Central Appalachia produces nearly half of the coal mined the United States. More than half of this coal is removed using surface mining methods.  The most common surface mining method is mountaintop removal mining except, rather than leaving a flat-topped mountain, the topography is returned to the pre-mining approximate original contours.

 

Mountaintop mine and valley fill operations are large scale surface coal mines that require the blasting and removal of up to 300 feet of overlying rock (i.e., mining overburden) to access intervening coal seams.  Once the coal is removed, leftover rock (i.e., mine spoil) can be placed back on the mine during reclamation to restore the premining topography. Remaining spoil that does not "fit" back on the mined-out area due to slope stability concerns is placed in adjacent valleys.  These excess spoil structures (typically referred to as "valley fills") are constructed in the headwaters of streams, filling valleys with tens and hundreds of thousands of tons of freshly exposed rock. Rainfall infiltrates the reclaimed mine surface and percolates through the mine spoil, dissolving freshly exposed rock mineral surfaces and transporting dissolved ions to groundwater stores. Fills can extend downstream for 10's to 1000's of feet, burying streams  and concentrating polluted groundwater and surface water runoff directly into the streams below, carrying high loads of total dissolved solids (TDS) toxic to native macroinvertebrates. 

 

Studies have shown that streams below valley fills throughout Central Appalachia have significantly reduced numbers and diversity of native macroinvertebrate populations, specifically pollution intolerant species such as mayflies (Ephemeroptera).  Over the last 10-15 years, University of Kentucky researchers developed a suite of mining and reclamation techniques to minimize TDS-production release to downstream waters.  in 2008, a mountaintop mine and valley fill site in eastern Kentucky was experimentally mined and reclaimed using these innovative best management practices.  

 

This study was designed to gain a better understanding of how these practices control water chemistry, specifically TDS as measured by conductivity, below mountaintop and valley fill mine sites. Specifically, my dissertation research focuses on evaluating the impact of hydrologic engineering practices on:

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   1)  the mechanisms controlling streamflow generation

   2)  the geochemical evolution of mine drainage

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A third aspect of my research is developing low cost, open source wireless sensor monitoring networks.  Most commercially available sensors, data loggers, and wireless data transmission equipment is expensive to purchase, install, and maintain.  The availability of inexpensive and simple to use wireless data loggers to livestream hydrology and water quality data will  greatly enhance the monitoring and assessment of remote environmental projects including coal and metal mines, coal ash ponds, groundwater remediation, and watershed assessment and water supply.

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My goal is to provide research to state and federal regulators and industry to protect water quality through improving mining and reclamation practices.