Environmental Monitoring Commons^™

Effects Of Longwall Mining On Hydrogeology, Leslie County, Kentucky Part 3: Post-Mining Conditions, Shelley Minns Hutcheson, James A. Kipp, James S. Dinger, Daniel I. Carey, Lyle V.A. Sendlein, Gregory L. Secrist

Report of Investigations--KGS

The effects of longwall coal mining on hydrology in the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field have been investigated since 1991. The study area is in the Edd Fork watershed in southern Leslie County, over Shamrock Coal Company's Beech Fork Mine. Longwall panels approximately 700 ft wide are separated by three-entry gateways that are approximately 200 ft wide. The mine is operated in the Fire Clay (Hazard No. 4) coal; overburden thickness ranges from 300 to 800 ft. Mining began in panel 1 in September 1991 and concluded with panel 8 in September 1994. Long-term monitoring consisting of a network of piezometers …

The Effect Of Turfgrass Maintenance On Surface-Water Quality In A Suburban Watershed, Inner Blue Grass, Kentucky, R. Michael Williams, James S. Dinger, Andrew J. Powell, Dwayne R. Edwards

Report of Investigations--KGS

Nutrients and pesticides applied during routine maintenance or establishment of turfgrass could result in nonpoint-source pollution. Nutrient and pesticide concentrations in water exiting a turfgrass management area in the Sinking Creek watershed, a suburban watershed in the Inner Blue Grass Region of central Kentucky, were monitored. This watershed was selected because it contains multiple land uses: agricultural, residential, and recreational (golf course).

A survey was conducted to determine the extent to which lawn-care products are used in the residential sector of the watershed. For the golf-course portion, the golf-course superintendent recorded chemical application daily.

Runoff from the golf course was …

Available Resources Of The Fire Clay Coal In Part Of The Eastern Kentucky Coal Field, Stephen F. Greb, Gerald A. Weisenfluh, Robert E. Andrews, John K. Hiett, James C. Cobb, Richard E. Sergeant

Report of Investigations--KGS

Available resources for the Fire Clay coal were calculated for a 15-quadrangle area in the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field. Original coal resources were estimated to be 1.8 billion tons (BT). Coal mined or lost in mining was estimated at 449 million tons (MT), leaving 1.3 BT of remaining Fire Clay resources in the study area. Of the remaining resources, 400 MT is restricted from mining, primarily because the coal is less than 28 in. thick, normally considered too thin to mine underground using present technology. The total coal available for mining in the study area is 911 MT, or 52 …

Mass Flux Of Agricultural Nonpoint-Source Pollutants In A Conduit-Flow-Dominated Karst Aquifer, Logan County, Kentucky, James C. Currens

Report of Investigations--KGS

Changes in water quality in a karst ground-water basin used intensively for agriculture are being measured before, during, and after the implementation of best management practices (BMP’s) and other management practices, to determine the success of such programs in protecting ground water. The study was divided into three phases. The results of the first two phases are included in this report and cover research conducted between August 1990 and October 1994. During phase I of the study the overall ground-water quality of the basin and its hydrogeology were investigated. Phase II began monitoring the water quality at Pleasant Grove Spring …

Chemical And Biological Monitoring Of A Constructed Wetland On Jones Branch Treating Acid Mine Drainage, Barbara A. Ramey, George Chalfant, Jon A. Walker

KWRRI Research Reports

Acid mine drainage (AMD) from an abandoned underground coal mine in the Jones Branch watershed in McCreary County, KY, substantially reduced water quality in Jones Branch. Downstream from the mine seeps, the pH was routinely below 4.5 and concentrations of most heavy metals, especially iron, were elevated. A cattail wetland (1,022 m²) was constructed on Jones Branch in 1988-1989 to obviate the effects of the AMD. Monthly chemical monitoring was performed on the water from above, from below, from the inlet and outlet of the wetland, and from the 25 cells within the wetland. Based on chemical monitoring, …

Risk Assessment Plan For Petroleum Underground Storage Tanks In Kentucky, Part Ll: Diesel, Heating Oil, Other Middle Distillates And Waste Oil, Wesley J. Birge, A. J. Grant, J. R. Shaw, M. D. Kercher, D. P. Keogh

KWRRI Research Reports

This report consists of an appendix :Risk Assessment Plan for Petroleum Underground Storage Tanks in Kentucky and a second appendix: Environmental Half-Life and Ecological Effects of PAHs

