KEMPTON'S UPPER FREEPORT: A RESOURCE FOR 75 YEARS/A CHALLENGE FOR TODAY

In a 12-square mile area of MD and WV is an abandoned mine complex known as the Kempton Complex. It consists of nine underground mines from mining the Upper Freeport coal seam from the 1880s to 1950s, some overlying Bakerstown mines, and extensive strip mines at the outcrop of coal seams. All impact the headwaters of the Potomac River, a National Heritage River. At its peak, the town of Kempton reached a population of nearly 500, had a school, community building, water supply system, general store, church, and a railroad which not only hauled coal to markets but transported residents to outlying areas.

Today, 50 years after closing the last mine, Kempton is nearly abandoned having but a fraction of houses from its heyday, no school, store, community building, nor railroad. The mine is now regurgitating contaminated groundwater, collapsing and subsiding as pillars fail, and swallowing streams through subsidence fractures. About 3.5 million gallons of acid mine drainage (AMD) per day flow from a borehole and airshaft in MD into Laurel Run and the North Branch Potomac River. Subsidence in Davis and Thomas, WV has damaged public water supplies, roadways, and residences.

State and federal agencies, industry, organizations, and citizens are now taking actions to restore the quality of the area’s natural features and protect against further impacts. Some of the actions taken or proposed include:

· Monitoring the flow of North Branch Potomac River and other tributaries · Monitoring streams and wetlands affected by AMD · Installing groundwater monitoring wells · Injecting flowable coal combustion byproduct (CCB) grout onto the mine floor to reduce groundwater contact with acid producing surfaces · Injecting grout into mine voids to reduce subsidence · Sealing streambeds with expansion compounds to reduce stream loss · Installing in-stream treatment for AMD · Sealing an abandoned shaft to reduce groundwater infiltration · Establishing flow control at the lowest discharge point to manage the mine pool water level

This presentation focuses on steps taken by MD, specifically projects undertaken by the Power Plant Research Program of the Department of Natural Resources to restore these important headwaters and creatively use the knowledge gained at other locations.