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Hollow fills are composed of excess spoil and debris produced from surface coal mining that is not returned to the original mined site. Hollow fills are often constructed in the head of hollows nearby or adjacent to the mined land area, which may be the origins of headwater streams or drain into low order systems. Eleven hollow fills were utilized in evaluating the influence fill drainages had on low order streams in Virginia and West Virginia. The study was conducted in six watersheds including; Five Mile Creek in Mingo County, West Virginia, Trace Fork in Mingo County, West Virginia, Lavender Fork in Boone County, West Virginia, Middle Creek in Tazewell County, Virginia, South Fork of the Pound River in Wise County, Virginia, and Powell River in Wise County, Virginia. Bioassessment procedures used in the evaluation of hollow fill drainages included water/sediment chemistry, acute water column toxicity testing using <i>Ceriodaphnia dubia</i>, chronic sediment toxicity testing using <i>Daphnia magna</i>, benthic macroinvertebrate surveys, and <i>in situ</i> Asian clam (<i>Corbicula fluminea</i>) toxicity testing. Common significant differences in water quality between reference and fill influenced sites, among all watersheds, were elevated conductivity and water column metal concentrations, particularly aluminum and copper. Water column and sediment toxicity testing reported limited significant mortality or reproductive impairment associated with hollow fill drainages. The West Virginia watersheds used in the study consisted of headwater streams originating directly from the settling ponds, placed at the base of the hollow fills, receiving drainages from the fills. Benthic macroinvertebrate analysis reported no significant alteration in total taxa or EPT richness downstream of the ponds. Yet, collector filterer populations, including benthic macroinvertebrates and <i>in situ</i> Asian clams, were enhanced directly downstream of the ponds due to organic enrichment originating from the ponds. A decrease in collector filterer populations and lowered clam growth suggested the organic enrichment dissipated downstream from the ponds. Chlorophyll <i>a</i> analysis of the phytoplankton community was not significantly related to the enhance collector filterer populations in the streams, however the high concentrations in the settling ponds suggest abundant algal communities. The hollow fills evaluated in Virginia drained into receiving systems, whose headwater origins were not directly related to hollow fill drainages. Low taxa richness was associated with the hollow fill and settling pond drainages, however receiving system sites were minimally influenced. Yet, as reported in the West Virginia watersheds, the settling ponds input organic enrichment that enhanced collector filterer populations, including benthic macroinvertebrates and <i>in situ</i> test clams. An analysis of the hollow fills' age, or maturity, reported no significant difference between young and old fills. In general, a common feature of among the various aged fill drainages was elevated conductivity, compared to reference sites of the watersheds. / Master of Science

This paper examines an overview of the economic and environmental aspects of Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) as a viable option to the above ground Surface Coal Gasification (SCG). In addition, some highlights, hurdles and opportunities from early investment to successful commercial application of some worldwide UCG projects will be discussed. Global energy demands have prompted continual crude oil consumption at an astronomical pace. As such, the most advanced economies are looking for local and bountiful resources to challenge crude oil's dependence for which coal provides the best alternative so far. In the U.S, the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Energy Transportation Laboratory (NETL) along with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) continue to support pilot programs that develop improved methods for clean coal technologies to produce coal derived fuels competitive with crude oil fuels at about $30 per barrel. Lignite, the softest of the four types of coal, is the best candidate for underground coal gasification due to its abundance, high volatility and water to carbon content in its rock formation. The biggest challenge of modern humans is to find a balance of energy consumption, availability of resources, production costs and environmental conservation. Additionally, UCG has environmental benefits that include mitigating CO₂ emissions through Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and reduced overall surface pollutants, making it the preferred choice over SCG. / text

