Acid Mine Drainage

Acid mine drainage is just one of the many problems of AML. Mines fill up with water and spill over into local watersheds, or water seeps through former mining sites contaminating the water. 

 

The EPA classifies AMD as being characterized by one or more of the following:

• Low pH ( high acidity)
  
• High metal concentration (usually iron, aluminum and manganese)
  
• Elevated sulfate levels 
  
• Excessive suspended solids 

Acid mine drainage can cause streams to die with no active fish, or insect life, and stunted plant growth. AMD can also lead to orangish colored water (with the iron), and sometimes even metallic (with the aluminum). 

Measures are being taken by local groups in conjunction with the EPA to clean up local watersheds. These projects are know as Abandoned Mine Drainage Abatement and Treatment plans (AMDAT). 

Raccoon Creek Watershed

"The Raccoon Creek Watershed Partnership is neat. It's a non-profit and agency partnership, but it's not an adversarial relationship it is a collaboration to improve the watershed's quality."- Ben McCament, Raccoon Watershed Coordinator. 

Raccoon Creek Watershed Partnership originally began in the 1980s with concerned citizens. In the early 90s the citizen group paired up with state agencies to take action. Since the partnership formed they have completed 10 projects from $7 million in grant funding.

The partnerships main focus is to restore the main stem of Raccoon Creek, as well as the main stem of Little Raccoon Creek. In hopes of restoring the creek the partnership divided the area into three sections, the headwaters, middle basin, and Little Raccoon Creek. Each section has multiple projects to restore the water as it enters the main stem.

Whenever beginning a new project lots of monitoring and studying takes place, and all treatment options are considered. They average 350 water samplings a year, as well as  fish monitoring and habitat monitoring, totally about  2-3 months of observation.

"We have limited resources so we want to make the best choice, which will help the stream with the most recovery," said McCament. 

The idea way to combat AMD is to fill in underground mines so water can no longer seep through them. When that isn't an option due to money and resources, there are a variety of treatments the Raccoon Creek Partnership uses. 

One the partnership treat AMD is by building steel slags. A pond will is built containing steel slag ( a byproduct of mating steel) above the source of acid mine drainage. This decreases the waters acidity before the AMD point. This will neutralize the water once the two combine before the stream runs into the creek. 

Another similar treatment is limestone ponds. The pond filled with limestone will be placed below a contaminated area and the water will flow it decreasing in acidity. The water will then flow through a second pond where clumped metals will be deposited before the stream flows again towards the main stem. 

Other treatment methods the partnership employs are wetlands- the biological activity with in then decreases the water acidity. The final treatment employed by Raccoon Creek is a doser. The doser is the only active treatment in Ohio and it involves directly adding chemicals to the water to neutralize it. 

"All streams are worth restoring and protecting. Raccoon Creek is one of the largest creeks (actually a river) with lots of resources and public land. It has a large potential for recover. The creek hasn't been completely destroyed," said McCament. 

A stream is considered restored when it meets the EPA bio criteria for water.
McCament estimates that the partnership has about a dozen more priority projects, totally at least another 20 years of work and $10 million. 

*Raccoon Creek only deals with abandoned mines, mines before 1977, mines since then have had to take care of cleaning up after themselves. 

Other Local AMDAT Projects

Federal Valley Watershed Group 
Monday Creek Restoration Project 
Sunday Creek Watershed

This is a picture of  the Cardondale Doser the only active treatment used in the state of Ohio. It's located in the headwaters of the creek. Each day it dispenses 1/2 ton of chemicals. It holds a total of about 7 tons.
Dissolved aluminum in the acidic water precipitates as a solid flocculent when the water from the mine is exposed to oxygen. This chemical reaction typically occurs when the pH is above 4.5 (Raccoon Creek Partnership description.)

The upper Oreton Valley is blocked by abandoned surface mile spoil. The AMD water then flows down into the lower wetland before entering Pierce Run. Some of the Iron is store in this wetland but the majority is flushed into Pierce Run. ( Raccoon Creek Partnership description.)

(Information from Ben McCament Raccoon Watershed Coordinator, and from the EPA site. Pictures courtesy of the Raccoon Creek Partnership.) 

Appalachian Spring Festival

The 7th annual Little Cities of the Black Diamonds Appalachian Spring Festival took place May 9, 2009. The event is held each year in the Eclipse Company Town outside of Athens.

State Senator Jimmy Stewart spoke at the beginning of this year's event. The senator, who shared that coal put bread on his table growing up, came out to honor the efforts of the group in preserving the area's history.

Little Cities of the Black Diamonds is a local organization that promotes the preservation of the mining community, and towns in the area. They have published books about the coal industries' history, and are working on an ongoing miners registry. The Little Cities also offers guided history tours of the area. Through their promotions the organization hopes to keep traditions alive and enrich the future of the region.

After all the opening speeches, the celebration began a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly restored company store. Inside the store people were able to enjoy food, and participate in an auction with money going to benefit the Little Cities.

The "Voices of the Little Cities" performed two different voice documentaries, stories retold from written accounts of historians, newspapers, and people who lived in the region. One performance featured storied of the women who lived in the coal towns. The other told the stories of the labor movement, and formation of unions in the Hocking Valley that eventually lead to national unions.

The event also featured booths of local artisans, and historical authors. Wayne National Forest was of the many booths, as participants of Little Cities of the Forest. There was also a group of Ohio University students attending the event to promote and raise money for their class project- getting a historical marker placed in the coal town of Rendville, Ohio.

The event had a large attendance with over 100 people, and was fun for all ages.