Remediation of Abandoned Mine Lands

Thursday, October 2, 2008 : 11:20 a.m.

Selected Water Quality Attribute Analyses of Infiltrated Waters from Reforested Loose-Graded Mine Spoils in Eastern Kentucky

Kathryn M. Adank, B.A., Christopher D. Barton, Ph.D. and Alan E. Fryar, Ph.D., University of Kentucky

A study of various types of loose-graded mine spoils with regards to water quality and forest establishment at the Bent Mountain surface mine, Pike County, Kentucky, has been ongoing since 2005.  Six research plots consist of two replicates of brown weathered sandstone, gray unweathered sandstone, and mixed brown sandstone, gray sandstone, and shale. The spoils were “end dumped” in large, parallel rows 2-3 meters deep and are one acre in area.  Each plot is isolated by a 2.5 meter buffer zone and drains into its own sample monitoring station by means of lysimeters and PVC pipes.  Water-quality measurements (electrical conductivity, pH, chloride, sulfate, magnesium, calcium, potassium, sodium, nitrate, ammonium, total organic carbon, and dissolved organic carbon) have been collected for the past three growing seasons. Recently, tests on two significant water quality attributes of spoil waters have involved analyzing source of elevated sulfate concentrations (and elevated pH) in brown sandstone spoil waters and detection of Phytophthora cinnamomi, an exotic forest pathogen that causes dieback and may affect success of founder species of hybrid American Chestnut (Castanea dentata).PHREEQC geochemical modeling will be used to analyze aqueous speciation of sulfur with respect to time, tailing media, and vegetation. Variance of δ34S ratios between plots will be analyzed to possibly determine source of sulfate minerals of mine spoils. To detect Phytophthora cinnamomi in spoil waters, infiltrated waters will be analyzed by exclusion on a filter membrane for Phytophthora-sized particles such as mycelial fragments or reproductive structures. The membranes will be plated on Phytophthora-selective growth medium and duplicates will be subjected to DNA extraction and PCR.  Further analyses of selected water quality attributes by geochemical modeling and filtration methods may provide further evidence as to the most appropriate mine spoil type for reforestation of surface mines in Appalachia.

Kathryn M. Adank, B.A., University of Kentucky Kathryn M. Adank is a M.S. student in geology at the University of Kentucky. A native of northwest Indiana, she received her B.A. in geology from DePauw University in 2005. Her project involves mine water quality attributes at a surface mine reforestation site in eastern Kentucky. In 2008 Kathryn was a visiting research associate at Murdoch University, Western Australia where she worked on methods for the detection of Phytophthora cinnamomi in mine spoil waters.

Christopher D. Barton, Ph.D., University of Kentucky Dr. Christopher D. Barton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Forestry at the University of Kentucky. As a Research Hydrologist with the USDA Forest Service (1999 – 2003), his research focused on hydro-chemical processes associated with restoration and remediation of disturbed and/or contaminated areas at the US DOE Savannah River Site, SC. Dr. Barton continues to work in the areas of ecosystem restoration and remediation primarily in stream and wetland habitats that have been altered by human-use activities. In addition, improved methods for preventing water quality degradation from logging and mining activities are currently being examined.

Alan E. Fryar, Ph.D., University of Kentucky Dr. Alan E. Fryar is an Associate Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Fryar’s research has been focusing on recharge and chemical evolution within regional aquifers, ground-water/surface-water interactions, and contaminant fate and transport. Recent work has been to examine the effects of urban and agricultural land use on water quality in two karst ground-water basins in the Inner Bluegrass region of Kentucky.


Remediation of Abandoned Mine Lands