Minesoil Properties of 15 Abandoned Mine Land Sites in WV

Minesoil Properties of 15 Abandoned Mine Land Sites in West Virginia

C. D. Johnson and J. G. Skousen*

ABSTRACT

Thecharacteristics of minesoils on abandonedmineland (AML) oftendictate whichplantspecieswill invadeandestablishfromnearby undisturbeadreas. This studymeasurepdhysical and chemicalminesoil properties on 15 AMLsites in northernWestVirginia andmatched these properties to vegetationcover.Fifteensites rangingin agefrom 13 to 35 yr old wereselected fromthree surface-minedcoal beds (Pittsburgh, Freeport, and Kittanning). Oneachsite, three 1 m-deep pits weredugandminesoilsampleswereextractedfromtwohorizons, andvegetationwassampledin three 100-m2 plots near the pits. Minesoils on Freeport sites hadmorerockfragmentasndsandthaneither Pittsburghor Kittanningsites. Noparticle-size changeswith depthor age wereevidentbetweenhorizons in anyminesoil.Acidityincreased and pHdecreasedwith minesoil age on Pittsburgh andKittanning minesoilds ueto the oxidationof pyriticmaterialns earthe soil surface. Acluster analysisdistinguishedthree minesoiltypes on thesesites. Minesoil type Ahadlow acidity and high CEC.Minesoil type B had high acidity and moderate CEC.Minesoil type C had high rock fragmentcontent, lowto moderateacidity, andlow CEC.Minesoii type Awascompletelycoveredby herbaceoupslants andtrees, while minesoil types B and C were generally covered by trees. Basedon ourminesoil analyses andother studies, barrenAMLsites maynot require completeredisturbancefor revegetation but maybe revegetated by adjacentplant species if surfaceamendmenatrse applied.

a~PRVOirXgIiMniaATwEerL3e4Yd0e0s0ighnaateodf ams ianbeadndlaonndedminineWlaensdt (AML)in 1977 (USDA-SCS1, 979). Abandoned land sites are miningdisturbancesthat wereinadequately reclaimed before the passage of the Surface Mining Control and ReclamationAct (SMCRAo)n 3 Aug. 1977, and whereno companyor individual has any reclamation responsibility under state or federal laws. Title IV in SMCRcAreated a fund to reclaim AMLsites by taxing eachton of minedcoal. Approximatel$y3.5 billion were collected from 1977 to 1994. Upto 50%of the tax moneyfromeach state can be returned to the state for AMLreclamation based on an AMLinventory and site eligibility. In spite of the large amounot f moneygenerated, Congressrealized that the fundwouldbe inadequate to reclaimall AMsLites andestablisheda priority system for rankingAMsLites for reclamation. In WestVirginia alone,$2.5billion is estimatedto reclaimjust the Priority 1 and2 sites, whichare sites that posepublic health and property hazards. From1977to 1992, the WestVirginia State AMLProgramreclaimed about 2200ha and eliminated 310 of the most dangerous and degraded AML sites. TheOffice of SurfaceMiningestimatesthat only about 6%of West Virginia's AMLproblems were cor-

C.D.Johnson,Florida Inst. of PhosphateRes., Barrow,FL33830;and J.G. SkousenD, ivisionof Plant andSoil Sciences,WestVirginiaUniv., MorgantownW, V26506-6108S. cientific contribution no. 2452fromthe WestVirginia Agric. Exp. Stn., MorgantownT.his research wasfunded by the U.S. Bureauof Mines,National MineLandReclamationCenter undercontract no. CO38802an6d by funds appropriatedunderthe Hatch Act. Received1 Sept. 1994.*Correspondinaguthor.

Publishedin J. Environ.Qual. 24:635-6430995).

rected from 1977 to 1992 (USDI-OSM1,992). Other Appalachian states are similar in AMLproblems and disturbed areas reclaimed.