Increased loading of dissolved ions (salinization) and trace elements from surface coal mining is a common alteration to headwater streams in the central Appalachian region. However, temporal and spatial trends of water quality and associated influences on biota in these stream systems have not been well-studied. To address this research need, I analyzed temporal trends in specific conductance, ion matrix, and benthic macroinvertebrate communities in 24 headwater streams, including 19 influenced by surface mining, from 2011-2019. There was limited evidence of recovery of water chemistry or macroinvertebrate communities in these streams, indicating lasting impacts from surface coal mining. Among benthic macroinvertebrates, Ephemeroptera and the scraper functional feeding group were most-impacted by chronic salinization in study streams. In addition, I analyzed spatial patterns of water chemistry in a subset of these streams using synoptic sampling of multiple constituents under baseflow and highflow conditions. Study results indicate that water chemistry is spatially dynamic and can be influenced by both groundwater dilution and inputs from tributaries. Lastly, I investigated patterns in selenium bioaccumulation across and within streams, from particulate matter to top trophic levels (i.e. fish and salamanders). I found that benthic macroinvertebrates had the highest concentrations of selenium in these ecosystems, with lower concentrations in salamander and fish species. However, there was limited evidence of longitudinal trends in bioaccumulation dynamics downstream of mining impacts. Collectively, this work indicates long-term (ca. decades) coal-mining influences but also highlights future research needs to better understand downstream impacts to water quality and biotic communities. / Master of Science / Surface coal mining affects water quality in central Appalachian headwater streams. However, long-term and downstream patterns of impacted water quality and potential effects on aquatic life have not been well-studied. To address this research need, I analyzed trends in water quality parameters and aquatic insect communities in 24 headwater streams from 2011-2019. There was limited evidence of recovery of water chemistry or aquatic life in these streams, indicating lasting impacts from surface coal mining. Certain aquatic insects including Ephemeroptera (mayflies) appear to be more impacted than others by long-term altered water quality. In addition to trends over time, I also analyzed downstream variation in water chemistry in a subset of these streams under baseflow conditions and after a rain event. Results indicate that water chemistry can vary greatly within a stream network and is influenced by tributary inputs and dilution from groundwater. Concentrations of the trace element selenium can also be elevated as a result of surface mining. This is of environmental concern because selenium can biomagnify, where concentrations increase in organisms higher in the food chain and can cause toxic effects. Here, I investigated selenium bioaccumulation patterns across organisms in the food chain and with distance downstream across six headwater streams. I found that aquatic insects had the highest concentrations of selenium, with lower concentrations in salamanders and fish. This work indicates that surface coal mining has longterm (ca. decades) effects on headwater streams, but also points to future research to better understand downstream impacts to water quality and aquatic life.

Surface coal mining has caused significant land-use change in central Appalachia in the past few decades. This landscape altering process has been shown to degrade water quality and impact aquatic communities in the mining-influenced headwater streams of this biodiverse ecoregion. Among pollutants of concern is total dissolved solids (TDS) which is usually measured via its surrogate parameter, specific conductance (SC). The SC of valley fill effluent is a function of fill construction methods, materials, and age; yet hydrologic studies that relate these variables to water quality are sparse due to the difficulty of implementing traditional hydrologic measurements in fill material. We tested the effectiveness of electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) to monitor subsurface hydrologic flow paths in valley fills. ERI is a non-invasive geophysical inverse technique that maps spatiotemporal changes in resistivity of the subsurface. When a resistance or conductive change is induced in the system, ERI can reveal both geologic structure and hydrologic flows. We paired ERI with artificial rainfall experiments to track highly conductive infiltrated water as it moved through the valley fill. The subsurface structure of two other landforms were also imaged to confirm variations between forms. Results indicate that ERI can be used to identify the subsurface geologic structure as well as track the advancing wetting front and preferential flow paths. We observed that the upper portion of a fill develops a profile that more closely resembles soil with smaller particle sizes, while the deeper profile has higher heterogeneity, with large rocks and void spaces. The sprinkling experiments revealed that water tends to pond on the surface of compacted areas until it reaches preferential flowpaths, where it infiltrates quickly and migrates deeply or laterally. We observed water moving from the surface down to a 20 meters depth in one hour and 15 minutes, and to a depth of 10 meters in just 45 minutes. We also observed lateral preferential flow downslope within 5 meters of the surface, likely due to transmissive zones between compacted layers along the angle-of-repose. Finally, when compared to other landscapes we were able to see that a filled highwall slope has larger rocks near the surface than the valley fill, but a similar degree of heterogeneity throughout; while the natural slope has less heterogeneity at depth as is expected in consolidated bedrock. ERI applications can improve understanding of how various fill construction techniques influence subsurface water movement, and in turn aid in the development of valley fill construction methods that will reduce environmental impacts. / Master of Science

