Environmental control technology survey of selected US strip mining sites. Volume 2C: Eastern Kentucky. Water quality impacts and overburden chemistry of Eastern Kentucky study sites

Technical Report · Mon Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1981

OSTI ID:5905145

Schubert, J P; Bogner, J E; Henricks, J D; Sobek, A A; Vocke, R W

As part of a program to examine the ability of existing control technologies to meet federal guidelines for the quality of aqueous effluents from coal mines, an intensive study of water, overburden, and coal chemistry was conducted at two surface coal mines in eastern Kentucky during 1976 and 1977. At Mine KY-1, very low concentrations of sulfur in the overburden rock and spoil resulted in alkaline mine water, with mean concentrations of iron and manganese about twice as high, and total suspended solids five times as high, as mean concentrations in the receiving stream. The high concentrations of total suspended solids, which nearly always exceeded the daily maximum allowable concentration set by the US Office of Surface Mining, were due to the inadequate water depth and short retention time in the settling ponds. At Mine KY-2, although high concentrations of sulfur were found in the overburden, the pH in a stream below the mine was usually between 6.0 and 8.0. After passing through a small settling pond, water from the mined KY-2 watershed had concentrations of calcium, zinc, and manganese that were 1.4, 7.5, and 19 times greater, respectively, than concentrations in the receiving stream. Suspended sediment in the KY-2 discharge was much less than that in the receiving stream. At either site, no significant increase in concentrations of any chemical parameter was perceptible in the receiving streams as a result of mine discharges. However, in the receiving stream below the KY-1 discharge, the concentration of total suspended solids was twice that found upstream of the discharge.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5905145
• Report Number(s): ANL/EMR-2-Vol.2C; ON: DE82005962
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010900* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Environmental Aspects
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMISTRY
CLIMATES
COAL
COAL MINES
DATA
DISPERSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOLOGY
HYDROLOGY
INFORMATION
KENTUCKY
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
MINERALOGY
MINES
MINING
NORTH AMERICA
NUMERICAL DATA
OVERBURDEN
PH VALUE
RUNOFF
SOUTHEAST REGION
STREAMS
SURFACE MINING
SURFACE WATERS
SUSPENSIONS
TOPOGRAPHY
USA
WATER CHEMISTRY
WATER QUALITY