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Section 319
NDNPDINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOGCESS STORY
Passive Treatment Systems Restore Water Quality J
WatPrhndv ImnrnvpH 'AvC'c' m'ne drainage from abandoned coal mines impaired West
" ' ' '' "" Virginia's Morris Creek, prompting the state to add the creek to
its 1996 Clean Water Act section 303(d) list of impaired waters for metals and pH. To restore the
stream, project partners installed various passive treatment systems [e.g., anaerobic and aerobic
wetlands, open limestone channels (OLCs), polishing ponds] at four sites in the watershed. As a
result, metal concentrations in Morris Creek have dropped significantly. West Virginia proposes
to remove this waterbody from the section 303(d) list in 2010.
Problem
Morris Creek flows through Kanawha County,
approximately 25 miles southeast of Charleston,
West Virginia, and joins the Kanawha River in the
town of Montgomery. West Virginia first placed
Morris Creek on the section 303(d) list in 1996 for
metals and then again in 1998, 2000, 2002 and
2004 for pH and metals. Stretches of the stream
were devoid of aquatic life, and deposits of iron
and aluminum existed at several points along the
streambed, preventing the creek from supporting
its warm-water fishery, drinking water and contact
recreation designated uses (Figure 1).
West Virginia developed a total maximum daily load
(TMDL) study in 2005 for the Upper Kanawha River
system, which includes Morris Creek. The TMDL
analysis suggested that for Morris Creek to achieve
water quality standards, metal loads would need
to be reduced—aluminum by 5,900 pounds per
year (Ibs/yr), iron by 8,007 Ibs/yr and manganese by
4,444 |bs/yr.
Project Highlights
In 2002 the newly formed Morris Creek Watershed
Association (MCWA) contacted the West Virginia
Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP's)
Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) program and the
U.S. Office of Surface Mining to request assistance
in treating the acid mine drainage polluting Morris
Creek. In response, AML and MCWA conducted a
watershed-wide monitoring sweep and identified
four primary project sites.
By 2003 AML began planning for passive treat-
ment systems at the four sites—Possum Hollow,
Blacksnake Hollow, Lower Mainstem and Upper
Mainstem Morris Creek. The Possum Hollow site
treatment system consists of an aerobic wetland,
Figure 1. Acid mine drainageflows into Morris Creek.
40 by 350 feet, with 3 to 18 inches of limestone in
a 60-mil liner, and a polishing pond with an area of
25 by 60 feet. The second site, Blacksnake Hollow,
is in a small, very steep area with several acid mine
drainage sources seeping out of the hillside from
old mine voids. Although a low volume of water
typically flows from Blacksnake Hollow (10.5 gallons
per minute), the flow contributed highly acidic water
(246 milligrams per liter) before the project. The
steep terrain and lack of space required partners
to select OLCs as the treatment system. Check
dams in the OLC slow water flow and lengthen the
treatment time. Although project partners expected
the Blacksnake Hollow project to accomplish the
least amount of water quality treatment of any of
the projects, they believed that, when combined
with the treatment success of upstream systems
would help to fully restore Morris Creek.
it
The third and fourth sites are upstream from a
residential section of Morris Creek, where the old
Eureka #2 mine discharges highly acidic water
from several seeps and collapsed portals adjacent
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to the stream for several hundred feet. Two proj-
ects were designed to treat these sources: the
Lower Mainstem and the Upper Mainstem sites.
The Lower Mainstem passive treatment system
consists of an anaerobic wetland with five 30 by
250-foot cells lined with 6 to 9 inches of limestone
in a 60-mil liner, a 30 by 100-foot-wide polishing
pond, and wetland plantings consisting of cat-
tails, bull rushes and common rushes. The Upper
Mainstem treatment system is the largest of the
four projects. To treat the discharges adjacent to
the creek, partners installed a 15 by 450-foot-wide
drainage channel with five check dams lined with a
12-inch layer of limestone (Figure 2). The creek itself
is routed through a 450-foot OLC to add alkalinity.
Results
Partners finished installing treatment systems in
September 2006. Water quality improved immedi-
ately. Initial monitoring results showed that Morris
Creek and its tributaries (Possum and Blacksnake
hollows) met water quality standards for pH,
aluminum, iron and manganese below the treatment
sites. In fact, the treatment systems reduced metal
loads far beyond that required by the TMDL (Table 1).
In response, aquatic life is returning to the creek,
including a surviving population of brown trout fin-
gerlings (stocked by Trout Unlimited). DEP expects to
remove Morris Creek from the 303(d) list of impaired
waters in 2010 if conditions remain improved.
Some challenges remain. Flooding and sediment
accumulation have caused some problems with the
systems in the two years since construction. The
efficiency of the Lower Mainstem treatment system
has declined, allowing the iron levels to rise again in
Table 1. Initial environmental results after installing acid
mine drainage treatment systems in the Morris Creek
watershed. *
Project site
Possum Hollow
Blacksnake Hollow
Lower Mainstem
Upper Mainstem
Total Reductions
TMDL Allocations
pH level:
pre/post
treatment
3.5/6.7
4.4/5.0
4.0/6.3
4.2/5.4
-
-
Metal reductions achieved
Aluminum
(Ibs/yr)
390.55
84.45
1,759.3
31,006.75
33,248
5,900
Iron
(Ibs/yr)
47.45
76.65
9,249.1
276,483.85
285,857
8,007
Manganese
(Ibs/yr)
102.2
36.86
1,098.65
31,119.9
32,320
4,444
Figure 2. The Upper Mainstem Morris Creek treat-
ment system includes a drainage channel lined with
limestone.
the creek below this site. However, pH and alumi-
num continue to meet water quality standards. The
partners plan to secure an engineering review of
the system to isolate the problem and fix it.
Although the creek is not officially considered
impaired for sediment, partners recognize that
excess sediment is entering the creek. As part of
the comprehensive effort to restore Morris Creek,
the DEP Nonpoint Source Program applied to the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for two
grants to reduce sediment loads. The Phase I proj-
ect, completed in September 2007, restored 1,500
feet of abandoned road, armored culvert outfalls
and improved road drainage. The project should
reduce sediment entering Morris Creek above the
Upper Mainstem site by 213 tons/year. Another
part of this project reduced erosion pressure from
a large slip area known as the Jones Hollow Slip.
This section of the project should reduce sediment
by 370 tons/year. Phase II, which began in 2008,
includes stabilizing stream banks along the residen-
tial section of Morris Creek.
Partners and Funding
The projects received a nonfederal match
of $971,810: $312,683 from the Watershed
Cooperative Agreement Program (state matching
funds) and $659,127 from AML. The DEP Nonpoint
Source Program contributed $690,167 in section
319 funds. Project costs totaled $1,661,977. The
MCWA provided project assistance and initiated
valuable partnerships, such as that with the DEP
Nonpoint Source Program. The success of these
projects is due in large part to the MCWA.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-08-001FF
November 2008
For additional information contact:
Alvan Gale
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
601 57th Street, SE
Charleston, WV 25304
304-926-0495
alvan.d.gale@wv.gov
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