Effects of Mine Drainage on Ground Watera

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Abstract
Coal mining in Appalachia has degraded both the surface and ground water. During mining, ground water is drained from the rocks and the pyrite associated with the coal beds is exposed to air. Oxidation of the pyrite produces high iron ana sulfate concentration and a low pH in the water. Some of this polluted water flows directly into nearby streams and some moves into the ground‐water system. When the latter occurs, the iron concentration can increase up to several hundred mg/1 and the sulfates to over one thousand mg/1. Unfortunately, in most cases the cessation of mining does not stop the ground‐water pollution, and it can take many decades before the ground water again becomes usable.A detailed study of the effects of coal mining on ground water was conducted in the Toms Run drainage basin in northwestern Pennsylvania where coal mining and oil and gas well drilling have occurred for almost 100 years. The rocks of Mississippian and Pennsylvanian Age produce a multiaquifer system–three major aquifers separated by siltstone and shale beds (aquitatdes). The oil and gas wells act as a conduit system permitting acid mine drainage to move downward from the strip mines to underlying aquifers. It then moves laterally down dip and discharges as springs. The acid mine drainage adversely affects the ground‐water quality by increasing the iron and sulfate content of the water especially in the vicinity of the strip mines.

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