1. A LOOK AT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SCARLIFT 15 ACID MINE DRAINAGE TREATMENT SYSTEM ON
DISCHARGE INTO SHAMOKIN CREEK NEAR RANSHAW (NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY), PA
BROWN, Morgan C.1, HALAT, Kyle M.1, VENN, Cynthia1, and HALLEN, Christopher P.2
(1) Environmental, Geographical and Geological Sciences, (2) Chemistry and Biochemistry, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, 400 E. 2nd Street, Bloomsburg, PA 17815; mcb87583@huskies.bloomu.edu
Abstract
Methods
Conclusions
In situ Data
ResultsLocation
In Pennsylvania nearly 80% of all streams are impaired (PADEP, 2010),
indicating a need of stream restoration and pollution abatement throughout
the state. Shamokin Creek has been plagued with low pH and high
concentrations of iron, aluminum and manganese, largely due to abandoned
mine drainage (AMD) throughout the area. In 2009, the Shamokin Creek
Restoration Alliance (SCRA), supported by the Northumberland County
Conservation District (NCCD), installed a gravity fed vertical flow AMD
treatment system at the Scarlift 15 reclamation site near Ranshaw, PA. The
purpose of the system was to raise the pH and alkalinity of, and remove
dissolved iron and sulfate from, some portion of the mine discharge thereby
reducing the AMD impact on Shamokin Creek. Samples and in situ data were
collected from 13 sites: two in Shamokin Creek, one above the mine discharge
and one below the treatment system; one from the AMD inflow; one at the
outflow from the entire system; and the rest distributed through the 4 ponds
and 4 vertical flow pipes in the system. Water from the vertical flow pipes,
having gone through the limestone and compost components of the treatment
ponds, showed increased pH and alkalinity as well as decreased aluminum and
iron concentrations. We conclude that the system is still working properly with
regard to those parameters. Our assessment of sulfate removal is delayed,
pending repair of instrumentation. This project was undertaken as part of an
ongoing course-embedded research/service opportunity to provide the SCRA
and the NCCD a periodic evaluation of the treatment system’s effectiveness.
Scarlift 15 treatment system was installed to help remove dissolved iron and sulfate, as well
as raise both the alkalinity and the pH. On the day of sampling, essentially all of the flow
coming out of the mine was being diverted into the system, and thus only some of the
discharge was able to go through the entire treatment system, leaving a large portion of the
drainage bypassing the vertical flow. Iron removal was accomplished due to iron oxidation in
the bypass water, but no alkalinity adjustment was possible and pH, in fact, was lowered due
to that process. Likewise, since not all water went through the vertical flow component of
the system, only some of the sulfate was removed from the discharge. Unfortunately, this
cannot be verified without the sulfate data which will not be available until the ion
chromatograph is repaired. We did detect a strong smell of hydrogen sulfide at the outflow
(Sites 5 and 6), indicating at least some sulfate transformation into sulfide. For that portion
of the water going through the vertical flow components, the system was acting per design,
raising both alkalinity and pH. More effective treatment may be accomplished with more
frequent flushing of the system. We plan to periodically revisit Scarlift 15 to continue
monitoring the effectiveness of the system and relay the results to the Shamokin Creek
Restoration Alliance.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank classmates Daniel Tompkins, James Rizzuto, Matthew Mattesini, Frank Napkora and Kody Bond
for helping us with our field research. Thank you to the Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance for allowing us to study at
their site, especially Leanne Bjorkland and Jim Koharski. Also, we would like to thank the Northumberland County
Conservation District as well as Bloomsburg University for use of their facilities. Thank you to the B.U. Richard White
Fund for Undergraduate Research for funds to travel to this meeting. We would also like to thank the B.U. Department
of Environmental, Geographical, and Geological Sciences for use of their facilities, instruments and equipment.
Left to right: James Rizzuto, Kyle Halat and Morgan Brown collecting data at Site 1 in Shamokin Creek.
The team working hard at the field station.Kyle, James and Morgan stretching to collect a sample from the vertical flow pipe at Site 8.
Signage at Scarlift 15
In situ readings of pH,
DO, Conductivity and
Temperature using
Hach HD40 meter
with probes
Filtered,
non-acidified
sub-samples
(stored on ice in
the field)
Non-Filtered
samples used for
turbidity readings
4 Liter Nalgene
bottles of water
collected for sub-
sampling
Triplicate sub-
samples frozen
to be run on the
Ion
Chromatograph
at a later date
Triplicate filtered
and triplicate
non-filtered sub-
samples acidified
(pH<2 using
HNO3)
Turbidity
readings taken on
site using Hach
Turbidimeter
Triplicate sub-
samples run on
Teledyne-
Lehman Profile
Plus ICP-OES
Filtered
samples used
for alkalinity
measurement
Triplicate
analyses on
site using
Hach Method
8203
Sampling Date:
October 24, 2014
References
0 50 10025
Miles
Legend
Site Location
Northumberland County
Pennsylvania Counties
Location of Scarlift 15
Ü
We estimated the amount of iron being removed by the system by measuring discharge at
each of the final outflow sites (5 and 6) and at the inflow pipe (site 13). We timed how long it
took to fill a 10L bucket (three reps/site) to estimate discharge. Iron load was determined by
multiplying the concentration times the discharge. We determined a daily load of iron
coming out of the combined vertical flow exit pipes to be 0.9kg/day. We calculated the
relative inflow for that same volume of water at the input pipe to be 1.6 kg/day, leaving us
with a rough estimate of 0.7kg/day (roughly 44%) of removal. Since total inflow coming into
the system was calculated to be about 10 kg/day on the day of sampling, most dissolved iron
coming into the system was also exiting the system.
Iron Removal
Presented at the 50th Meeting of the NE Section of the Geological Society of America
March 23rd-25th, 2015, Bretton Woods, New Hampshire
-Hallen, C., Pfister, S., Pisanchyn, M., Plastow, M., and Venn, C., 2013, A Geochemical Analysis of the Vertical Flow Acid
Mine Drainage Treatment System at Scarlift 15 and Shamokin Creek Near Ranshaw: Presented to the Shamokin Creek
Restoration Alliance.
-Brenner-Zalewski, E.B., Brenner, F.J., Busler, S., Cooper, C.D., Nowacki, E., 2007, Chemical Analysis of Cores Obtained From
An Acid Mine Drainage Vertical Flow Pond: Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science, 81(1), p. 19-22.
PA-901
6
8
9
7
1
5
2
4
12
13
11
10
Vertical Flow Pond 4
Vertical Flow Pond 3
Vertical Flow Pond 2
Flushing Pond
Discharge Channel
Oxidation Pond
Legend
Test Sites
Shamokin Creek
Road
Ponds
Ü0 100 20050
Feet
Scarlift 15 Stops
3
Legend
Shamokin Creek
Legend
Shamokin Creek
Ü0 0.1 0.20.05
Miles
Aerial View of Ranshaw and Scarlift 15
-Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), 2015, Water Quality Standards: http://www.portal.state.pa.
us/portal/server.pt/community/water_quality_standards/10556/integrated_water_quality_report_-_2010/682562
(accessed Nov. 2014).
-US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 2014, Drinking Water Contaminants: http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/
index.cfm (accessed Nov. 2014).
Secondary Contaminant Load Standard: 50-200ppm (EPA, 2014)
Secondary Contaminant Load Standard: 50ppm (EPA, 2014)
Secondary Contaminant Load Standard: 300ppm (EPA, 2014)