Midwestern Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Project
Mid-Continent Regional Award and Peoples Choice Award
Prior to reclamation site conditions included exposed coal refuse, unreclaimed mine spoil, exposed high walls, old slurry ponds, ponded acid water adjacent to high walls, acid water seepage from old underground mines, and acid drainage into Midwestern Creek a tributary of the Patoka River.
Before restoration
This overview of the wetland treatment area shows the anaerobic treatment cell in the foreground with aerobic cells in the center. The results of study of the site by Indiana Geological Survey showed that this reclamation approach has favorably altered both the hydrological and hydrochemical conditions on site in such away that rain water has a shorter residence time and is less exposed to acid-generating conditions. Water monitoring onsite at the site’s outlet indicate that the mine water leaving the site has improved.
After restoration
