Southeastern Naturalist R.C. Viadero, Jr. and R.H. Fortney 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 112 Canaan Valley & Environs 2015 Southeastern Naturalist 14(Special Issue 7):112–120 Water-Quality Assessment and Environmental Impact Minimization for Highway Construction in a Miningimpacted Watershed: The Beaver Creek Drainage Roger C. Viadero, Jr.1, 2,* and Ronald H. Fortney1, 3 Abstract - Beaver Creek, a tributary of the Blackwater River just north of Canaan Valley in northeastern West Virginia, runs parallel to the proposed alignment of a major four-lane highway called Appalachian Corridor H. Beaver Creek and many of its major tributaries are characterized by low pH, little alkalinity, and high levels of dissolved metals due to the geochemical characteristics of the soil’s parent material and continuing impacts from past coal mining. During the planning phase of this road project, we identified two major environmental concerns: (1) our ability to predict and manage water-quality impairments that will likely result from the cuts and fills of new material, and (2) the legacy effects of mine refuse from historic coal mines. In the latter case, although many refuse sites are located outside the proposed highway’s alignment, drainage from these sites will be intercepted by the highway’s water-control structures. We (West Virginia University [WVU]) have collaborated with the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) to minimize construction-related impacts to Beaver Creek’s water quality. More specifically, we have evaluated strategies by which water collection and conveyance structures can be integrated with passive water-remediation processes during the highway’s design and construction. In March 2000, we began monitoring water quality in the Beaver Creek drainage. We measured physical, chemical, and biological indicators of water quality and present these data here to serve as a baseline for future comparisons. In general, the water in Beaver Creek was acidic with an average pH of 5.1 in its headwaters and 6.1 above its confluence with the Blackwater River. The water also carried little or no alkalinity. The untreated water seeping from mine-waste piles was highly acidic, with an average pH of 3.0, carried high levels of dissolved sulfate and iron, and featured excess acid-production capacity. After we identified the main sources of water-quality impairment—the locations of mine-waste piles and acidic seeps—we formulated preliminary recommendations for minimizing the impacts of highway construction on the Creek’s water quality. For example, we recommended the implementation of acid-base accounting on the overburden that would be disturbed during construction. We also suggested special material-handling procedures. Based on our preliminary water-quality data, we recommended a series of passive treatment processes that could be incorporated into the road’s design, construction, and operation. Future treatment decisions will be informed by our growing dataset. Further, because many sources of water-quality impairment are located within the basin but beyond the road’s proposed alignment, efforts must be made to engage diverse stakeholders to leverage support for protecting and restoring the Beaver Creek watershed. 1Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Virginia University, PO Box 6103, Morgantown, WV 26506. 2Current address - Institute for Environmental Studies, Western Illinois University, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455. 3Deceased. *Corresponding author - rc-viadero@wiu.edu. Southeastern Naturalist R.C. Viadero, Jr. and R.H. Fortney 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 113 Introduction In the early 1960s, the Appalachian Regional Commission proposed a system of 26 highway corridors to promote economic and social development in the region. In West Virginia, Appalachian Corridor H is the last of these roads to be built. When completed, Corridor H, a divided four-lane highway, will span 144 mi (232 km), from Weston, WV, eastward to Wardensville, WV, near the border with Virginia. Beaver Creek, located in Tucker County in northeastern West Virginia, flows parallel to the proposed alignment of Corridor H (Fig. 1). Located in the watershed of the Middle Fork of the Blackwater River (HUC 05-020004020293), the Beaver Creek basin covers 14,522 ac (5877 ha), with elevations ranging from 2963 feet (903 m) above sea level at its confluence with the Blackwater River to 4131 ft (1259 m) in its headwaters. The Beaver Creek drainage is just north of Canaan Valley. Brown Mountain separates Canaan Valley and the Blackwater River basin. Most of the surface and near-surface rocks in the Beaver Creek drainage have been classified in the Conemaugh and Allegheny Groups of the Pennsylvanian System (Reger 1923). The Conemaugh Group begins at the bottom of the Pittsburgh coal seam and extends downward about 600 ft (183 m) to the top of Upper Freeport coal. The Allegheny Group begins at the top of the Upper Freeport coal seam and extends downward about 300 ft (91 m) to the top of the Homewood Sandstone in the Pottsville Group. Significantly, Upper Freeport coal and its associated strata hold high sulfur concentrations and are known to yield drainage with elevated levels of dissolved metals (Reger 1923). Figure 1. Map of the Middle Blackwater River watershed. Southeastern Naturalist R.C. Viadero, Jr. and R.H. Fortney 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 114 Within the Beaver Creek watershed, about 2286 acres (925 ha) have been surface-mined for coal. Most