Abstract
Appalachian USA surface coal mines face public and regulatory pressure to reduce total dissolved solids (TDS) in discharge waters, primarily due to effects on sensitive macroinvertebrates. Specific conductance (SC) is an accurate surrogate for TDS and relatively low levels of SC (300-500 μS cm-1) have been proposed as regulatory benchmarks for instream water quality. Discharge levels of TDS from regional coal mines are frequently >1000 μS cm-1. The primary objectives of this study were to (a) determine the effect of rock type and weathering status on SC leaching potentials for a wide range of regional mine spoils; (b) to relate leachate SC from laboratory columns to actual measured discharge SC from field sites; and (c) determine effective rapid lab analyses for SC prediction of overburden materials. We correlated laboratory unsaturated column leaching results for 39 overburden materials with a range of static lab parameters such as total-S, saturated paste SC, and neutralization potential. We also compared column data with available field leaching and valley fill discharge SC data. Leachate SC is strongly related to rock type and pre-disturbance weathering. Fine-textured and non-weathered strata generally produced higher SC and pose greater TDS risk. High-S black shales produced the highest leachate SC. Lab columns generated similar range and overall SC decay response to field observations within 5-10 leaching cycles, while actual reduction in SC in the field occurs over years to decades. Initial peak SC can be reliably predicted (R2 > 0.850; p < 0.001) by simple lab saturated paste or 1:2 spoil:water SC procedures, but predictions of longer-term SC levels are less reliable and deserve further study. Overall TDS release risk can be accurately predicted by a combination of rock type + S content, weathering extent, and simple rapid SC lab measurements.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 371-379 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Environmental Pollution |
Volume | 216 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 1 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This project was sponsored by the Appalachian Research Initiative for Environmental Science (ARIES) . ARIES is an industrial affiliates program at Virginia Tech, supported by members that include companies in the energy sector. The research under ARIES is conducted by independent researchers in accordance with the policies on scientific integrity of their institutions. The views, opinions and recommendations expressed herein are solely those of the authors and do not imply any endorsement by ARIES employees, other ARIES-affiliated researchers or industrial members. The Powell River Project ( http://www.prp.cses.vt.edu/ ) and the USDI Office of Surface Mining Applied Research Program also supported portions of this research program. Funding for this work was also provided in part, by the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station and the Hatch Program of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture , U.S. Department of Agriculture .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- Mountaintop mining
- Reclamation
- Soluble salts
- Valley fills
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Toxicology
- Pollution
- Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis