Water quality changes of underground mines in northern West Virginia

Abstract

Water quality changes of underground mines in Northern West Virginia Jennifer Demchak Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a serious problem from both abandoned surface and underground mines, and about 10,000 km of streams have been impacted by AMD in the northeastern U.S. (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, and West Virginia). Streams in the region have shown improvement over time and this improvement has been partly attributed to reclamation of mined sites and natural attenuation of AMD impacts. This study was initiated to determine the water quality changes from underground mines over time in northern West Virginia. In order to compare chemistry data across years and seasons with varying flow, relationships between discharge rates and acidity values were assessed. Results indicate that water quality from the majority of abandoned, above drainage underground mines did significantly improve over time, some exponentially and some linearly. The amount of improvement varied with coal seams. Graphs plotting flow and precipitation showed the highest flows generally in the spring and low flows in the fall. Acidity concentrations from two underground mines did not change significantly with varying discharge rates, which neither supports previous ideas of a flushing or dilution of acid salts from the mine. One mine, T&T, showed a slight trend of highest acidity values at high flows, while Omega showed highest acidity at low flows. Additional long term data sets with frequent flow and acidity data will be necessary to confirm these results.

Modeling Healthcare Cost for National Health Insurance Scheme: Experiential Analysis From Health Management Organisations in Nigeria

“…According to Bovbjerg & Hadley (2007), procuring health insurance is vital due to the fact that coverage assists people with accessible timely medical care and enhances their lives and health. Demchak (2006) earlier mentioned that the instant growth in healthcare cost produced innovations concerning gains designed and cost-sharing provisions as payers attempt to temper healthcare cost increase. More so, potential tools often employed by insurers and payers in confronting challenges that may spring rising healthcare costs include: prior approval, tiered pricing, second opinions, lowest cost alternative, consumer-directed packages with high cost-sharing and value based insurance Paradigm shift from purely public insurance plans to a choice of private option raises a number of pertinent economic matters.…”

Constructed Wetlands for the Pre-Treatment of Drinking Water Obtained from Coal Mines

“…Two coal mines, the Fidelity and Greenwood, are abandoned, submerged, underground coal mines that are found east of the city. Cities in West Virginia [8,9]; Kentucky [10], and Oklahoma [11] successfully obtain water from coal mines for public consumption. Utilization of the water from the coal mines to augment the water within the local reservoir would provide an adequate supply of water at an affordable cost to the city for the foreseeable future.…”

Isotopic composition of dissolved inorganic carbon in underground mine discharges of the northern appalachian basin

“…Coal seams can be situated at elevations either above or below major streams and rivers that control shallow regional groundwater flow ( Figure 4). As explained by Donovan et al (2000) and Demchak (2005), for those below drainage, once mining ceases, mine dewatering pumps are turned off and the mines begin to fill with water. For those above drainage, two post-mining scenarios are possible ( Figure 4).…”

“…Upper Freeport coal mine discharges in the northern Appalachian Basin (McCoy, 2002;Donovan et al, 2004;Demchak, 2005;Thies, 2007;Mack, 2008;Denicola, 2013).…”

“…Coal mine water chemistry is dependent on the extent and duration of flooding (Lambert et al, 2004). Most below-drainage mines, once flooded, will produce netalkaline discharge (although still highly mineralized) because acid generation from pyrite oxidation is diminished (Demchak, 2005). Residence time of water in flooded mines and net alkalinity of resulting mine discharges are commonly positively correlated (Winters and Capo, 2004).…”