Factors influencing water quality in surface water and alluvial groundwaters downgradient of a reclaimed surface coal mine in the Powder River Basin of southeastern Montana, USA

Keeshin, Skye I.; Ewing, Stephanie A.; Meredith, Elizabeth B.; Payn, Robert A.; Gardner, W. Payton; Hunt, Andrew

doi:10.1007/s10040-025-02898-z

Factors influencing water quality in surface water and alluvial groundwaters downgradient of a reclaimed surface coal mine in the Powder River Basin of southeastern Montana, USA

Journal Article · Wed May 14 00:00:00 EDT 2025 · Hydrogeology Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-025-02898-z· OSTI ID:2566280

; ; Meredith, Elizabeth B.; ; ;

Abstract

Coal mining and reclamation can have a profound influence on hydrogeologic systems, with clear consequences for groundwater quality, yet their long-term influence on downgradient water quality over time following reclamation is less well documented. Geochemical trends were evaluated in water quality downgradient of a fully reclaimed landscape at the former Big Sky Mine in the Rosebud Creek watershed (southeastern Montana, USA), over a 3-year period (2020–2022), including bond release in 2022. Within 6 km downgradient from the reclaimed area, sulfate concentrations decreased from approximately 3500 to 1800 mg l ⁻¹ within the Miller Coulee alluvial aquifer. Major ions, δ ³⁴ S _SO4 values, and residence time tracers suggest that the observed decreases in sulfate concentration result from a combination of dilution by mixed-age inflows and incomplete transit of the high salinity plume from the mine boundary. Both bedrock and alluvial aquifers of the Rosebud Creek corridor contained contributions of millennia-old regional groundwater, which may serve to mitigate mine-derived high salinity waters. Rosebud Creek, which traverses the outflow zone of Miller Coulee in the study area, exhibited high sulfate concentrations during low flows and consistent downgradient increases in sulfate concentration. The possibility of plume dynamics in Miller Coulee suggests that the greatest water quality impacts may not yet have reached Rosebud Creek.

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Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0021088

OSTI ID:: 2566280

Journal Information:: Hydrogeology Journal, Journal Name: Hydrogeology Journal Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 33; ISSN 1431-2174

Publisher:: Springer Science + Business MediaCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: Germany

Language:: English

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