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Implementing Mine Land Reclamation and Water Treatment Projects
Improved Deckers Creek
... . . I,	i As early as 1951, acid mine drainage (AMD) from coal mines
Waterbody Improved „ ' , ' , . £ ....
polluted Deckers Creek, a section of which is a well-known
Whitewater paddling destination. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
(WVDEP) added Deckers Creek to the Clean Water Act (CWA) section 303(d) list of impaired streams
in 1996. Friends of Deckers Creek (FODC), a nonprofit organization, and several agencies partnered
on land reclamation and water treatment projects in the watershed. Water quality has significantly
improved in Deckers Creek—particularly for aluminum, iron and pH. Biological conditions have also
improved; for example, stocked brown trout now survive year-round in the creek.
Problem
Deckers Creek flows into the Monongahela River in
Morgantown, West Virginia (Figure 1). The water-
shed covers approximately 64 square miles and
offers Whitewater paddling and recreational fishing
opportunities.
Coal mines abandoned before passage of the Surface
Mining Control and Reclamation Act in 1977 discharge
polluted water into Deckers Creek. Data collected in
1976 showed the creek violated standards for iron,
manganese, aluminum and pH. WVDEP added Deckers
Creek to the list of impaired streams in 1996. Fecal
coliform bacteria and sediment pollution sources exist
throughout the watershed.
The mines exploited the pyrite-rich Upper Freeport
coal seam. When the pyrite is exposed to air and water,
it generates iron and sulfuric acid. The acid also dis-
solves aluminum from nearby minerals. West Virginia's
standards call for pH to remain between 6 and 9, and
for dissolved aluminum and total iron to remain below
0.75 and 1.5 milligrams per liter (mg/L), respectively.
Low pH and high aluminum concentrations in Deckers
Creek excluded fish from much of the mainstem and
several tributaries for many years. Precipitation of
iron on the bottom of the streams excluded all but the
most tolerant of benthic invertebrates. The pollution
is prodigious. One single mine adds up to two tons of
acidity and 800 pounds per day of iron to the creek.
Figure 1. Multiple projects have been implemented in
Deckers Creek in northern West Virginia.
Story Highlights
In the mid-1990s, FODC formed to improve the natural
qualities of, increase public concern for, and promote
the enjoyment of the Deckers Creek watershed. FODC
published a water quality inventory for the Deckers
Creek watershed in 1996. FODC also petitioned WVDEP
to prioritize the total maximum daily load (TMDL) for
Deckers Creek; WVDEP completed the TMDL in 2002.
WVDEP and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) made
an agreement to reclaim 13 of the mine sites, each
pitching in $5 million. Under that agreement the two
agencies have implemented best management practices
(BMPs) at nine of the 13 abandoned coal mine sites.
'Granville
Richard
mine
Westover Morgantown
(Brookhaven
Masontown
Legend
Area with trout
Projects by partner
| NRCS
1 OAMLR

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FODC completed a watershed-based plan in 2006
and used funding from CWA section 319 and the
U.S. Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and
Enforcement's (OSMRE's) Watershed Cooperative
Agreement Program to install eight mine drainage
treatment projects. FODC operates nine AMD treat-
ment sites throughout the watershed, including five
along the tributary of Kanes Creek (for more infor-
mation on these projects see the 2015 NPS Success
Story, Treating Acid Mine Drainage Allows Aquatic
Life to Rebound in Kanes Creek.) Mul tiple BMPs have
been implemented at the nine project sites, includ-
ing sulfate-reducing bioreactors, water-powered
lime dosing devices, limestone leachbeds, anaerobic
vertical flow wetlands, and settling ponds (see Figure 1
for project locations). These projects have removed
dissolved metals and neutralized the water's pH over
the years. The WVDEP's Office of Abandoned Mine
Lands and Reclamation (OAMLR) operates additional
AMD treatment projects within the Deckers Creek
watershed (see Figure 1) that are outside the scope of
work described here.
FODC monitors 13 sites throughout the watershed
through its Clean Creek Program, which is supple-
mented by data gathered by FODC's Citizen Scientist
Program (more than tripling the amount of sites
monitored overall). Citizen Scientists sample monthly
for water quality and allow FODC to have eyes and ears
on the ground, enabling early detection for issues in
Deckers Creek. Citizen Scientist data is compiled and
used to track trends.
Results
Since 2002 water quality has significantly improved
in Deckers Creek. Average pH has increased from 6.5
to 7.19, iron has been reduced from 1.4 mg/L to 0.6
mg/L, and aluminum has decreased from 1.00 mg/L
to 0.4 mg/L (Figure 2). Brown trout have been stocked
in Deckers Creek since 2011, after monitoring in the
mainstem showed steadily good water quality. Fish
surveys found trout in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017.
Different size classes of trout indicate survival through
the entire year. The presence of other wildlife further
illustrates improvement in the creek's health. Much
of the improvement in Deckers Creek was caused
by removing pollutant loads from its tributary Kanes
Creek, which has undergone a visible transformation
as its iron loads have decreased (Figure 3).
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
W .1
EPA 841-F-19-001RR
pRo*t^° November 2019
Main Stem of Deckers Creek
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Figure 2. Decker Creek data show reductions in iron
and aluminum and increases in pH levels.
Before
Figure 3. Kanes Creek, before and after restoration.
Partners and Funding
Many agencies, organizations, and individuals have
carried out the Deckers Creek restoration work.
WVDEP has supplied $2.77 million in CWA section
319 watershed project funding to FODC for their
work. FODC has obtained $1.28 million from OSMRE's
Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program. The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Brownfields
program funded the engineering design of three of
FODC's AMD treatment projects. WVDEP and the
USDA NRCS partnered in an agreement through Public
Law 566 to restore the watershed through abandoned
mine reclamation. WVDEP spent $3.85 million through
OAMLR, while NRCS spent $2.26 million through its
Public Law 566 Small Watershed Program.
For additional information contact:
Martin Christ
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection
304-368-2000 • Martin.J.Christ@wv.gov
https://deckerscreek.org/clean-creek-program/

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