Stream quality in Appalachia as related to coal-mine drainage, 1965

Biesecker, James E.; George, Joseph

doi:10.3133/cir526

Cited by 22 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…According to Biesecker and George (1966), alkalinities of less than 50 mg/L are relatively incapable of neutralizing large quantities of acid mine drainage that enter the receiving stream.…”

Section: Surface-water Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water resources and the hydrologic effects of coal mining in Washington County, Pennsylvania

Williams¹,

Felbinger²,

Squillace³

1993

Open-File Report

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Washington County occupies an area of 864 square miles in southwestern Pennsylvania and lies within the Pittsburgh Plateaus Section of the Appalachian Plateaus physiographic province. About 69 percent of the county population is served by public water-supply systems, and the Monongahela River is the source for 78 percent of the public-supply systems. The remaining 31 percent of the population depends on wells, springs, and cisterns for its domestic water supply. The sedimentary rocks of Pennsylvanian and Permian age that underlie the county include sandstone, siltstone, limestone, shale, and coal. The mean reported yield of bedrock wells ranges from 8.8 gallons per minute in the Pittsburgh .Formation to 46 gallons per minute in the Casselman Formation. Annual water-level fluctuations usually range from less than 3 ft (feet) beneath a valley to about 16 ft beneath a hilltop. Average hydraulic conductivity ranges from 0.01 to 18 ft per day. Water-level fluctuations and aquifer-test results suggest that most ground water circulates within 150 ft of land surface. A three-dimensional computer flow-model analysis indicates 96 percent of the total groundwater recharge remains in the upper 80 to 110 ft of bedrock (shallow aquifer system). The regional flow system (more than 250ft deep in the main valley) receives less than 0.1 percent of the total groundwater recharge from the Brush Run basin. The predominance of the shallow aquifer system is substantiated by driller's reports, which show almost all water bearing zones are less than 150ft below land surface. The modeling of an unmined basin showed that the hydrologic factors that govern regional groundwater flow can differ widely spatially but have little effect on the shallow aquifers that supply water to most domestic wells. However, the shallow aquifers are sensitive to hydrologic factors within this shallow aquifer system (such as groundwater recharge, hydraulic conductivity of the streamaquifer interface, and hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer). A vertical fracture zone would probably increase groundwater availability within the zone and would probably result in a lower head in the shallow aquifers in an upland draw area and an increased head in a valley. l Streams in the northern and western parts of the county drain to the Ohio River and streams in the eastern and southern parts of the county drain to the Monongahela River. The computed 7-day, 10-year low-flow frequencies for the surface-water sites ranged from 0.0 to 55 x 10-3 cubic feet per second per square mile. The lowest low-flow discharges per square mile were in the south-central and southwestern parts of the county. The highest low-flow discharges per square mile were in the eastern and northern parts of the county. The annual water loss at five gaged streams ranged from 52 to 75 percent of the total precipitation. The loss resulted from evaporation, transpiration, diversion, mines, groundwater outflow from the system, and plant and animal consumption. Geographv Washington County is near the southweste...

show abstract

Section: Surface-water Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water resources and the hydrologic effects of coal mining in Washington County, Pennsylvania

Williams¹,

Felbinger²,

Squillace³

1993

Open-File Report

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Approximately 60 regulated mine-related discharges (West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, 1996) and 185 abandoned mine sites (U.S. Office of Surface Mining, 1998) discharge treated and untreated AMD into the Cheat River and its tributaries. The AMD problem has been recognized as one of the most serious and persistent water-quality problems not only in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, but in all of Appalachia, extending from New York to Alabama (Biesecker and George, 1966). Thousands of stream and river miles in Appalachia are currently affected by the input of mine drainage from sites mined and abandoned before strict effluent regulations were implemented (Kleinmann and others, 1988).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of A Prioritization Index to Rank Mine Discharges and Tributary Streams for Remediation Consideration

Williams¹

2004

ASMR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, project office of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been involved in various studies of the effects of mine drainage on stream water quality. Two of these studies focused on prioritizing the severity of mine discharges and the relative impairment of streams. One study located and sampled abandoned coal-mine discharges in the Stonycreek River Basin in Pennsylvania and prioritized the mine discharges for remediation. This priority ranking system, or prioritization index (PI) developed for mine discharges, also was used to prioritize tributary streams and reaches of the mainstem throughout the lower Cheat River Basin in northern West Virginia. The major difference between the PIs of the studies was that the Stonycreek River Basin index was applied to chemical loadings of point-source mine discharges, whereas the Cheat River Basin index was applied to mainstem river sites, tributary stream sites, and subbasin stream sites within the major tributaries in terms of chemical yields. The PIs for both studies were based on a site-to-site water-quality comparison of the loads and yields of selected chemical constituents that included total iron, total manganese, dissolved aluminum, total heated acidity, and dissolved sulfate. Water discharge was an important physical measurement used to calculate the loads and yields of the chemical constituents. Water discharge and pH were used as "tiebreakers" in developing the PI. All of these factors are related either directly or indirectly to the effects of coal-mine drainage on water quality. A computerized spreadsheet of the water-quality data was used to simplify the PI calculations. The PI, developed to assist waterresource managers in considering remediation possibilities at specific mine discharges in the Stonycreek River Basin or in the many tributary basins and subbasins throughout the lower Cheat River Basin, is suitable for application in other watersheds affected by mine drainage. Some potential modifications to improve the index method are discussed.

show abstract

“…Where coal mining has occurred in Appalachia there are thousands of kilometers of streams that carry a burden of sulfate, iron, manganese, suspended solids, and have low pH water (Dutcher and others 1966;Collier and others 1971;Biesecker and George 1972;Williams 1975). The acid conditions are due to the weathering of pyrite and marcasite found in the coal and adjacent strata.…”

Section: Acid-mine Runoffmentioning

confidence: 99%

A method to mitigate acid-mine drainage in the Shamokin area, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Rahn

1992

Environ. Geol. Water Sci

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT/The three anthracite coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania occur in large synclinal basins surrounded by sandstone hogback ridges. The streams draining the coal regions are heavily contaminated by sulfuric acid due to the weathering of pyrite in the abandoned mines and culm. Dams could be built in the water gaps of the streams leaving the basins, forming huge reservoirs. For example, in the western part of the Middle Coal Field (Shamokin-Mt. Carmel area), the construction of four dams would form a reservoir that would inundate practically all the culm banks, abandoned mines, and environmentally abused lands in this coal field. The reservoir (at approximately 410 m elevation) would be approximately 140 sq km in area and could be the source of water for pumped-storage hydroelectricity generation. The water should have moderately good quality and could serve the recreational needs of a vast population of the Middle Atlantic states.

show abstract

Stream quality in Appalachia as related to coal-mine drainage, 1965

Cited by 22 publications

References 0 publications

Water resources and the hydrologic effects of coal mining in Washington County, Pennsylvania

Water resources and the hydrologic effects of coal mining in Washington County, Pennsylvania

The Use of A Prioritization Index to Rank Mine Discharges and Tributary Streams for Remediation Consideration

A method to mitigate acid-mine drainage in the Shamokin area, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About