US EPA Region IV Surface Coal Mining Field Activities Adventures in Mountain Top Mining / Valley Fill Chris Decker

Overburden Removed Spoils placed in adjacent valley, Diagram of MTM/VF Process

Draglines remove coal, create spoil piles Regrading and continued dragline removal Final regrading, revegetation

Environmental Impacts Water Chemistry: Increased conductivity, Ca, Na, Se, K, Mg, Mn, and SO 4 – impacts fish & macroinvertebrates Hydrology – downstream greater base flow Compaction of soils – slow regrowth of trees & and woody plants Loss of streams and wetlands Fragmentation of forests Terrestrial animal communities – Increase grassland birds & snakes, decrease in amphibians cumulative environmental costs have not been fully investigated social, economic and heritage issues x

Regulations Mining operations are regulated under: Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 402 – discharges to streams EPA, States Section 404 – filling of streams/wetlands EPA & ACOE Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) Operating standards, permits, inspections DOI

What Have We Been Asked To Do Assess current conditions in order to guide permit decisions Establish baseline data for continued monitoring Investigate cumulative impacts

A Typical Study Site

Field Activities Water Quality Assessment water samples and in-situ monitoring conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, temp metals, hardness, sulfate, chloride, alkalinity, solids Bioassessment Macroinvertebrates - Kentucky MBI Fish - IBI and tissue Stream habitat Hydrologic Permanence Evaluation North Carolina method (2005) trace water flow to origins geomorphology, hydrology, biology document ephemeral, intermittent, perennial Flow status has regulatory implications x

Field Work Number of Projects28 Streams187 Ponds70 Total Water Samples331 In-Situ Water Quality Observations414 Hydrologic Permanence Assessments54 Benthic Macro Samples179 Fish Samples (Tissue)33 Fish IBI11

Selected In-Stream Data METALS (µg/L)MINMEDIANMAX Barium Cadmium Calcium Iron Lead Magnesium Manganese Mercury Nickel Potassium Selenium Hardness CLASSICALS (mg/L)MINMEDIANMAX chloride sulfate TDS TSS IN-SITUMINMEDIANMAX conductivity (µS/cm) pH turbidity (NTU) BENTHICSMINMEDIANMAX RBP habitat score Total Taxa Rich EPT Taxa Richness01534

Future Plans New Study Cumulative Impacts of Mining in Eastern Kentucky (CIMEK) Long Term Conductivity Monitoring

Cumulative Impacts Study (CIMEK) 60 Stations Sample Quarterly Water Samples Macroinvertebrates Fish Continuous Conductivity Monitoring – 25 stations – deployed HOBO loggers Possible 2 nd year extension ($$$)