This was a large area of open pit mining. Some of the pits were more than a quarter of a mile across and had vertical highwalls of 300 to 400 feet. The quality of the water in some of the pits was such that no organism could live in it. The number of pits made any kind of travel in the Gas Hills area extremely hazardous. Toxic spoil from the pits was affecting surface water quality for many miles around the abandoned pits.
Reclamation is nationwide and uses innovative technology.
Our 1999 Appalachian Region AML Award went to the Blackwater River Limestone Drum in Station, West Virginia. Much of the mining along the river occurred in the 1960s when laws required only minimal restoration and acid mine drainage then polluted the river. An innovative rotary drum system, with a backup silo for high flow periods, grinds limestone into a slurry which is discharged in doses into the river. As the flow changes, the drums adjust the slurry output. On average, the station uses 10 tons of limestone daily and 30 tons during high flow periods.