Surface coal mining has altered Appalachian landscapes, affecting water quality and aquatic ecology. Valley fills created from excess overburden are prominent features of many mined landscapes. Increased total dissolved solids (TDS), as measured by its surrogate specific conductance (SC), is a significant water quality concern related to the exposure of fresh mineral surfaces to weathering in valley fills. Specific conductance levels in waters draining Appalachian mined areas are highly variable, yet the causes for this variability are not well known. Here we sought to improve understanding of such variability by investigating the interior subsurface structure and hydrologic flowpaths within a series of valley fills and relating that to valley fill characteristics such as age and construction method. We used electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) to investigate the subsurface structure of four valley fills in two dimensions. We combined ERI with artificial rainfall to investigate the location and transit time of hydrologic preferential infiltration flowpaths through the fills. Finally, we used our ERI results in conjunction with SC data from effluent streams to improve understanding of SC relationship to fill flowpaths and characteristics. ERI results indicated considerable variability in substrate type and widespread presence of preferential infiltration flowpaths among the valley fills studied. We estimated an average preferential flowpath length of 6.6 meters, average transit time of 1.4 hours, and average velocity of 5.1 m/h or 0.14 cm/s through preferential infiltration flowpaths. ERI successfully distinguished fills constructed using methods of conventional loose-dump and experimental controlled-material compacted-lift construction. Conventional fills had greater ranges of subsurface resistivity, indicating a wider range of substrate types and/or more variable moisture content. Conventional fills also showed more accumulation of water within the fill during artificial rainfall, possibly indicating more quick/deep preferential infiltration flowpaths than in the experimental fill. Relationships between other fill characteristics as well as stream effluent SC were not related in a statistically significant way to fill structure or flowpaths. ERI appears to be a robust non-invasive technique that provides reliable information on valley fill structure and hydrology, and experimental compacted-lift valley fill construction produces significantly altered hydrologic response, which in turn affects downstream SC. / MS

Headwaters are crucial linkages between upland ecosystems and navigable waterways, serving as important sources of water, sediment, energy, nutrients and invertebrate prey for downstream ecosystems. Surface coal mining in central Appalachia impacts headwaters by burying streams and introducing pollutants to remaining streams including excessive sediments, trace elements, and salinity. Benthic macroinvertebrates are widely used as indicators of biological conditions of streams and are frequently sampled using semi-quantitative methods that preclude calculations of areal densities. Studies of central Appalachian mining impacts in non-acidic streams often focus on biotic effects of salinity, but other types of pollution and habitat alteration can potentially affect benthic macroinvertebrate community (BMC) structure and perhaps related functions of headwater streams. Objectives were: 1) use quantitative sampling and enumeration to determine how density, richness, and composition of BMCs in non-acidic central Appalachian headwaters respond to elevated salinity caused by coal surface mining, and 2) determine if BMC structural differences among study streams may be attributed to habitat and water-quality effects in addition to elevated salinity. I analyzed BMC structure, specific conductance (SC, surrogate measure of salinity), and habitat-feature data collected from 15 streams, each visited multiple times during 2013-2014. BMC structure changed across seasonal samples. Total benthic macroinvertebrate densities did not appear to be impacted by SC during any months, but reduced densities of SC-sensitive taxa were offset by increased densities of SC-tolerant taxa in high-SC streams. Total richness also declined with increasing SC, whereas BMCs in high-SC streams were simplified and dominated by a few SC-tolerant taxa. Taxonomic replacement was detected in high-SC streams for groups of benthic macroinvertebrates that did not exhibit density or richness response, showing that taxonomic replacement could be a valuable tool for detecting BMC changes that are not evident from analyses using conventional metrics. Specific conductance, water-column selenium concentration, large-cobble-to-fines ratio of stream substrate, and relative bed stability were associated with changes in BMC structure. These results suggest multiple stressors are influencing BMCs in mining-influenced Appalachian streams. These findings can inform future management of headwater streams influenced by mining in central Appalachia. / Ph. D.

Mountaintop removal is an aggressive form of strip mining practiced almost exclusively in Central Appalachia, and since 1977 has been regulated by state and federal laws. Beginning in the late 1990s, considerable controversy erupted in coal mining states like West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee over the adverse social and environmental impacts of the practice. The analysis of mountaintop removal presented here is restricted to its effects in West Virginia during roughly the last decade. Relying on theories of democratic practice developed by pragmatic philosophers like John Dewey and G.H. Mead, this work studies the standard practices of state and federal regulatory agencies and elected officials in an effort to determine what, if any, social goods they work to defend. Pragmatic theories of democracy suggest that a government can be considered representative only when it acts on behalf of the public good. Chapter 1 of this thesis introduces the reader to the practice of mountaintop removal mining in West Virginia. Chapter 2 lays the theoretical groundwork for determining an individual's or institution's values through an analysis of its habitual actions. In chapter 3, I examine the consequences of mountaintop removal for the state of West Virginia, its citizens, and the coal interests that operate within its borders. Chapter 4 is dedicated to an analysis of regulatory responses to the conflicting interests of the various groups affected by the practice. Finally, in Chapter 5, some conclusions are drawn about the extent to which the regulation of mountaintop removal in West Virginia can be considered democratic. / Master of Arts

