMDAT report in 2001.
Both projects, Flint Run East and Lake Milton, occur in the headwaters of Flint Run at the abandoned Broken Aro mine where pre-treatment acid loads were measured at over 1,200 pounds per day.
The Flint Run East project consisted of removing acidic pits (> 12 million gallons of water), creating new drainage channels, and installing a chain of five passive treatment systems to neutralize remnant mine drainage from buried coal slurry ponds in the main valley.
The Lake Milton project uses passive AMD treatment systems as well but utilizes a vertical flow pond to treat water in Upper Lake Milton before entering Lake Milton. Treated Lake Milton water is then used to run a steel slag leach bed to neutralize acidity generated from coal slurry in the main valley.
As of January of 2007, the two projects combined were eliminating approximately 1,327 pounds per day of acidity into Flint Run. In addition, for the first time in 21 years of data from the mouth of Flint Run, a sample with alkalinity present was collected after the completion of both projects. Combined with other AMD treatment projects, this work is expected to lead to a dramatic improvement in water quality in Little Raccoon Creek for several stream miles.
Funding from both projects came from EPA 319 grants, ODNR-DMRM, and OSM’s Appalachian Clean Streams Program. The Voinovich Center for Leadership and Public Affairs at Ohio University sponsored the section 319 grant and the Ohio Valley RC&D Council sponsored the OSM grants.
Other highlights include the completion of engineering designs for both phases of the East Branch of Raccoon Creek AMD Treatment project, funded by an EPA 319 grant through the Vinton Soil and Water Conservation District with match provided by ODNR-DMRM. The Pierce Run AMD Treatment project 319 grant proposal was selected for funding by Ohio EPA. The Voinovich Center was awarded a three-year extension of the ODNR watershed coordinator grant for Raccoon Creek. Also the formation of a Raccoon Creek Water Trails Association, a citizen led effort to designate Raccoon Creek as a state water trail and improve public access to the creek. Finally, a Sediment Total Maximum Daily Load for the Upper Basin of Raccoon Creek report was also completed by the Voinovich Center.
SUNDAY CREEK
Construction was completed on the Pine Run Stream Capture project at the tributary of Pine Run. The tributary has a drainage area of 175 acres that discharges approximately 50 million gallons of water per year.
The stream capture was a large subsidence feature in the streambed that was caused by the blockage of the drainage channel during mining operations in this narrow valley. The subsidence feature captured all of the stream water into the abandoned deep mine Py-76 (Empire Mine operated by the Empire Coal Company). By creating a new natural stream channel, the discharges from this watershed no longer create AMD by entering the mine complex, but now discharges fresh water into Pine Run. |