of the mined lands lie between the historic community of Gatzmer and the confluence of Beaver Creek with the Blackwater River near Davis, WV. Because much of this mining occurred before enactment of the Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) (US Code 1977), effective reclamation had not occurred in the basin. The Beaver Creek watershed has been heavily impacted by prior surface-mining of coal and is drained by tributaries with low pH, little to no alkalinity, and high metals loads. Consequently, construction through the Beaver Creek basin will not impact sensitive native species. In contrast, threatened and endangered species including Plethodon nettingi Green (Cheat Mountain Salamander), Myotis sodalist Miller & Allen (Indiana Bat), Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus Cooper (Virginia Big-eared Bat), and Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus (Shaw) (West Virginia Northern Flying Squirrel) have been documented at other locations along the alignment of Corridor H (US Fish and Wildlife Service 2013). The geochemical features of soil parent materials on the project site favor the formation of acidic, metals-laden drainage. The potential exists for additional acid production and higher metals loading because of new disturbances of old mine refuse. New cuts and fills during construction may cause water-quality impairment. These factors are compounded by the study area’s rugged topography, which necessitates large cuts and fills. In 1999, we (WVU) began collaborating with the West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH) to proactively minimize the environmental impacts of building Corridor H through the Beaver Creek watershed. In March 2000, we began collecting data on physical, chemical, and biological indicators of water quality. We also studied key sources of water impairment, like mine-waste piles and acidic seeps. These data will inform decisions on management alternatives before and during construction and document baseline conditions for evaluating post-construction conditions. With the goal of maximizing water quality, environmental and hydrotechnical engineers evaluated the potential to integrate water-collection and conveyance mechanisms and passive water treatment into the highway’s design and construction. In this paper, we report the water-quality baseline for Beaver Creek, identify features likely to be construction-related sources of water-quality impairment, and demonstrate the benefits of having detailed water-quality data for designing remediation projects. Our work is complemented by the work of Lanham et al. (2015) and Stevens et al. (2015) that appear in this special issue; their papers contribute to understanding the geochemical features of mined and undisturbed soils, acid-drainage impacted and undisturbed wetland soils, and the baseline dataset. Methods In March 2000, we began regular water-quality sampling at 14 sites in the Beaver Creek watershed (Fig. 1). Four sites (1, 3, 6, and 9) were located on Southeastern Naturalist R.C. Viadero, Jr. and R.H. Fortney 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 115 the Creek’s mainstem and five (2, 4, 5, 7, and 8) were sited on tributaries. We sampled each site a total of 14 times, approximately monthly. For insights into conditions outside the proposed alignment of Corridor H, we sampled 5 additional sites (10, 11, 12, 13, and 14) less regularly. Further, to evaluate the suitability of the Creek’s headwaters for fish, we used rapid bioassessment (Plafkin et al. 1989) to survey the fish community at site 1. Table 1 lists the water-quality parameters, analytic methods, and detection limits relevant to our study. With the exception of flow measurements, we used standard methods (Cleseri and Greenberg 1999). We estimated stream-discharge rates by integrating our measures of water velocity, obtained with a Global Water Flow Probe (Xylem, Inc., White Plains, NY) fitted with an EM Flow Probe, and the stream’s cross-sectional area, obtained by measuring water depth at incremental stream widths (USEPA 1997). Results and Discussion For an overview of water quality in the Beaver Creek drainage, we list representative data from 3 mainstem Beaver Creek stations (Table 2): site 1 at the headwaters, site 3 approximately half-way between the headwaters and the confluence of Beaver Creek and the Blackwater River, and site 9 just upstream of the confluence of Beaver Creek and the Blackwater River. We also include data collected at site 5, located on a tributary dominated by reclaimed and pre- SMCRA mine lands, because we suspected that this site was a source of acid, dissolved sulfate, and metals. Site 1—headwaters Located in the headwaters of Beaver Creek, site 1 was upstream of most of the basin’s mined sites. With an average pH of 5.1, the water at site 1 was acidic (Table 2). However, dissolved sulfate and iron concentrations were lower than Table 1. Water-quality parameters, analytic methods, and corresponding detection limits. Methods, as well as detection limits, follow the American Public Health Association (Cleseri and Greeberg 1999). Detection limits were measured for manganese, aluminum, and magnesium but not reported in this study. Parameter Method Detection limit pH 4500 H+ - B - Turbidity 2130 B 1 NTU Total suspended solids 2540 D 100 mg residual filter mass Specific conductivity 2510 B 10 μS/cm Alkalinity 2320 B 0.75 mg/L as CaCO3 Acidity 2310 B (4d) 0.75 mg/L as CaCO3 Sulfate 4500 - SO4 - E 7.0 mg/L Iron 3120 B 0.10 mg/L Manganese 3120 B 0.10 mg/L Aluminum 3120 B 0.10 mg/L Magnesium 3120 B 0.10 