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(Sr) HONPOIMT SOIREE SICEESS STORY
Remediating Acid Mine Drainage Increases Brook Trout in Spiker Run
Waterbody Improvsd Maryland's Spiker Run, a tributary to Casselman River in Garrett
County, was affected by episodic low pH associated with acid
mine drainage (AMD) and listed as impaired in 1996. An assessment of an AMD seep impacting the
headwaters of Spiker Run ranked this stream as a high priority for mitigation in the Casselman River
watershed. Successful implementation of two AMD mitigation measures brought the stream into
compliance with the state water quality standard for pH. Monitoring of brook trout demonstrated
that the standing crop of adults was five times greater after implementation than before. The
Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) will pursue delisting Spiker Run for its pH
impairment in Maryland's 2018 Integrated Report.
Problem
Western Maryland's Casselman River watershed drains
to Pennsylvania toward the Ohio River. Before World
War II, the river and its tributaries were commonly
high-quality waterways that supported native brook
trout. During several following decades, coal mining
changed local hydrology, resulting in AMD that caused
pH declines in numerous streams. One of the affected
streams is Spiker Run, which flows into the mainstem
of Casselman River (Figure 1). Its headwaters are in
Maryland's Savage River State Forest near Maryland
Route 40, west of Grantsville,
The Casselman River watershed was listed for pH
impairment in 1996. About 1.6 miles of Spiker Run
exhibited pH impairment. In 2005 water quality moni-
toring to support pH total maximum daily load (TMDL.)
development found that pH levels in Spiker Run were
intermittently below the Maryland water quality
standard, which requires a pl-l range of 6.5-8.5. Also
in 2005,, MDE's consultant completed an assessment
of streams with pH impairment in the Casselman River
watershed and identified Spiker Run as a high priority
for AMD remediation.
In 2008 EPA approved the pH TMDL for Spiker Run
and other pH-lmpaired streams in Western Maryland.
Water quality monitoring in 2010-2013 showed that
in-stream pH continued to intermittently fall below
Maryland's water quality pH standard. Maryland's
2014 Integrated Report clarified the pH conditions in
the Casselman River watershed by separately listing
each stream segment that has pH impairment and a
pH TMDL, which includes Spiker Run.
Figure 1. Spiker Run (CASS-01) is in western Maryland.
Story Highlights
In late 2008 MDE initiated watershed planning to
make the Casselman River watershed eligible for Clean
Water Act (CWA) section 319(h) grant implementation
funds. The planning process included an assessment
of potential AMD mitigation sites in the watershed,
including along Spiker Run, for potential high-priority
| Casselman Monitoring Sites
Spiker Run Leach Bed
and Sand Application Area
, Maryland'
i CASS-001
.CASS-017B'
CASS-008
¦CASS-013
CASS-014'
CASS-015
CASS-012
LEGEND
| MDE Proposed WO Stations	-
fit] Treatment Implementation - Leach Bed
pT| Treatment Implementation - Sand Dump
	 pH TMDL Impaired Stream
=~ Casselman 8 Digit Watershed

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Figure 2. A limestone sand application site was
installed at the edge of Spiker Run.
Figure 3. Spiker Run pH has met water quality
standards since mid-2013.
—StreamPH —Lower Limit of pH Standard —Upper Limit of pH Standard
action. The plan also analyzed AMD mitigation
technologies. One of the technologies recommended
to constrain capital, operation and maintenance costs
was limestone sand application, sometimes called
a limestone sand dump. This technique involves
constructing a driveway for a dump truck to pull up
adjacent to the stream so that measured quantities of
limestone crushed to sand-sized particles can be deliv-
ered directly to stream edge. Then, natural variation in
stream flow distributes the particles downstream. The
limestone particles raise in-stream pH and increase
acid neutralizing capacity. The amount and timing of
limestone sand application is determined by periodic
monitoring and in-stream pH measurements.
In early 2011 the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency accepted the Casselman River Watershed Plan
for pH Remediation, and MDE approved CWA section
319(h) grant funding for a project to mitigate AMD-
impacted areas in the Casselman River watershed.
Spiker Run was selected to be one of 11 Phase I proj-
ects for construction because the land was publicly
owned, the site was accessible and permit require-
ments were attainable.
in niid-2013 a leachbed and a limestone sand applica-
tion site were installed to treat AMD flows entering
Spiker Run (Figure 2). During the first year, the applica-
tion site received 34.89 tons of limestone sand. More
applications will continue at varying levels depending
on stream conditions for the foreseeable future.
Following installation of the leachbed and limestone
sand application site, MDE's Abandoned Mine Land
Division (AMLD) periodically monitored the pH at
Spiker Run and scheduled delivery of limestone sand
to the application sites as needed.
Results
After an adjustment period (late 2013 and 2014), data
collected in Spiker Run in 2015-2016 demonstrated
that in-stream pH consistently met Maryland's water
quality standard (Figure 3). In addition, the standing
crop of brook trout in Spiker Run increased from 13
kilograms per hectare (kg/ha) in 2008 to 67 kg/ha in
2016. As a result, MDE will pursue delisting Spiker Run
for its pH impairment in Maryland's 2018 Integrated
Report.
Partners and Funding
MDE's AMLD and Water Quality Protection and
Restoration (WQPR) programs wrote the Casselman
River Watershed Pian for pH Remediation. AMLD used
$55,000 from the federal fiscal year (FFY) 2008 CWA
section 319(h) grant for their part of the planning
effort, implementation of the 11 Phase I AMD mi tiga-
tion projects was led by AMLD, using $644,115 from
the FFY 2009 CWA section 319(h) grant. The Garrett
Soil Conservation District oversaw contractor hiring,
construction management and inspection of projects.
Capital cost to install the Spiker Run leach bed and
limestone sand application site totaled $71,850.
Other partners contributed work at no cost to the
project. Watershed plan drafting by MDE WQPR staff
was funded by the 319(h) grant through ongoing
projects that support the state nonpoint source man-
agement program. Also, water quality monitoring by
MDE's Field Services Program were funded by separate
ongoing 319(h) grant projects. The Maryland Fisheries
Service assessment and analysis was funded by the
state of Maryland.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-18-Q01I
March 2018
For additional information contact:
Connie Loucks
MDE, Abandoned Mine Lands Division
301-689-1461 • connie.loucks@maryland.gov
Ken Shanks
MDE, Abandoned Mine Lands Division
410-537-4216 • kenneth.shanks@maryland.gov

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