GEOCHEMICAL ANALYSES OF AMD EFFLUENT AND TREATED DISCHARGE IN A DEP ABANDONED MINE LAND RECLAMATION PROJECT IN SUB-WATERSHEDS OF BEECH CREEK, THE WEST BRANCH SUSQUEHANNA RIVER SUBBASIN, CLINTON CO., PA

Acid mine drainage (AMD), the pervasive legacy of Pennsylvania's two-hundred-year coal mining history, impairs thousands of miles of the commonwealth's streams and wetlands and degrades adjacent ground-water systems. Toxic concentrations of acidity, metals, and sediment typically render water lifeless and generate precipitates that yield uninviting viewscapes. Currently, both active and passive treatment strategies are employed to remediate AMD degradation. As part of a community-based research project, geochemical analyses of water samples collected from two abandoned-coal-mine-discharge areas and from BAMR's Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Project (BF 438-102.1) yielded data for major anions, cations, total acidity, alkalinity, pH, ORP, and several trace metals. Data are analyzed in the context of local geology, hydrology, land cover, land-use practices, and installed passive treatment design. The project, which combines resources from Geisinger Health System, PA DEP, the Beech Creek Watershed Association, and Lock Haven University of PA, aims to determine the water quality in a rural region impacted by abandoned coal mines and to carry out a performance analysis of a recently installed AMD passive treatment facility. Geochemical behavior of selected chemical parameters indicate that the natural wetlands in two untreated AMD discharge areas play a vital role in attenuating certain metals, anions, and in improving water quality in terms of pH. Adding alkalinity using high Ca-limestone to the natural wetlands can serve as a reasonable, low-cost retrofit to the two untreated AMD sites. A detailed analysis of various cation and anion concentrations, along with cost-benefit analysis of this treatment design will be required in the future. By comparison, the effectiveness of the AMD treatment facility appears to be moderate at best and will require design adjustments in order to capture the maximum amount of AMD effluent for passive treatment.