Kentucky Ust Field Manual, Lyle V.A. Sendlein, Wesley J. Birge, G. Blomquist, James S. Dinger, Ralph R. Huffsey, Robert D. Guthrie, Sanford W. Horstman, M. D. Kercher, Paul M. Mcginley, David C. Short, T. W. Struttmann, Larry C. Taylor, Thomas Tobin, David Dunn, Burl Naugle

KWRRI Research Reports

This study was undertaken to address the removal and closure of defective petroleum underground storage tanks in Kentucky. Goals for the study included:

• To address standards for levels of contamination requiring corrective action consistent with accepted scientific and technical principles.
• To recommend a matrix or scoring system to be used for (a) ranking sites as to actual or potential harm to human health and the environment caused by release of petroleum from a petroleum storage tank, and (2) establishing standards and procedures for corrective action that shall adequately protect human health and the environment.
• To address all compounds individually and …

The Induction Of Tolerance To Heavy Metals In Natural And Laboratory Populations Of Fish, Wesley J. Birge, William H. Benson, Jeffrey A. Black

KWRRI Research Reports

Aquatic toxicity studies were performed on two natural populations of fathead minnows. One group of organisms was taken from a metal-contaminated flyash pond associated with a coal-fired power plant and the other group was collected from relatively uncontaminated hatchery ponds. Acute tests indicated that flyash pond fish were significantly more tolerant to cadmium and copper than were hatchery fish. At an exposure concentration of 6.0 mg Cd/L in moderately hard water, the median period of survival for flyash pond fish was 50.0 hr compared to 6.8 hr for hatchery fish. Both groups of organisms were about equally sensitive to zinc. …

Enteric Virus Survival In Package Plants And The Upgrading Of The Small Treatment Plants Using Ozone, Lois S. Cronholm, James R. Mccammon, Marvin Fleischman, Jerry R. Perrich, Valerie Reisser, William Harris, Ronald R. Vanstockum, Khosrow Jaberizadeh, Michael J. Wahl

KWRRI Research Reports

Post-chlorinated effluent collected with a portable viral concentrator from four treatment plants in Jefferson County, Kentucky, yielded infective viral particles from three plants from spring through late fall. The pH, ,chlorine, turbidity, and coliform levels of these effluents indicated that viral persistence was correlated with inefficient processing which produced effluent environments that inhibited disinfection by chlorine. The disinfection potential of ozone was tested on secondary effluent and finished water seeded with poliovirus and Esaheriahia coli. Low doses of ozone inactivated viruses and bacteria in treated water, but not in effluent. The inactivation of bacteria by ozone does not appear …

Statistical Models For Precipitation, Z. Govindarajulu, Peter Purdue, Frank Cioch

KWRRI Research Reports

The available data consists of daily rainfall for the past 24 years (1948-1972) for Lexington, Louisville and Paducah. However, for Ashland, the data is available for the period of 40 years (1932-1972). The problem is to find an appropriate family of distributions indexed by a suitable number of parameters that fits the maximum daily rainfall. Further, there might be seasonal variations. The following seasons were considered: (i) Dry Convective season: August 1-0ctober 30; (ii) Early Convective season: May 1-July 31; (iii) Late Convective season: November 1- April 30. After extracting the yearly maximums for each of these seasons (see Appendix …

Enzyme And Tissue Alterations In Fishes: A Measure Of Water Quality, David E. Hinton, M. W. Kendall, J. C. Koenig

KWRRI Research Reports

A variety of freshwater fishes were studied by light and electron microscopy, enzyme histochemical and biochemical methods, The objective was to determine normal structure and function in specific target organs and to compare these to altered states in aquatic pollution. The basic question, "can fish tissues and enzymes serve as indicators of water quality?," was asked. Microscopic alteration in gill was indicative of copper toxicity at an exposure of 20 parts per billion, Gross and light microscopic alterations were indicative of a single exposure of channel catfish to 15 parts per million of methyl mercuric chloride (CH₃HgCl). Microscopic …

Planning Flood Control Measures By Digital Computer, James Norris Cline, L. Douglas James

KWRRI Research Reports

The purpose of this study was to develop adequate guidelines whereby those interested in flood control planning would be able to apply a pair of digital computer programs known as the University of Kentucky Flood Control Planning Programs to ease the computational burden of evaluating specific flood control situations. Program II determines the economically optimum combination of channel improvement, land use restriction, and flood proofing for flood damage abatement. Program III also incorporates reservoir storage into the planning process. The Programs are not intended to provide a finished design but rather to select the optimum combination of flood control measures …