EPA ORD's Role In Mine-Influenced Water Treatment: Past, Present and Future

The purpose of this presentation is to describe the different technologies that the Office of Research and Development (ORD) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has tested on bench, field and pilot studies on mine-influenced water. Each of these technologies has been demonstrated by the ORD Engineering Technical Support Center (ETSC) as support to regional project managers on Superfund sites. The technologies range from simple bench scale studies to determine the best substrate to use on a particular water to longer-term studies of biochemical reactors (BCRs) and analyses of their influent and effluent waters, as well as substrates and bacteria.

The presentation covers points from each of the approximately 20 publications and presentations from the ETSC projects over the past 5 years, and highlights the results from each project / demonstration. Current projects underway at Superfund sites such as Standard Mine near Crested Butte, Colorado are to be discussed along with the current data from those projects. Future projects and plans will include such topics as effluent toxicity, remote data collection systems, and other mine water treatments.

The presentation will provide an example of at least one new active-type of technology being demonstrated in 2008 at another mine site in Colorado. Future topics representing regional needs and ETSC for future mine-influenced water treatment will be discussed.