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TECHNICAL SUPPORT DIVISION Monongahela River Study -- Fairmont Pool Plan Introduction: The Monongahela River is a major watercourse in northern West Virginia. It supports sport fishing, recreational boating, commercial navigation, and is a source of water for numerous municipalities. Degradation of the river would be detrimental to the environmental quality and economy of West Virginia. West Virginia's Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) have initiated a cooperative project to protect the Monongahela River in West Virginia from polluting discharges that could emanate from flooding active or abandoned underground mining operations. The “Fairmont Pool” is a geologically isolated series of flooded underground mines located within the Monongahela River basin. This study will focus on this pool and, depending on the knowledge gained and the outcomes, may be expanded to other parts of the larger Monongahela River basin mine pools. Background: Over a century of extensive underground coal mining has resulted in many square miles of interconnected and flooded mine workings, known as mine pools. The de‑watering necessary at active mining operations has inhibited the build up of water levels in the vast network of interconnected abandoned mine pools. Generally, the water pumped from active workings is treated and discharged with excess alkalinity into the once‑acidic Monongahela River, which now supports a variety of aquatic life. WVDEP, EPA, and OSM are concerned that there is not enough known about the hydrology of mine pools, particularly the impacts of mining and dewatering, and the changes in hydrology likely to occur when pumping and treating is discontinued at active mines. It is widely held that not only will the available alkalinity decrease, but the gradual flooding of the workings and build‑up of the mine pool levels will create the potential for discharges and blowouts of acidic heavy metal‑laden water. An event with potentially serious adverse impacts recently occurred in the Fairmont Pool. This pool extends over 27,000 acres and consists of several pre‑and post‑Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) abandoned mines and post‑SMCRA inactive mines. In August 1996, water from the Fairmont pool discharged into Buffalo Creek. EPA and WVDEP, under the authority of the Clean Water Act (CWA), have worked with the coal company to remove and treat water from the pool and stabilize the pool level to prevent serious, long‑term, stream water quality problems.
Purpose:
The study is designed to assess the potential for discharges resulting
from the flooding of both abandoned and active underground mine workings
and to create a framework to address and prevent polluting discharges from
abandoned mines and mines regulated under the SMCRA and the CWA. |
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Information: Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement U.S. Department of the Interior Appalachian Regional Office 3 Parkway Center Pittsburgh, PA 15220 Phone: (412) 937-2804
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