mg/L Southeastern Naturalist R.C. Viadero, Jr. and R.H. Fortney 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 116 those at other sites. Based on its acidity and alkalinity measurements, the water flowing past site 1 contained little pH-buf fering capacity. Our sampling of the fish assemblage at site 1 yielded 25 Semotilus atromaculatas (Mitchill) (Creek Chub), 2 Lepomis cyanellus Rafinesque (Green Sunfish), and 3 Catostomus commersonii Lacepede (White Sucker). Each of these species can tolerate non-specific stressors (Plafkin et al. 1989). We also recorded a single Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill) (Brook Trout). The species is moderately tolerant of stressors (Plafkin et al. 1989), and the presence of a single Brook Trout may have significance, but the origin of the fish was uncertain. Because we documented few fish, and species richness and diversity were low, we believe that the headwaters of Beaver Creek provided scant fish habitat (Plafkin et al. 1989). Based on the alkalinity measures, the water at site 1 was vulnerable to further acidification if new acid-bearing materials were to be exposed to air during highway construction. This water-quality alteration would impact the headwaters’ already limited fish community. Consequently, measures should be taken to avoid disturbing acidic materials during construction. If acidic materials are exposed during road construction, special handling practices established by the mining industry to address this situation should be employed. For instance, materials from soil cores can be used for acid–base accounting to determine the likely production of acidic drainage. In case acidproducing strata must be handled, the amount of alkaline material needed to mix with disturbed soils can be quantitatively determined (Skousen et al. 2001). The costs of alkaline materials, special mixing techniques, and added construction logistics can be weighed against the option of avoiding construction through a particular area. Site 3—streams treated for acid mine drainage The chemical features of the water at site 3 were representative of a stream impacted by both mine-water seeps and the active treatment of mine water. This site was located downstream of an active mine-water treatment project in which anhydrous ammonia was being used as the main reagent. The West Virginia Table 2. Summary of water-quality data (average values with the range given in parentheses below) at four selected sites. TSS = total suspended solids. - indicates pH below tiritimetric endpoint. Specific Alkalinity Acidity TSS conductivity (mg/L as (mg/L as Sulfate Site (mg/L) pH (μS/cm) CaCO3) CaCO3) (mg/L) Iron (mg/L) 1 2.2 5.1 60.7 12.3 7.0 11.5 0.22 (0.2–5.0) (4.5–6.1) (28.7–105) (1.6–18.6) (5.2–8.2) (7.5–23.6) (0.13–0.31) 3 2.6 6.5 145 22.0 16.3 43.2 2.61 (0.5–7.4) (0.5–7.4) (76.4–381) (6.6–34.0) (less than 0.75–158) (20.2–135) (0.20-16.60) 5 2.9 3.0 721 - 129 209 8.70 (0.3–8.6) (2.1–3.9) (129–1107) (18–172) (61.2–356) (3.70-16.30) 9 8.0 6.1 142 17.0 5.3 54.5 0.70 (2.5–23) (5.2–6.9) (63–248) (14.0–22.1) (3.2–10) (42.3–87.5) (0.30–1.20) Southeastern Naturalist R.C. Viadero, Jr. and R.H. Fortney 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 117 Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) periodically dumped bulk limestone sands at this site. The water at site 3 carried low levels of suspended solids, average levels of dissolved total iron, and a high concentration of sulfate. Its total iron was almost 12 times the amount that we measured at site 1 (Table 2). High values of iron and sulfate indicated a difference in land uses between site 1, which was relatively unimpacted, and this site, which was degraded by historic and current coal-mining operations. Site 5—site untreated for acid The water at site 5 carried a lot of acid. We measured an average pH of 3.0 and an average acidity of 129 mg/L as CaCO3, both of which suggested that water quality was impaired by drainage from mine-spoil piles. Because the water’s pH was below the titrimetric endpoint of 4.5, we were unable to measure alkalinity. Based on the high concentration of sulfate we observed—an average of 209 mg/L, with a high of 356 mg/L—the potential for additional stream acidification was high (Table 2). High specific conductance and an average iron concentration ~40 times greater than the value we measured at site 1 further supported our suspicion that site 5 was a source of Beaver Creek’s acid and dissolved ions. We observed no fish at site 5. We suggest that other sites that drain spoils-piles probably have similar chemical characteristics and should be given special attention as managers plan highway construction and remediation. Site 9—Beaver Creek discharge site Just upstream of its discharge into the Blackwater River, the Beaver Creek’s average pH, specific conductance, and sulfate concentrations were comparable to those at site 3 (Table 2). However, the average iron concentration at site 9 was almost 4 times lower than the value measured at site 3, indicating that dilution was drowning the acid in Beaver Creek’s mainstem. Treatment before and during construction Because water quality varied throughout the Beaver Creek drainage, we recommend that managers consider a variety of approaches to manage the watershed’s water quality. The exception is that Beaver Creek would benefit from added alkalinity at all sites. Before highway construction, alkaline materials should be added to the Creek’s main channel to neutralize acidic drainage that might infiltrate the creek during and after construction. In the past, some