Perennial borehole discharges have flowed unabated from abandoned lead-zinc mines in the Tri-State Mining District for 30 years and considerably degraded the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of a first-order tributary to Tar Creek in Ottawa County in northeastern Oklahoma. Water quality has been monitored at the discharges and the receiving tributary monthly since fall 2004. Construction of a large multi-cell passive treatment system was completed in late 2008. Prior to construction of the treatment system, metals loads immediately downstream from the confluence of the discharges and tributary were 163 kg Fe/d, 20 kg Zn/d, 52 g Cd/d, and 106 g Pb/d. In the first year of operation, the passive treatment system has been successful at removing Cd, Pb, and As to below detection limits and Fe and Zn to <1 mg/L. These changes have resulted in substantial decreases in in-stream loading to 23 kg Fe/d, 6 kg Zn/d, 12 g Cd/d, and Pb to below detection limits. Mining influences, upstream of this confluence, continue to degrade water quality. However, the passive treatment system has resulted in significant decreases in metal mass loadings.
Artesian discharges of net-alkaline, ferruginous waters from abandoned underground lead-zinc mines cause considerable surface water degradation at the Tar Creek Superfund Site, part of the historic Tri-State Mining District of Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. At the study site, perennial borehole discharges have flowed unabated for almost 30 years and considerably degraded the physical, chemical, and biological integrity of a first-order tributary to Tar Creek. Based on a comprehensive water quality and quantity characterization study, a large multicell passive treatment system was designed to receive approximately 1000 L/minute of mine water flowing from these abandoned boreholes (pH 5.95±0.06, total alkalinity 393±18 mg/L CaCO 3 , total acidity 364±19 mg/L CaCO 3 , Fe 192±10 mg/L, Zn 11±0.7 mg/L, Cd 17±4 ug/L, Pb 60±13 ug/L and As 64±6 ug/L). The passive treatment system (~ 2 ha total surface area) includes an initial oxidation pond followed by parallel treatment trains consisting of aerobic wetlands, vertical flow bioreactors, re-aeration ponds, and horizontal-flow limestone beds. Waters from the parallel trains are recombined in a polishing wetland prior to final discharge. In the first year of operation, mean final effluent waters had pH >7, were net alkaline and contained < 1 mg/L total Fe and < 0.1 mg/L total Zn, and had concentrations of Cd, Pb and As below detectable limits. The treatment system is successfully removing nearly 107 kg Fe/d, 5 kg Zn/d, 42 g Pb/d, 11 g Cd/d and 38 g As/d and is addressing approximately 20% of the contaminant mass loading from artesian mine pool discharges in the Tar Creek watershed.
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