Headwaters of Raccoon
Creek Acid Mine Drainage Abatement and Treatment (AMDAT) Study
Underway
The
Raccoon Creek Watershed Project has embarked on its second
Acid Mine Drainage Abatement and Treatment (AMDAT) Plan.
This plan will mimic the work recently completed in the
Little Raccoon Creek in the spring of 2000 but will focus
on the headwaters of the area. The study area will encompass
the portion of the watershed that drains to the point where
the main stem of Raccoon crosses under the bridge of US
Route 50 near Reuse Industries in Vinton County.
The purpose of the plan is to quantify and qualify the
extent to which acid mine drainage (AMD) is effecting the
biologic resources and water quality in this portion of
the hydrologic unit. When the report is complete it is then
submitted to the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation,
and Enforcement (OSMRE). After approval it will allow the
Raccoon Creek project to apply for funding to construct
AMD restoration projects in the headwaters. The funding
for reclamation comes from the AMDAT fund administered by
ODNR Division of Mineral Resources Management (MRM) and
developed through the coal severance tax paid by coal operations
to the federal government and redistributed to the states.
The goal of the project is to assess the overall watershed
for AMD and determine which tributaries to the main stem
are contributing the most acid loading. Once the major contributors
of acid loading are determined, the source of AMD production
is located and characterized. A list of prioritized projects
will be developed with a treatment plan and cost estimate.
The report will be used by the watershed project for guidance
of work over the next couple of years. The project is being
funded by a grant from ODNR MRM that was awarded to the
Ohio Valley Resource Conservation & Development. ILGARD
at Ohio University is a lead partner for the project with
Chip Rice, Watershed Coordinator, as the Principle Manager
and Rachael Hoy, Senior Project Manager, as a project manager
on for the report. The fieldwork is lead by David Patterson,
Raccoon Creek Headwaters Field Investigator, with the assistance
of Ohio University students.
The project is due to be complete by September of 2001.
