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Geochemical approach to estimate the quality of water entering abandoned underground coalmines

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

Geochemical modeling was employed to estimate the chemistry of water infiltrating into abandoned underground flooded and unflooded coalmines of the Uniontown syncline, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. This was done to help evaluate factors governing the long-term evolution of coalmine discharge water quality in the Uniontown syncline area. The subsurface structure and lithology was delineated using borehole, mine shaft, and stratigraphic information. Hydrogeologic analyses indicated that most of the recharge to mine voids occurs in the zones of shallow overburden cover of less than 20 m in thickness. The water–rock contact period in the recharge areas of the overburden was estimated to be 5 days or greater for the flooded mines, and a day or less for the unflooded mines. Flow-through reaction-path models were applied to the topsoil and shale–sandstone lithological units identified in the recharge areas. The model predicted water entering the flooded mines at a pH of 6.65, alkalinity of 6.92 mequiv. l−1 and a total sulfate concentration of 7.33 mM, and the unflooded mines at a pH of 6.68, alkalinity of 6.99 mequiv. l−1 and a total sulfate concentration of 3.08 mM. The model predictions for the flooded and unflooded mines are consistent with groundwater data from the study site, indicating the usefulness of this approach in evaluating the contribution of overburden chemistry to the evolution of mine discharge quality.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program of the US Environmental Protection Agency, Grant R825794. Although the research described in the article has been funded wholly or in part by the US Environmental Protection Agency, it has not been subjected to any EPA review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of the Agency, and no official endorsement should be inferred. The assistance of the following individuals with various aspects of the overburden mapping and modeling is gratefully acknowledged: A. Graziani of US Steel Mineral Resources; independent consultant W. Aljoe; C.R. Greene, R. Krivda, T. Kovalchuk, J.S. Roberts, and J. Thomas of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection; J. Lechnar of Garbert Consulting; and M. Blackhurst, D. Lambert, and M. Paschka of Carnegie Mellon University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Pradeep Mugunthan

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Kathleen M. McDonough & David A. Dzombak

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  1. Pradeep Mugunthan
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  2. Kathleen M. McDonough
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  3. David A. Dzombak
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Correspondence to David A. Dzombak.

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Mugunthan, P., McDonough, K.M. & Dzombak, D.A. Geochemical approach to estimate the quality of water entering abandoned underground coalmines. Env Geol 45, 769–780 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-003-0937-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-003-0937-4

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