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Shallow EM investigations of AMD at an abandoned coal mine in northern West Virginia

S. M. Stoller Corp., Lafayette, Colorado, U.S.

Tom Wilson

Dept. of Geology and Geography, West Virginia University, Morgantown, U.S.

Corresponding author: pfahringer@stoller.com

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

The production of acid mine drainage (AMD) from surface and underground coal mines in northern West Virginia is a major environmental problem and continues to receive much attention in affected communities. Remedial procedures are often established in response to the need to be in compliance with Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act water quality standards. Lack of site-specific subsurface information often limits the effectiveness of remediation efforts and increases its cost. Current reclamation efforts are generally based on limited subsurface information and often do not include geophysical assessment studies. The potential use of terrain conductivity to characterize these sites, monitor remedial efforts, and provide additional subsurface information is often overlooked. Traditional methods of site characterization and evaluation include water quantitative and qualitative testing. Additional understanding of the subsurface conditions at a site can be obtained through terrain conductivity measurements.

Terrain conductivity, also known as electromagnetic (EM) induction, has been used successfully in the last 15 years to delineate zones of AMD and detect pillar locations of shallow coal mines. High conductivity associated with AMD and its sources (primarily pyrite) is a good target for electromagnetic detection. Because terrain conductivity data can be collected rapidly and interpreted easily, it is found to be the most effective geophysical technique for characterizing surface mine sites before implementation of remediation programs. A similar study using shallow EM to characterize a manufacturing site with disposal pits was successfully completed by Nobes and McCahon (1999).

Data were collected over a mine spoil area in northern West Virginia and used in conjunction with hydrologic, geochemical, and borehole data previously collected to develop a better understanding of subsurface conditions at the site. The 80-acre mine site investigated (Figure 1) has produced some of the worst AMD problems in West Virginia surface mines due to low pH, . . . [Full Text of this Article]