Coal-Mine-Drainage Projects in Pennsylvania
Restoration of Stream Water Degraded by Acid Mine Drainage
Problem:
Acidic, metal-laden drainage from abandoned coal mines is common in
Appalachia and has a negative effect on aquatic resources including degradation of
habitat and loss of important recreational fisheries. In Pennsylvania, the 3,000 miles of
streams degraded by AMD create an estimated annual loss of $67 million in revenue
associated with sport fishing. The cost for correcting the AMD-related problems with
currently available technology is estimated to be $5 billion to $15 billion. Research at the
USGS Leetown Science Center (LSC) in West Virginia has resulted in the development
of a new AMD treatment technique to assist in stream restoration efforts. This new
technology integrates fluidized-bed reactors with carbon-dioxide adsorption and
desorption to circumvent problems that limit the effectiveness of limestone as an acid-
neutralizing reagent (figure 1).
Figure 1.--Schematic of flows through a pulsed bed system incorporating carbon dioxide pretreatment for
enhanced restoration of acid mine drainage
Collaborators:
USGS-BRD is working with the National Park Service (NPS), the
Freshwater Institute, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
(PaDEP) with funds from the State Partnership Grant Program.
Activities:
Field tests of the fluidized-bed reactor technology are currently being
conducted to establish the effects of the treatment process on acid-sensitive aquatic
invertebrates and fish at LSC's Research and Development Laboratory in Wellsboro, Pa.
Field tests also are being conducted at the PaDEP Toby Creek mine drainage treatment
plant (Elk County) under the State Partnership Grant Program. An additional field test is
underway at the NPS Friendship Hill Historic Site (Fayette County) using NPS funds. Here
performance of a large-scale system over an extended period of time will be evaluated,
as will the effect of treatment on stream biology. Studies at the site are planned to identify
improved methods for heavy metal separation and sludge thickening.
Laboratory and field test results are documented in the following reports: "Carbon
dioxide pretreatment of AMD for limestone diversion wells," (Watten, 1996, in
Proceedings of the 17th Annual Meeting of the Surface Mine Drainage Task Force,
Morgantown, WV) and "Physiological and behaviorial response of larval plecoptera to
enhanced limestone treatment of acid mine drainage," (Cole and others, 1998, in review
Journal of Environmental Pollution). A U.S. patent for, "Process and apparatus for carbon
dioxide pretreatment and accelerated limestone dissolution for treatment of acidified
water," (Watten, 1998, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C.) has been
approved and is in press.
Project Chief:
Barnaby Watten
Phone: (304)724-4425
E-Mail: barnaby_watten@usgs.gov
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