SomeAMsLites will gradually revegetate in a relatively short time (i.e., 10-20 yr), causing decreased

erosion and increased soil development,and maynot require AMLfunding for reclamation. Suchsites have fertile minesoilswith fewphysicaland chemicalproperties that limit plant recruitment and growth.OtherAML sites with edaphicproblemsthat restrict plant establishmentmaytake muchlonger (decades to centuries) for natural processesto enablerevegetationandstabilization. Abandonemd ineland reclamationusually requires burying acid-producingmaterials with borrowedtopsoil for plant establishmentand eliminatingdangerousconditions

andstructures on the site. Minesoilsundergorapid changesin chemicaland phys-

ical propertiesas a result of acceleratedpedogeniwc eathering processes (Druryand Nisbet, 1973). Theseweathering processesact on fresh geologicmaterials that are not in equilibrium with the surface soil environment (Robertset al., 1988).Thedegreeto whichsites become

vegetatednaturally maybe related to surroundingvegetation (Brambleand Ashley, 1955; Gibsonet al., 1985; Skousenet al., 1994), and the quality of the minesoil such as rock fragment content, horizon development, and pHand acidity (Bell and Ungar,1981; Daniels and Amos,1981; Schramm1, 966; Smith et al., 1971).

Minesoils in the Eastern Coal Region of the USA generally have high rock fragment content whencompared with surroundingnative soils (Pedersen et al., 1978; Thurmanand Sencindiver, 1986). For example, Pennsylvaniaminesoils had a rock fragment content of

>70%in subsoils and 50%in surface horizons (Ciolkosz et al., 1985). Smallrock fragmentsbetween2 and 5 cm weremoreprevalent in surface horizonsthan subsurface horizonsdue to weatheringof larger fragmentsto smaller fragments.Oncerock fragmentsweresieved out, textures of minesoils from 25 to 100 yr old were similar to surroundingnative soils (Smithet al., 1971; Thurman and Sencindiver, 1986).

Minesoilshaveat least twohorizons:a distinguishable surface horizon, and a lowerhorizonhavingpoor structure, no roots, and various sizes of rock fragments. Surface horizons are formedby chemical and physical weatheringdueto plant roots and sunlight/precipitation, and often containsomeorganicmatteranda highpercentage of fine earth material (Sencindiver, 1977). Two

minesoilsin WestVirginia had higher bulk densities and lowerporosities than surroundingnative soils (Thurman and Sencindiver, 1986), and shallow compactedlayers that restricted water,air, androot penetrationwerefound in Virginia minesoils (Daniels and Amos1, 981).

Abbreviations:AMLa,bandonedmine land; SMCRAS,urface Mining

Controland ReclamationAct; WRDw, ater retention difference; POR, total porosity; CECc, ation exchangecapacity; BS,base saturation; NP, neutralizationpotential;EC,electrical conductivity.

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Minesoil pH of pyritic spoils increased from 5.0 was found below 4 m, whereas a pH 100%signifies an overlapping canopy. Herbaceouscover wasestimated in three 1-m2 plots randomlylocated within each 100-m2 plot using a modified Daubenmirecover class technique (Skousenet al., 1988). Results of covervalues for trees and herbaceousplants were analyzed by ANOVtoA determine significant difference (P < 0.05) amongsites within eachcoal bed. Whendifferences werefound, the covervalueswereseparated amonsgites within coal beds by the Student NewmaKneul's multiple comparison test (SASInst., 1985).

Clustering

Todetect complexpatterns of similarity amongthe 15sites, a cluster analysis basedon soils wasperformedusing Ward's minimumvariance method(Ward,1963). In clustering, each observation(a soil pit) beginsbyitself. Similarobservations are joined to formclusters, whichare then joined with other similar clusters to formlarger clusters. This processcontinues until only one cluster remains(SASInst., 1985).Theclusters werethen printed as a dendrogramwith each soil pit as the roots (Johnson, 1967).

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J. ENVIRON.QUAL., VOL.24, JULY-AUGUS1T995

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Rock Fragments and Sand, Silt, and Clay

Freeport minesoils had more large (>1.9 cm) rock fragments (31-67%)and less fine earth ( ................
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