Roaring creek passive treatment installation:continuation of the north portal projectproject abstractthe mars portals sites on roaring creek, in randolph county, WV consist of a draining, open…

This federal Cooperative Agreement award of $359,970 was issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement under the Not-for-Profit, Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) Reclamation - Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program (CFDA 15.253). The award recipient, Save The Tygart Watershed Association Inc., a non-profit organization, will use the funding to continue the North Portal project focused on remediating AMD impacts in Roaring Creek, West Virginia.

The project will entail constructing open limestone channels, limestone leach beds, and wetlands settling ponds to treat the North Portal AMD, which is a major source of acidity, iron, and aluminum entering Roaring Creek. The goal is to remove approximately 80% of the iron and aluminum while increasing pH levels, in order to re-establish a healthy aquatic ecosystem in Roaring Creek and bring it within water quality standards for removal from the state's 303(d) list of impaired streams. This project builds on previous 319 funding and is a step towards addressing the broader AMD impacts from the multiple portals in the Roaring Creek headwaters.

Roaring creek passive treatment installation:continuation of the north portal projectproject abstractthe mars portals sites on roaring creek, in randolph county, WV consist of a draining, open portal (mars PORTAL1), a collapsed portal (mars portal 2), and a portal that was reclaimed by the west virginia office of abandonedmine lands and reclamation (WV AML) with a wet seal (north portal). These acid mine drainage (AMD) sources makeup the headwaters for kittle hollow and are a major source of acidity and metals associated with a legacy of coalmining practices in the area. The north portal project is the first in a series of projects aimed at removingroaring creek (WV MT-42) from the states 2014 303(d) list of impaired streams (wvdep, 2014). The proposedtreatment area for the project consists of an area adjacent to the wet-sealed north portal which is scrub andnearly barren grassland. Proposed treatment for this project will entail the construction of open limestonechannels (OLC) to direct the water, limestone leachbeds to provide treatment, and wetlands settling ponds tocollect the metals in the effluent and polish the water before IT enters kittle hollow. The objective of thisreclamation project is to assist in bringing roaring creek within allowable tmdl limits and the eventual removalof roaring creek from the 303(d) list of impaired waters. This wcap funding will provide a match for 319 fundingintended to complete previous work on the north portal effluent. The direct goal of this project is to removeroughly 80 of the FE and AL from the north portal, while increasing PH and also removing MN and the overall acidload entering kittle hollow and eventually roaring creek. The main goal of this project is to RE-establish aviable aquatic ecosystem in the kittle hollow and roaring creek this translates to a healthy macroinvertebratepopulation coupled with a strong fish population. This project, along with the eventual projects to treat theother mars portals, are the first steps in reviving this intensely degraded ecosystem.