Remediation of acid mine drainage in the Sugar Creek Watershed, Missouri: Technology and costs for use in TMDL assessment

Abstract

The Sugar Creek Watershed is located north of Huntsville in north-central Missouri. Water quality in Sugar Creek has been affected by acid mine drainage (AMD) generated by underground mining and coal refuse disposal before the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 and has been listed on Missouri's 303d list as an impaired stream. To support the state of Missouri's development of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) assessment and remediation efforts, the Office of Surface Mining (OSM), Mid-Continent Region in cooperation with the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS), Missouri Water Science Center - Kansas City Office has completed a technical evaluation and economic and logistical feasibility study for the AMD affected waterway. Utilizing a water-quality assessment completed in 2005 by the USGS, the OSM study proposes the construction of passive treatment facilities for three major AMD sources identified by the USGS in the watershed. Site-specific remediation costs are determined for each site using OSM's Technical Innovation and Professional Services software AMDTreat. The proposed treatment systems utilize state-of-the-art passive treatment technology, including anaerobic bioreactors and vertical flow wetlands. Treatment of the discharges from two of the AMD sources add alkaline effluent from public waste-water treatment facilities for neutralizing acidity, dilution of the AMD, and addition of nutrients into the proposed wetland treatment systems. This study will be used to develop costs and a plan for the remediation of the Sugar Creek discharges and can serve as a guide in TMDL assessments in Missouri and other coal mining areas.