RAM SUCCESS STORY
           .    Section 319

           1   NONPOINT SOURCE P



 Partnership Uses Passive Treatment to Reduce Acid Mine Drainage
Watprhnrlv Imnrnx/prl  Remnar|ts of past mining activities contributed metals and
                               acidity to the 4.4-mile-long Lambert Run. As a result, the
 West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP) added the run to the 1996
 Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired waters. In 2002  a partnership of
 academia, private citizens,  and state and federal agencies collaborated to assess and reme-
 diate the mine drainage issues in the watershed. Partners implemented passive treatment
 systems at four sites to reduce the metal  and acidity loads. Water quality has improved,
 and WV DEP expects to remove the upper reaches of Lambert  Run from the CWA section
 303(d) list of impaired waters in the near future.
Problem
West Virginia's Lambert Run drains an 8-square-
mile watershed in Harrison County and empties
into the West Fork River near the town of Spelter.
Unregulated abandoned mines leached metals and
acidity into Lambert Run, causing it to fail to meet
its designated use of aquatic life support. As a
result, WV DEP added the entire length of Lambert
Run (4.4 miles) to the 1996 CWA section 303(d) list
of impaired waters for pH and metals. The run has
remained on the impaired waters list since then.
The impairment begins in the headwaters and
continues down to the stream mouth (Figure 1).

In 2002 WV DEP completed a total maximum daily
load (TMDL) for the West Fork River (the receiving
stream for Lambert Run) and identified  Lambert
Run as impaired for both pH and metals. The TMDL
establishes necessary load reductions for three
metals: aluminum (81 percent reduction), iron (97
percent reduction) and manganese (99  percent
reduction).
                                            Figure 1. Stained water from Lambert Run (entering
                                            at left) flows into the West Fork River.

                                            systems to remediate abandoned mine drainage. The
                                            partners plan to implement two additional projects to
                                            address remaining sources of loadings of metals to
                                            Lambert Run.
                                            Results
Project Highlights
In 2002 a partnership of WV DEP; the Office of
Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement;
the West Virginia University National Mine Land
Reclamation Center; and the Guardians of the West
Fork was formed with the goal of restoring Lambert
Run. In 2003 a watershed-based plan for Lambert
Run was developed and approved. This allowed the
partners to pursue two CWA section 319 grants.
Since 2004 the partners have identified, assessed,
designed and installed four passive treatment
                                            The four new treatment systems have reduced
                                            metal and acidity loadings into Lambert Run. In
                                            2006 the partners installed the first treatment sys-
                                            tem at Site 3, also known as the Muzzleloader Club
                                            site. Before construction, the site's drainage had
                                            a pH of 3.5 and discharged approximately 12 tons
                                            per year of acidity, 1.57 tons per year of iron, and
                                            0.72 ton of aluminum into Lambert Run. The new
                                            passive treatment system at Site 3—a leach bed
                                            filled with steel slag (calcium alumino-silicate
                                            oxide)—has neutralized the 12 tons per year of acid
                                            and is producing approximately 4 tons per year of

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Figure 2. Water gains alkalinity as itflows through a
leach bed at Site 3.

alkalinity (Figure 2). The average pH is 7.1, and the
iron and aluminum loads have been reduced by
1.52 and 0.7 tons per year, respectively.

In 2007 the partners installed a treatment project
at Site 8, also called the Oldaker Property (Figure 3).
Before construction, the abandoned mine portal
drainage had a pH of 6.1 and discharged approxi-
mately 0.8 ton per year of acidity, 17 tons per year
of iron, and 1 ton of aluminum into Lambert Run.
The new passive treatment system has neutralized
the 1 ton per year of acid and is producing  approxi-
mately 23.5 tons per year of alkalinity. The  pH of
the discharge is 7.2. The iron and aluminum loads
have been reduced by 16.8 and 0.95 tons per year,
respectively.

Partners installed a project in 2008 at Site 5, also
known as the Alan Meadows property. Before treat-
ment, the water discharging from the mine portal
had a pH of 6.4. It contributed 26.4 tons  per year of
acidity, 0.76 ton per year of aluminum and 5.6 tons
per year of iron. The new passive treatment system's
discharge is 7.4. It has also neutralized all the acidity
and is producing approximately 115 tons peryear of
alkalinity. The iron and aluminum loads have been
reduced by 5.54 and 0.6 tons peryear, respectively.

In 2009 the partners completed a project at Site 9,
also known as the Cox property. Before treatment,
the water discharging from the portal had a pH of
4.8. Each year it was contributing 123 tons of acidity,
9 tons of aluminum and 34 tons iron. The discharge
from the new passive treatment system  has a pH of
7.1.  It has neutralized all the acidity and is producing
approximately 107 tons peryear of alkalinity. The iron
Figure 3. Water flows through a passive treatment
system at Site 8.

and aluminum loads have been reduced by 33.7 and
103.32 tons per year, respectively.

Partners have also reported an increased number
and diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates in the
Lambert Run mainstem. The treatment systems
have helped to restore approximately 2.3 miles
of Lambert Run's 4.4  miles of impaired stream.
Partners are designing treatment projects at two
additional mine drainage sites. Treating those sites
should completely restore Lambert Run and make it
eligible for removal from the state's list of impaired
waters in the near future.
Partners and Funding
The following partners collaborated on the proj-
ects: WV DEP's Department of Water and Waste
Management and Office of Surface Mining and
Reclamation, West Virginia University's National
Mine Land Reclamation Center and the Guardians
of the West Fork.

A total of $628,052 in U.S.  Environmental Protection
Agency CWA section 319 funding supported a vari-
ety of project-related expenses, including surveying,
engineering and construction. WV DEP's Division
of Water and Waste Management administered the
funding. In all, partners leveraged $622,103 in match-
ing funds. The Office of Surface Mining's Watershed
Cooperative Agreement Program supplied matching
funds for three of the four projects. The final project
(Site 9) had matching funds provided by a private
company that was required to provide compensatory
mitigation for stream and wetland impacts else-
where within the West Fork Watershed.
I
     U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
     Office of Water
     Washington, DC

     EPA841-F-11-001F
     February 2011
For additional information contact:
J. Brady Gutta
West Virginia University National Mine Land
Reclamation Center
304-293-2867 x5445 • jbgutta@mail.wv.edu

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