Located in the Back Creek watershed in Bell County, Kentucky, the Pruden – Fonde Reclamation project was a 50-acre complex of abandoned coal refuse piles, slurry ponds, mine seeps and landslides.
In the 1940s and 1950s, coal mine refuse and slurry were dumped in the watershed from deep mine operations. The barren pyrite-rich refuse towered more than 40 feet above the diverted stream channel, discharging a massive sediment and acid load into the receiving stream. In the early 1970s, both sides of the watershed were contour strip mined and augered. Landslides soon developed between the mine benches.
The unstable refuse piles and embankments attracted motorcyclists and all terrain vehicle riders to the project site. Open dumping was prevalent at several sites. These hazards, as well as increased flooding caused by refuse eroding directly into the stream, prompted the Kentucky Division of Abandoned Mine Lands to design a reclamation plan and bid a construction contract to abate the environmental and safety hazards on the site.
In June 2001, contractor Jackson & Jackson Reclamation Services Inc. of Fall Rock, Kentucky, began working on the project. The reclamation plan included grading 30 acres of refuse to a more stable slope configuration. Ten acres of slurry ponds were filled and graded to provide positive drainage. An agricultural limestone barrier was added on top of the graded refuse. Soil was excavated from a 10-acre landslide area and placed on top of the graded refuse and limestone barrier. This provided a medium for vegetation growth on the graded refuse. Diversion ditches were installed and lined with a layer of limestone sand with limestone rip-rap. In addition to providing erosion control, the limestone channels increase the alkalinity of the water, buffering the acid mine drainage seeping from the refuse.
Back Creek was stabilized along the 2,200 feet of its length that passed through the mine refuse area. Boulders and cobbles were placed in the stream with meanders, pools and riffles being formed. The cut banks of meanders were armored with boulders. The unarmored inside bends, or point bars, were revegetated with woody riparian species. Live willow and river birch stakes were inserted into the ground in the riparian zone.
All disturbed areas were limed, fertilized, seeded and mulched. Trash on the site was hauled to an approved landfill. The project was completed on March 7, 2002, with the planting of trees in the riparian zone. The total project cost was $838,573, well below the engineer’s estimate of $1,195,713. Partial funding for construction of the project in the amount of $528,976 was provided by Appalachian Clean Stream Initiative funds.
The reduction of sediment and acid loading in the watershed as a result of the Pruden – Fonde refuse reclamation project has reduced flooding and stresses on aquatic life in area streams and has turned a once barren landscape into a productive vegetated site. A portion of the amount expended on construction of this project is being used as state share match money for a federally funded EPA 319 grant project abating acid mine drainage in another watershed, further extending the positive results of this project.
