Section 319
NONPOINT SOURCE PROGRAM SOCGESS STORY
Sealing Mines and Installing Treatment Systems Restores Streams
fltPrhnrlipQ Imnrnx/pH Abandoned mine drainage (AMD) has polluted Gumboot Run
VVdltM UUUlWb II I ipi UVWU and tne East Branch Clarion River in northwestern Pennsylvania's
McKean County since the 1800s. Numerous AMD seeps flow in the Gumboot Run watershed, which,
in turn, flows into the East Branch Clarion River. Those seeps negatively affected the water quality in
four waterbodies, including three segments in the Gumboot Run watershed and one segment on the
East Branch Clarion River mainstem, which prompted the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection (PADEP) to add the segments to the state's Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of
impaired waters for low pH. PADEP added the three segments in Gumboot Run in 2004 and the East
Branch Clarion River segment in 2006. Early efforts to clean up the watershed included sealing mines
and stabilizing spoil piles in the 1970s. Between 2001 and 2007, several AMD treatment systems were
constructed in the Gumboot Run Watershed that produced acceptable levels of pH and metals in both
streams. PADEP intends to remove all four segments from the 2010 CWA section 303(d) list of impaired
waters as the result of the water quality improvements.
Problem
Project Highlights
Coal mining began in the Gumboot Run watershed
in the late 1800s, near the small village of Clermont
in McKean County. Gumboot Run is a tributary of
the East Branch Clarion River, which is dammed to
form the East Branch Lake in a heavily forested part
of northwestern Pennsylvania. Deep mines pro-
duced a large amount of coal that was shipped by
railroad to western Pennsylvania and Buffalo, New
York. Although coal production decreased in the
Gumboot Mines by the early 1900s, coal continued
to be taken from the area into the late 1900s. An
assessment of the East Branch Clarion River in
1969 determined that numerous AMD sources
remained in the watershed. Attempts were made
in the 1970s to seal mines and reclaim the area, but
water quality impairment persisted.
In the late 1990s, data show that Gumboot Run had
a pH as low as 3.8 (standards require a minimum of
6.0 to support aquatic life) and had elevated levels
of manganese and aluminum. PADEP biologists
sampled the East Branch Clarion River in 2004 and
documented an impaired aquatic macroinvertebrate
population approximately 0.4 mile downstream of
the confluence with Gumboot Run. On the basis of
these data, PADEP added four waterbodies (7.48
stream miles total) to the state's CWA section 303(d)
list for low pH levels. The four waterbodies were
three segments in the Gumboot Run watershed
(added in 2004) and one segment on the mainstem
of the East Branch Clarion River (added in 2006).
Between 2001 and 2005, project partners installed
several passive treatment systems in the Gumboot
Run watershed. First, in 2001, PADEP's Knox
District Mining Office installed a vertical flow
system to add alkalinity directly into the stream.
Then, in 2007, partners installed an additional
passive treatment system to more thoroughly
treat AMD sources in the watershed at a cost of
approximately one million dollars. This project,
designed by PADEP's Bureau of Abandoned Mine
Reclamation (BAMR) and completed by E.M. Brown
Construction, has a series of ponds with limestone
beds that neutralize the acidic water and allow met-
als to drop out of solution (Figures 1 and 2).
Figure 1. One of a series of limestone treatment
ponds installed.
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Figure 2. Another limestone treatment pond.
Results
Water quality has been improving as a result of the
restoration efforts. Data from Gumboot Run in 2007
and 2008 indicated that pH was achieving state
standards, and aluminum and manganese were
dropping to acceptable levels. PADEP's BAMR has
collected samples on Gumboot Run approximately
three-quarters of a mile downstream of the treat-
ment systems. The average pH at that location was
4.1 between 1996 and 1999. It rose to 7.3 between
2007 and 2008. During the same period, aluminum
declined by 46 percent (Figure 3) and manganese
declined by 78 percent (Figure 4) in samples taken
at the site.
PADEP's Division of Water Quality Standards reas-
sessed the stream in 2009 to ensure that minimum
state standards are being met. Results of their
findings are that benthic populations have returned
to both Gumboot Run and the previously impaired
segment of the East Branch of the Clarion River.
The waterbodies now meet Pennsylvania's water
quality standards. PADEP plans to remove the four
segments from the 2010 CWA section 303(d) list.
Partners and Funding
Funding for the large, passive treatment system com-
pleted in 2007 was provided by the Surface Mining
Control Reclamation Act, Title IV, Appalachian Clean
Streams Initiative ($233,304) and Pennsylvania's
Growing Greener Program ($804,972).
Additional partners include the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, and Pennsylvania's Game Commission,
Fish and Boat Commission, and Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources. In addition,
in the early 1990s, the now disbanded Elk County
Fishermen worked to clean up the watershed. The
PADEP Knox District Mining Office and BAMR
have been very involved in monitoring the benthic
populations and metal levels, as well as funding and
designing treatment systems.
Aluminum water quality standard = 0.75 mg/L
Average Aluminum level (mg/L) before
treatment (1995-1999)
Average Aluminum level (mg/L) after
treatment (2007-2008)
Figure 3. Aluminum reductions in Gumboot Run in milligrams per
liter (mg/L).
1 1
1.2
0 8-
0.6-
0.4-
02-
0-
Average Manganese level (mg/L) before Average Manganese level (mg/L) after
treatment (1996-1999) treatment (2007-2008)
Figure 4. Manganese reductions in Gumboot Run in mg/L.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA841-F-09-001MM
December 2009
For additional information contact:
Joe Kelly, Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection
717-783-2404 • josephkel@state.pa.us
Ely Heferle, Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection
Bureau of District Mining Operations
814-797-1191 • eheferle@state.pa.us
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