Guidelines for the Design of Abandoned Mine Land Remediation and Water ...

Guidelines for the Design of Abandoned Mine Land Remediation and Water Treatment

Authors: Paul F. Ziemkiewicz, PhD, USACE ERDC Jeff Skousen, PhD, West Virginia University Kathleen D. White, PhD, PE, USACE ERDC

Bruce Leavitt, PE, Hydrogeologist James Stiles, PhD, PE, Limestone Inc.

30 March 2021

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This report was initially prepared in 2003 through a contract between the US Army Corps of Engineers Environmental Restoration Development Center (USACE ERDC) and the West Virginia University National Mine Land Reclamation Center. Shifting national priorities put the project on `stand by.' In 2021, the document was edited and updated by Dr. Jeff Skousen, in conjunction with Dr. Paul Ziemkiewicz.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1 ? Introduction .....................................................................................5 Purpose ...................................................................................................................5 Applicability ........................................................................................................... 5

Chapter 2 ? Abandoned Mine Land Sites .........................................................6 Introduction ...........................................................................................................7

Hazards from AML .............................................................................................7 Structures ............................................................................................................. 7 Shafts, Slopes and Drifts .....................................................................................9 Highwalls .........................................................................................................10 Impoundments ...................................................................................................11 Burning Mines or Refuse Piles..........................................................................12 Methane .............................................................................................................13 Blowouts ............................................................................................................ 13 HTRW ...............................................................................................................14 Hazards from Water Quality ...............................................................................17 Hard Rock Mines..................................................................................................18 Surface Workings ..............................................................................................19 Underground Workings.....................................................................................20 Coal Mines ...........................................................................................................22 Area Mines ........................................................................................................22 Contour Mines...................................................................................................22 Mountain Top Mines .........................................................................................23 Auger Mines ......................................................................................................23 Underground Mines...........................................................................................24 Surface Facilities ...............................................................................................25

Chapter 3 ? Health and Safety ..........................................................................28 Regulatory Requirements .....................................................................................28

Federal Requirements........................................................................................28 State and Local Regulations ..............................................................................28 Tribal Lands ......................................................................................................28 Documentation .....................................................................................................31 Health and Safety Plans........................................................................................31 Introduction ..........................................................................................................33 Key Personnel and Project Team .........................................................................33 Organization .........................................................................................................33 Hazard Assessment, or Safety and Health Risk Assessment................................33 Emergency Response or Action Plan ..................................................................33 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) .................................................................34 Site Monitoring and Sampling .............................................................................34 Site Control ..........................................................................................................34 Decontamination Procedures ...............................................................................35 Employee Training ...............................................................................................35 Chain of Custody..................................................................................................36 AML Site Health and Safety Implementation ......................................................37 Underground Mines..............................................................................................37

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Chapter 4 ? Regulatory Agency Oversight of AML........................................40 Land Ownership ...................................................................................................40 Federal Agency Oversight....................................................................................40 Bureau of Land Management ...............................................................................42 Forest Service .......................................................................................................43 National Park Service...........................................................................................43 State Agency Oversight........................................................................................43

SMCRA States ..................................................................................................43 Non-SMCRA States ..........................................................................................44 Minnesota .............................................................................................................47 Interstate Mining Compact Commission..............................................................48 Tribal Oversight ...................................................................................................48 Crow Indians .....................................................................................................49 Hopi Indians ......................................................................................................49 Navajo Nation....................................................................................................50

Chapter 5 ? Site Investigations..........................................................................51 Background ..........................................................................................................51

Surface History..................................................................................................51 Mining History ..................................................................................................52 Initial Evaluation ..................................................................................................54 Phase I Watershed Evaluation ...........................................................................54 Phase II..............................................................................................................56 HTRW Concerns ..................................................................................................57 Geology ................................................................................................................57 Hydrology ............................................................................................................. 58 Water Quality Targets ..........................................................................................61 Establishing the Groundwater Sampling Network ...............................................63

Chapter 6 ? Developing the Remedial Strategy...............................................66 Remedial Action Objectives.................................................................................66

Realistic .............................................................................................................66 Risk Control ......................................................................................................66 General Response Actions....................................................................................68 Critical Parameters in Watershed Planning and Remediation..............................70 Modeling the Watershed ......................................................................................77

Chapter 7 ? Remedial Design and Remedial Action .......................................84 Introduction ..........................................................................................................84

Mine Settings and Hazards................................................................................84 Assessment Strategies .......................................................................................84 Acid Mine Drainage Formation ........................................................................85 Predominant Concepts.......................................................................................86 Control of Acid Mine Drainage............................................................................87 Land Reclamation..............................................................................................87 Special Handling and Replacement...................................................................89 Alkaline Amendments.......................................................................................90 Alkaline Recharge Trenches..............................................................................91 Biological Treatment.........................................................................................91 Dry Barriers.......................................................................................................92

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Wet Covers ........................................................................................................92 Alkaline Amendment and In-Situ Treatment ....................................................93 Chemical Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage .......................................................94 Oxidation and Aeration .....................................................................................95 Limestone ..........................................................................................................96 Hydrated Line....................................................................................................96 Pebble Quicklime ..............................................................................................96 Soda Ash ...........................................................................................................97 Caustic Soda ......................................................................................................97 Ammonia ...........................................................................................................97 Cost of Treating AMD ......................................................................................97 Acid Mine Drainage Treatment Flocs ...............................................................99 Passive Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage ........................................................100 Aeration ...........................................................................................................100 Constructed Wetlands......................................................................................100 Anoxic Limestone Drains................................................................................101 Vertical Flow Wetlands...................................................................................102 Open Limestone Channels...............................................................................102 Limestone Ponds .............................................................................................103 Alkaline Leach Beds .......................................................................................103 Design Criteria for Passive Systems...................................................................103 Summary ............................................................................................................119

Chapter 8 - Quantification of Costs and Benefits..........................................121 Introduction ........................................................................................................121 Cost Engineering Approach ...............................................................................121

Cost Estimation and Project Planning ..........................................................122 Scale Management .............................................................................................122 Cost Benefit Analysis.........................................................................................123

Methods of Cost Benefit Analysis, ..............................................................123 Case studies ..................................................................................................123 Benefits ......................................................................................................... 123 Resource Valuation ............................................................................................123 Overview of Methods and Current Issues ..........................................................123 Use and Non Use Values....................................................................................123 Non-market Benefit Estimation..........................................................................123 Ability to Place Monetary Values on Watershed/Ecosystem Characteristics ....124 A Review of Cost Benefit Analysis....................................................................124

Appendix A ? References.................................................................................125

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