Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOGGESS STORY
Abandoned Mine Reclamation Passive Treatment System Removes Pollutants
Waterbody Improved
An abandoned mine discharged metals, primarily iron, into
Pennsylvania's Semiconon Run, prompting the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) to add it to the state's 2002 Clean Water Act sec-
tion 303(d) list of impaired waters for metals. Construction of a passive treatment system collected
and directed the acid mine drainage (AMD) to a settling pond, then to a wetland where it is treated by
vegetation and organic matter. The treated flow is then discharged through a limestone spillway before
entering Semiconon Run. As a result, iron levels declined, and PADEP removed Semiconon Run from
the state's 2008 303(d) list for metals.
Problem
Semiconon Run flows south from northern Butler
County to the Connoquenessing Creek and even-
tually empties into the Ohio River northwest of
Pittsburgh. The Semiconon Run watershed was
the site of coal mining activities from the 1870s to
the 1970s. In 2002 PADEP placed 2.3 miles of the
Semiconon Run mainstem on the state's 303(d) list
of impaired waters for metals.
An abandoned mine generated an acidic discharge
to a small channel that emptied directly into
Semiconon Run, conveying elevated metal loads
(Figure 1). The iron contributed to the stream was
high, as compared to other AMD metals such as
aluminum and manganese. Historic water sampling
near this location pinpointed the source of the prob-
lem to an abandoned mine. According to a Statewide
Surface Water Assessment Program Survey
(SSWAP) conducted near the mouth of Semiconon
Run in 1999, metals impaired the biological habitat.
The SSWAP identified an abandoned deep mine
upwelling as the source of impairment (Figure 2).
Figure 1. The
confluence
of AMD and
Semiconon Run
(6/26/03).
Figure 2. Deep
abandoned mine
upwelling.
Photo courtesy of Camp Lutherlyn
Project Highlights
The abandoned mine is on property owned by
Camp Lutherlyn. The camp offered to sponsor a
project to design and build a passive treatment
system to remediate the contaminated source.
Construction of the treatment system began in
2003 and was completed in 2004. The AMD is
collected and directed to a settling pond, then to
a wetland where it is treated by vegetation and
organic matter (Figure 3). The treated flow is then
discharged through a limestone spillway before
entering Semiconon Run.
Figure 3.
Volunteers plant-
ing in the con-
structed wetland,
8/22/03.
Photo courtesy of Camp Lutherlyn
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The treatment facility also serves as part of the
Camp Lutherlyn Environmental Education Program.
The program uses the facility to help teach camp
attendees about the remediation of Semiconon
Run. The project includes walking paths and a park-
ing area. Since the project was completed in 2004,
as many as 8,000 visitors per year have learned
about AMD, how it can negatively affect streams,
and what can be done about the problem.
Results
Data from a stream survey near the mouth of
Semiconon Run in 2007 show that the stream
habitat is no longer impaired. The stream survey
used the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI), a measure of
the aquatic organisms living in the stream based on
a variety of metrics. In 2007 Semiconon Run's IBI
score was 68.6—an IBI greater than 63 indicates a
healthy population of aquatic organisms.
Additionally, metal loads from the mine to the
stream have declined significantly. The average
iron load in Semiconon Run between 1983 and
2002 was 0.80 milligrams per liter (mg/L) upstream
of the mine discharge, 8.54 mg/L at the mine
discharge, and 3.54 mg/L downstream of the
mine discharge. Samples taken by PADEP's Water
Quality and Assessment Division near the mouth
of Semiconon Run in the summer of 2007 show an
average iron load of 0.69 mg/L (Figure 4). As a result
of these reductions in metal concentrations and the
improved biological community, PADEP removed
Semiconon Run from the state's 2008 303(d) list.
Iron levels in Semiconon Run
:^
E 5
c .
o 4
0-
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I 1
Upstream of discharge discharge avg. Below discharge avg. Semiconon Run at mouth
avg. 1983-2002 1983-2002 1983-2002 2007
Sample Locations
Figure 4. Measurements of iron concentrations.
Partners & Funding
In 2002 Camp Lutherlyn obtained a Growing
Greener grant to design and construct the pas-
sive treatment system. Other project participants
included the Butler County Conservation District,
Connoquenessing Watershed Alliance, Western
Pennsylvania Coalition of Abandoned Mine
Reclamation, as well as a number of private consul-
tants. While no Clean Water Act section 319 funds
were used for the work in Semiconon Run, PADEP's
Nonpoint Source Program provided $60,000 for a
Growing Greener grant.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-08-001W
September 2008
For additional information contact:
Joseph Kelly
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Nonpoint Source Program
717-783-2404 • josephkel@state.pa.us
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