07/29/24 - 107 New Stories - REAL Environmental & Conservation Leadership In PA: http://tinyurl.com/7k7dpu47
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West Branch Susquehanna Mine Drainage Abatement Benchmark Project Underway
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Numerous abandoned mine drainage remediation projects at a price of more than $60 million have been implemented in the West Branch Susquehanna watershed to improve water quality and biological conditions.
However, despite the vast amount of resources spent on these reclamation projects and the amount of resources that will be required for future projects, there had never been a concerted effort to quantify the improvements on a watershed-scale.
Recognizing this need, Trout Unlimited led a collaborative effort in 2009 with the Fish and Boat Commission, Department of Environmental Protection, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, and the West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Coalition to quantify the effects of these remediation projects.
The goals of this ambitious evaluation were to compare the current chemical and biological conditions in the West Branch Susquehanna River to conditions in the 1980s and 1990s, provide sufficient water quality data for the integrated database and model created as part of the West Branch Susquehanna Remediation Strategy, and provide a benchmark to which future assessments can be compared.
As part of this assessment, water quality, water quantity, benthic macroinvertebrate, and habitat data were collected at the mouth of 69 AMD-impacted tributaries and at 11 sites in the river. In addition, fish populations were assessed at nine sites. This vast amount of data collection required the efforts of more than 30 individuals from the aforementioned partnering organizations.
Results from these efforts indicate significant water quality improvements when compared to conditions in the mid-1980s. AMD-impaired waters typically have a low pH and high concentrations of iron and aluminum.
The West Branch Susquehanna River at Karthaus in 1984 had a pH of 3.9 and the concentrations of iron and aluminum were 1.9 mg/L and 3 mg/L respectively. All three of these parameters were at levels deemed unacceptable by the DEP.
In contrast, the river at this location in 2009 had a pH of 6.4, an iron concentration of 0.53 mg/L, and an aluminum concentration of 0.38 mg/L.
Not only are these current levels considered to be acceptable by the DEP, but the 72 percent reduction in iron and 87 percent reduction in aluminum is enough to support a healthy fishery.
In 1998, fishery surveys revealed only 3 species in the West Branch Susquehanna River near Hyner. In contrast, surveys from 2009 indicate 16 species at this location and a 3,000% increase in catch rate.
The improvements in the West Branch Susquehanna since the mid-1980s are a direct result of improved permitting and regulations on the active coal industry, continued treatment of AMD at abandoned primacy permit locations, and most importantly, the countless state and grassroots-led AMD-reclamation projects and remining activities.
The full report is available online. A copy of The West Branch Susquehanna: A Watershed in Recovery is also available online.
For more information, visit the West Branch Susquehanna Restoration Coalition website.
(Written By: Rebecca Dunlap, Trout Unlimited, and reprinted from WPCAMR's Abandoned Mine Posts.)
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3/19/2012 |
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