Appalachian Region Award:
Pleasant View Mine Project
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2000 National and Appalachian Region Award: Pleasant View Mine Project |
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The Century Coal Company surface mined this area in the 1930's and 40's. Typical of mining during that time, they left ridges and a large final pit which eventually impounded water. Mining activity resumed in the 1960's when the Island Creek Coal Company disposed coal refuse at the site from their nearby Pleasant View under ground mine and washer complex. This later operation generated millions of tons of acidic coal refuse. Since that operation the site degraded drastically. The refuse generated large amounts of acid drainage, polluting the water impounded in the final pit to such a degree that is was a deep red color and became known as "Ketchup Lake."
Enlarged Photo (25 KB file) 
Although the reclamation plan had been developed in the mid-1980's, the work was not begun because of the high cost. In 1997, with encouragement from local citizen groups, the Secretary of the Natural Resources and Environmental Cabinet decided the site was a threat to public health and safety. At the same time Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative funding became available for the project and reclamation began. A barge-mounted pipe delivered a combination of hydrated lime slurry and air to the bottom of the lake fifty feet down in the water.
Enlarged Photo (27KB file)
The acid water was aerated and chemically treated with hydrated lime
Completed reclamation
Hydrated lime was delivered to the site by truck in twenty-five ton bulk shipments. The carrier was hooked directly to a 1000 gallon tank where water from the lake was pumped and mixed. The slurry was then pumped from the tank and out to the lake to the barge where it was mixed with air before being released in the lake. The treatment, mixing, and aeration from the system elevated the water quality of the entire impoundment to compliance levels and it was then discharged into nearby Grassy Creek. This treatment process proved to be a quick and effective way to improve water quality so that discharges complied with water quality standards at a cost of less than one tenth of one cent per gallon of water. Enlarged Photo (25 KB file)
The basic reclamation plan was to transport and place enough coal refuse in the final pit to eliminate the impoundment and then grade and cover the entire area with soil obtained from the spoil ridges created by the original mining. This work involved moving an estimated 2.5 million cubic yards of material. The revegetation task for the 250-acre site required 10 tons of seed, 500 tons of straw mulch, 26,000 tons of agricultural limestone, and 88 tons of fertilizer. With reclamation complete Grassy Creek, once little more than a conduit for acid mine drainage from Ketchup Lake, has been restored. Not only did the project restore a site that had been a blight on the surrounding area for decades; but, the knowledge gained about water treatment found immediate use in developing treatment methods at other active and abandoned mine sites. Enlarged Photo (17 KB file)