Benthic macroinvertebrates are heavily relied on to indicate stream condition because of their ease of sampling, broad span of sensitivities to pollution among taxa, and diverse life histories that utilize various habitats and environmental conditions. Surface-coal mining in central Appalachia often results in salinization of headwater streams, with documented responses in macroinvertebrate communities across streams that vary in specific conductance (SC), an index of degree of salinization. Mining-influenced headwater streams can also exhibit within-stream spatial variation in SC, frequently via dilution with downstream distance from mining. However, the extent to which coal-mining alters downstream patterns in water chemistry and macroinvertebrate communities is largely unknown. This study aimed to determine macroinvertebrate community responses to physical and chemical gradients within six Appalachian headwater streams (four mining-impacted, two reference). Streams were sampled for benthic macroinvertebrates, habitat characteristics, and water chemistry in fall 2021 and spring 2022 at six-to-nine locations per stream over a range of 1.5 – 3 km. Mining-impacted streams exhibited greater spatial variation in macroinvertebrate community composition compared to reference streams, particularly in spring. Bray-Curtis Community similarity determined highly-impacted streams experienced the greatest within-stream shifts in community similarity. Metrics of macroinvertebrate communities and community similarity showed some correlation with SC at within-stream scales, particularly in highly impacted streams in spring; however, such trends were much fewer and weaker compared to relationships among streams when collectively examining communities. Redundancy Analysis (RDA) and Variation Partitioning (VP) indicated water quality, habitat, and location do overlap in explanation of community variation although they often additionally explain variance in unique ways. Significant variables identified by RDA within at least two of the six streams include channel slope, streamwater nutrients and hardness, stream channel embeddedness, and percent fines comprising the streambed. Redundancy Analysis also indicated 18 key macroinvertebrate taxa in study streams responding to location within stream, habitat, and water quality. Of those 18 taxa shredders, collectors, and clingers were most frequently impacted. Improved understanding of the spatial scale of coal-mining influences on headwater stream characteristics will help inform bioassessment protocols to most accurately assess stream condition, and inform remediation efforts within the central Appalachian region and in other salinized stream systems. / Master of Science / Small streams (or headwater streams) originating in the central Appalachian Mountains harbor a variety of unique organisms and are essential to the quantity and quality of downstream freshwater for fishing, recreation, and other uses. Coal mining processes, including disturbance of coal-bearing bedrock, often increases the streams salinity by adding pollutants that elevate dissolved minerals, or salts. Salinization of streams can come from a variety of sources in addition to coal mining such as de-icing road salts and crop irrigation and is of growing concern regarding its impacts to the quality of freshwater available for wildlife and human use. A common way to determine stream health is by identifying which aquatic insects (or macroinvertebrates) are present in a stream, because different groups are present based on the type and intensity of a variety of pollutants. Previous studies determined stream health by identifying insects from one location in a stream and comparing it to others. Stream's habitat and water quality naturally change as they join with larger rivers and flow to lower elevations causing different macroinvertebrates to be present at locations within streams. This study aimed to determine how changes along stream distances may be different in streams salinized from coal mining. The objectives of this study were to determine if one sample is adequate to represent the entire condition of a headwater stream. Six streams were sampled for macroinvertebrate, water quality, and habitat at six-to-nine locations within each stream over distances of ca. 2,000 m. Four streams were impacted by mining, of which two were highly impacted and two were impacted to a low-level; the last two streams were unimpacted to represent reference condition. The study found the type and number of macroinvertebrates within streams were changing least within reference streams and most in highly impacted streams. Macroinvertebrate communities in highly-impacted streams changed more within streams because they had high concentrations of dissolved salts upstream near the source of coal-mining pollution and these salts diluted with distance downstream, most likely due to fresh spring water contributions with minimal dissolved salts. Therefore, highly-impacted headwater streams experience greater environmental and macroinvertebrate variability indicating more than one sample location may be helpful in accurately assessing what macroinvertebrates inhabit the stream length of interest. Ensuring accurate sampling technique to determine stream condition is essential to our understanding of stream health and how to remediate and monitor impacts of salinization on our freshwater resources.

The surface mine Hambach is located in the west of Germany, close to Cologne and was founded in 1978 from the electric company RWE to dig up brown coal and produce electricity. The mine measures a surface of 8.500ha and a depth of 470 m and was planned to be operated until 2045. After mining RWE plans to recultivate the area with forest, agriculture and a remaining lake of 3900ha. The mine is a site that is out of proportion. This proposal is a composition of interventions in different time and scale aiming to tell the story of soil, water, vegetation, animals and humans. The excavator is a scale figure to these dimensions and becomes the protagonist of the story. On it‘s way down to its final position at the bottom of the pit, it is sculpting the soil one last time. After that last operation nature will take over. Water will find its path and reshape the pattern of the excavator. With water, vegetation comes back and then gives space for animals to live and humans to watch the transition from a colourful desert to a flourishing oasis. This stream of interventions is connecting the pit‘s terraces to a spiral sculpture that over time will fill with water.