workers considered the bulk addition of limestone aggregate to have been ineffective due to the formation of an armor layer that renders the limestone non-reactive (Porcella et al. 1990). More recently, though, several investigators have reported that sand-sized limestone particles remain reactive in receiving waters (Clayton et al. 1998, Downey et al. 1994). These same investigators successfully restored downstream fish populations after they dumped truckloads of sand-sized limestone directly into streams and/or on the streambanks of acid-impacted streams. In addition to its effectiveness, Menendez et al. (2000) reported that adding sand-sized limestone costs less than $55 per short ton ($50/ Southeastern Naturalist R.C. Viadero, Jr. and R.H. Fortney 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 118 metric ton) of acid neutralized. This cost compared favorably to two other approaches— the rotary limestone drum and addition of hydrated lime, at about $99 and $193 per short ton ($90 and $175/metric ton), respectively, of acid neutralized. We suggest 2 locations for sand-sized limestone treatments: upstream of site 1 and just above key tributaries with chemical characteristics similar to those at site 5. Alkalinity not used in neutralizing local acid will be conveyed downstream and will buffer against pH changes lower in the drainage. Although the origin of the Brook Trout individual at site 1 was unclear, the presence of a fish that is moderately tolerant to stressors provides insight into conditions that could be established. The Brook Trout’s presence hints at an opportunity to restore Beaver Creek’s headwaters for this species. At site 1, the main water-quality concern was inadequate resistance to pH changes. Consequently, we recommend that alkaline materials be added to raise the headwaters’ buffering capacity. This added stability in pH could facilitate reestablishment of a Brook Trout fishery, particularly since the fish was found near site 1. Because the continuous, active addition of alkaline reagents to Beaver Creek does not seem probable over the long term, we recommend that limestone sands be added to its headwaters. To maximize the benefits of improved alkalinity, a complementary investment should be made to improve in-stream habitat. Because streambeds and streambanks are owned and managed by diverse stakeholders— government agencies, private organizations, and individual landowners— engaging all stakeholders will be crucial to achieve success. In areas more directly impacted by historic and active mining operations, such as those at site 3, full restoration to pre-impacted conditions may not be feasible. Consequently, remediating existing water-quality impairments should also be focused on minimizing future impacts. Representative approaches to mitigate impacts include: (1) avoid or minimize the disturbance of mine spoils to limit the exposure of additional pyretic material, (2) perform a quantitative acid–base accounting of cut-and-fill to estimate alkaline admix needs (Skousen et al. 2001), Figure 2. Schematic cross-section of passive treatment proposed for downstream of site 3 (see map in Fig. 1). Southeastern Naturalist R.C. Viadero, Jr. and R.H. Fortney 2015 Vol. 14, Special Issue 7 119 (3) defend against the inadvertent liberation of acidic water during road building by implementing active treatment during highway construction, and (4) design and implement a series of passive treatment processes to minimize future degradation and affect a positive change in water quality that will persist long after the road is built. Integrating treatment and construction In Figure 2, we offer a schematic drawing of passive treatment processes that could be used to mitigate downstream solids-loading, impart alkalinity to receiving waters, facilitate the removal of dissolved metals, and allow for the biochemical reduction of dissolved sulfate at site 3. The principles of natural stream design should be incorporated to increase the overall benefits of remediation while supporting the development of a sustainable stream ecosystem. It is clearly necessary to address potential sources of acidic drainage caused by building the road through mine spoils. It is equally important to address sources of water impairment that originate above the roadway alignment. Failing to address up-grade sources of acid, metals, and sediment would cause additional loading to any passive treatment processes incorporated into the road’s design and construction, which would render those mechanisms less effective. The work reported here will be followed by a more extensive, long-term study of water quality, soil properties, and passive treatment processes, with the goal of developing effective approaches to science-based management before, during, and after road construction. We recommend that the WVDOH partner with regulatory and resource agencies, such as the WVDEP (Mining and Reclamation) and the WV Department of Natural Resources, to coordinate management of the sources of water-quality impairment that originate outside the highway’s alignment to leverage resources for projects aimed at watershedlevel water-quality improvements. Acknowledgments This work was supported by the West Virginia Division of Highways as a supplement to State Project No. x142-H-38-99 05. The authors are grateful to Charles Riling, WVDOH environmental monitor, and Norse Angus and Neal Carte from the WVDOH environmental section for their strong support of this work. Literature Cited Clayton, J.L., E.S. Dannaway, R. 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