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Twenty-seven watersheds in the Susquehanna River Basin are severely degraded by acid mine drainage pollution. Approximately 620 miles of significant tributaries as well as 230 miles of principal rivers are either sterile or intermittently degraded by acid slugs. As a result of the acid discharges, many uses of the streams, such as water supply and recreation, are precluded. In the past, acid mine drainage abatement programs did not look beyond the immediate problem area. No considerations were given to the blending effect of natural alkalinity in other streams. Since the abatement of acid mine drainage pollution is extremely costly, a method of minimizing these costs was needed. The systematic, cost-effectiveness approach, discussed in this paper presents such a method. This system allows the water resources planners to control the allocation of funds for maximizing the abatement of acid mine drainage.

From information readily available in the literature, the compositions of mine waters are considered and possible reactions that yield such compositions are examined. Both matter balances and thermodynamic considerations indicate that reactions taking place in the mines probably do not involve significant amounts of dissolved oxygen. The reactions do, however, involve water and coexisting geologic materials (minerals and probably coal if present), which, in the absence of side reactions with carbonates, yield an acidic and strongly reduced solution. In the absence of active mine ventilation, mine water is an anaerobic solution. Major implications of the theoretical model bear on the treatment processes feasible for reducing the effect of acid mine water on surface-water resources.

This paper reports an 11-month study of physical and chemical characteristics of a 100-acre strip mine pond being used for fish production. Several species of warm and cold water game fish have been stocked in the lake. The more important findings included pH values ranging from 5.5 to 6.8, with a net alkalinity below 20 ppm and total iron ranging from 0.16 to 11.20 ppm.

The limnology of six southeastern Sansas stripmine lakes was shldied for 1 year. Fourteen criteria of habitat quality were monitored monthly. The data collected indicate that acid and alkaline stripmine lakes do not differ greatly in water chemistry e7cept for reserve acidity, alkalinity and pH. Trans. Kans. Acad. Sci., 7B (3), 1973. Introduction A prominent feature vf the ecology of southeastern Kansas is strip-mined land. Approximately 40,000 acres have been mined in Crawford and Cherokee counties (Kans. Geol. Sur.? 1966). Water covers an estimated 89 (3200 acres) of this land. Approximately 20Q< (640 acres) is characterized by low pH values (Burner, 1953). Schoonover and Coates ( 1949 ) reported that strip-mine lakes (f the area were usually less productive than other bodies of water in Kansas. A lack of shallow areas and an unproductive bottom were considered significarlt. Burner and Leist (1953) found the chemical conditions of one lake in southeastern Kansas to be within the range of values found in productive lakes, but no Ssh population was present. The lack of shallow bottom areas and steep banks was thought to be responsible. Maupin, Wells and Leist (1954) reported that although environmental conditions in strip-mine lakes appear suitable for the maintenance of good Ssh populations, such populations are seldom found. The source of the acid in these strip-mine lakes is iron disulfide. principally in the pyritic form (Temple and Koehler, 1954) The chemical effects of the oxidaticon of pyritic sulfur to slllfuric acid have been previously discussed (Waller, 1967). The slow rate of natural succession in acid strip-tnine lakes is well known (Campbell, Lind, Geiling and Harp, 1965; Lind and Campbell, 1970). Methods and proposals for neutralyzing acid mine drainage are numerous) but not many have been found tc) be satisfactory (Baffa, 1960; Cole, 1960). Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, Vol. 76, No. 3, 1973. Published J uly 19 1974. 1 This paper is taken from the senior author's M. S, Thesis, Kansas State College, Pittsburg, Kansas. 2 Present Address: Stearns-Roger, Inc., Environmental Sciences Division, P.O. Box 5888, Denver, (:Colorado 8()217.