Statistical characteristics of coal-mine discharges on western Pennsylvania remining sites
- U.S. Bureau of Mines, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
Under an approved remining program, a coal mine operator can remine abandoned sites without legally assuming treatment responsibilities of the previously degraded water, as long as these discharging waters are not further degraded. Determination of discharge degradation caused by remining of abandoned coal mines requires knowledge of mine water quality and discharge flow rate characteristics both before and after remining. Normality tests performed on the water quality and flow data from 57 mine discharges indicate generally nonnormal distributions and extreme right-skewness. Exploratory data analysis (notched box-and-whisker plots) of the differences among medians indicates that the water quality of underground mines was more highly degraded in terms of acidity, iron, and sulfate concentrations than that from surface mines. Spearman's rank correlation tests, normality testing, and exploratory data analysis indicate that discharge flow rate is the primary controlling factor on the variability of pollution load rate. Reduction of recharge from the surface and adjacent unmined strata should decrease the mine discharge flow rate and in turn the pollution load. 16 refs., 5 figs., 3 tabs.
- OSTI ID:
- 6845896
- Journal Information:
- Water Resources Bulletin; (United States), Journal Name: Water Resources Bulletin; (United States) Vol. 30:5; ISSN 0043-1370; ISSN WARBAQ
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
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& Peat-- Environmental Aspects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540320 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
ABANDONED SHAFTS
COAL MINES
CONTROL
CORRELATIONS
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FLOW RATE
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
IRON COMPOUNDS
LIQUID WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MINE SHAFTS
MINES
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PENNSYLVANIA
PH VALUE
POLLUTION CONTROL
SHAFT EXCAVATIONS
STATISTICAL MODELS
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE WATER
WASTES
WATER
WATER POLLUTION CONTROL
WATER QUALITY