| Watershed Restoration and Abandoned Mine Lands: Kimble Creek |
June 2005 |
| Author(s): Monitoring Report for the Wayne National Forest: Land and Resource Management Plan, Fiscal Year 2004 |
U.S. Forest Service, Eastern Region, Milwaukee, WI. p 9-10, June 2005
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| Mine: |
Waste Type: AMD |
Contaminant(s): iron, heavy metals |
Technology Type: bacteria |
| Keywords: pyrolusite beds, microbes, pilot |
| Abstract: In 2002, a pilot project was initiated in the Ironton Ranger District to assess the use of a pyrolusite system to treat acid mine drainage issuing to Kimble Creek. A Pyrolusite? Process system uses microbes (bacteria) to help break down heavy metals (e.g., iron) in the water. Dr. William Vail of West Virginia University developed and grew the microbes specifically for the geochemistry of the Kimble Creek site. The microbes were injected into pyrolusite beds (gravel-filled cells) through which the acid mine drainage flows. Researchers with the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, West Virginia University, and the University of Maryland check the microbes periodically, and the organisms have remained viable to date. Prior to construction of the pyrolusite beds, the pH of the Kimble Creek acid mine drainage source ranged from 2.2 to 2.8. After two years of monitoring, the effluent is discharging at a pH of 7.1. The pilot project is helping researchers determine effective designs that can be used at other mining-impacted sites. For example, monitoring has shown that modifications may be needed in the French drain system that collects the acid mine drainage water, due to heavy metals plugging the system as they precipitate out. |
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