Acidic Mining Lakes: Acid Mine Drainage, Limnology and Reclamation

431 Pages·1998·25.184 MB·English

by  W. Geller, H. Klapper, M. Schultze (auth.), Prof. Dr. Walter Geller, Prof. Dr. Helmut Klapper, Prof. Dr. Wim Salomons (eds.)

Environmental Science
Series editors: R. Allan . U. Forstner . W. Salomons
Springer
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Walter Geller . Helmut Klapper . Wim Salomons
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Acidic Mining Lakes
Acid Mine Drainage,
Limnology and Reclamation
With 155 Figures and 55 Tables
, Springer
Prof. Dr. Walter Geller
Prof. Dr. Helmut Klapper
UFZ Centre for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle pIc
Dept. Inland Water Research
Am Biederitzer Busch 12
D-39114 Magdeburg
Germany
Prof. Dr. Wim Salomons
GKSS Research Centre
Max-Planck -Strasse
D-21502 Geesthacht
Germany
ISSN 1431-6250
ISBN-13:978-3-642-71956-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Acidic mining lakes: acid mine drainage, limnology, and reclamation / Walter Geller, Helmut Klapper, Wim
Salomons, eds. p. cm. - (Environmental science) Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13:978-3-642-71956-1 e-IsBN-13:978-3-642-71954-7
001: 10.1007/978-3-642-71954-7 1. Limnology - Congresses. 2. Acid pollution of rivers, lakes, etc. - Con-
gresses. 3. Acid mine drainage - Environmental aspects - Congresses. I. Geller, Walter. II. Klapper, Helmut.
III. Salomons, W. (Willem), 1945-Series Entry:
GB1605.A28 1998 628.1/683221
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Preface
Lignite was the most important source of primary energy in the former
German Democratic Republic (GDR), reaching a share of 90% in 1988
with an output of 310 million tons of coal. This worldwide maximum of
per-capita consumption of brown coal containing high amounts of sulfur,
and out- dated technical equipment of power plants effected two kinds of
acidification. The first is acid rain and long-distance acidification of soils
and waters in sensitive areas via atmospheric transport. The second is
more direct, affecting the near environment of the lignite open-cast
mining sites due to geogenic acidification of the aerated overburden and
groundwater from pyrite oxidation. Thus, the acid input into ground and
surface waters has severe effects, resulting in mining lakes with pH values
between 2 and 3.
Initially, the lignite mining was planned over long time scales. After shift
ing from lignite to other sources of primary energy after 1990, these plans
became obsolete. The antedate for closing down the mines and filling the
empty basins resulted in consecutive problems, which are now concentrat
ed into one decade, while at least half a century was initially scheduled.
Facing the now-apparent problems of ground and surface waters
threatened by sulfuric acid, limnologists of concerned institutions, such
as the UFZ Centre for Environmental Research, organized the collection
of scientific data and knowledge and practical experiences of how to
handle these acidification problems. One part of these activities was an
International Symposium on the ''Abatement of Geogenic Acidification in
Mining Lakes" held in September 1995 at the UFZ Department of Inland
Waters Research in Magdeburg, Germany, where 26 invited presentations
were discussed by 60 participants from the UK, Canada, the USA and
Germany. The results of the meeting are presented in this volume which,
hopefully, may be seen as an actual baseline for acid mining lakes. Since
the symposium had a function to connect ideas and, thereby, to initiate
new approaches, we are looking forward to a second symposium to bring
together the large body of new results emerging from currently running
work.
Walter Geller
April 1998, Magdeburg, Germany
Contents
Part 1
Introduction
1 Natural and Anthropogenic Sulfuric Acidification of Lakes
W. Geller, H. Klapper and M. Schultze. . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2 Regional Geology of the Lignite Mining Districts
in Eastern Germany
p. Schreck and W. Glasser . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Part 2
Limnological Case Studies on Acid Lakes
3 Chemical Characteristics of Water and Sediment
in Acid Mining Lakes of the Lusatian Lignite District
K. Friese, M. Hupfer and M. Schultze . . . . . . . . . 25
4 In-Lake Neutralization of Acid Mine Lakes
A. Peine and S. Peiffer . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
5 Acid Generation and Metal Immobilization
in the Vicinity of a Naturally Acidic Lake in Central
Yukon Territory, Canada
Y. T.J. Kwong and J.R. Lawrence. . . . . . . . . . . . 65
6 Geochemical Behaviour of Submerged Pyrite-Rich Tailings
in Canadian Lakes
T.P. Pedersen, J.J. McNee, D.H. Flather, B. Mueller
and C.A. Pelletier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
7 Phytoplankton Composition and Biomass Spectra Created
by Flow Cytometry and Zooplankton Composition
in Mining Lakes of Different States of Acidification
C. E. W. Steinberg, H. Schafer, J. Tittel, and W. Beisker. . . . . . . 127
VIII Contents
8 Ecological Potentials for Planktonic Development
and Food Web Interactions in Extremely Acidic Mining
Lakes in Lusatia
B. Nixdorf, K. Wollmann and R. Deneke ......... .. 147
9 Colonization and Development of Vegetational
in Mining Lakes of the Lusatian Lignite Area in Dependence
on Water Genesis
W. Pietsch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Part 3
Inorganic Processes of Acidification
10 Pyrite Chemistry: The Key for Abatement
of Acid Mine Drainage
V. p. (Bill) Evangelou . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... 197
11 Chemical Reactions in Aquifers Influenced by Sulfide
Oxidation and in Sulfide Oxidation Zones
F. Wisotzky. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ... . . 223
12 Oxygen as a Limiting Factor for Pyrite Weathering
in the Overburden of Open Pit Lignite Areas
A. Prein and R. Mull. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . 237
13 Effects of Superficial Tertiary Dump Substrates
and Recultivation Variants on Acid Output,
Salt Leaching and Development of Seepage Water Quality
J. Katzur and F. Liebner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Part 4
Remediation Concepts and Case Studies
14 Microbial Processes for Potential in Situ Remediation
of Acidic Lakes
K. Wendt-Potthoff and T.R. Neu . ................. 269
15 Biological Abatement of Acid Mine Drainage: The Role
of Acidophilic Protozoa and Other Indigenous Microflora
D. B. Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
16 Treatment of Mine Drainage by Anoxic Limestone Drains
and Constructed Wetlands
R. L. P. Kleinmann, R. S. Hedin and R. W. Nairn . . . . . . . . . . 303
Contents IX
17 Biological Polishing of Zinc in a Mine Waste Management Area
M. Kalin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
18 Development of a Long-Term Strategy for the Treatment
of Acid Mine Drainage at Wheal Jane
H. M. Lamb, M. Dodds-Smith and J. Gusek. . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
19 Bioremediation of Metals in Acid Tailings
by Mixed Microbial Mats
P. Phillips and J. Bender . . . . . . . . . . .... 347
20 Managing the pH of an Acid Lake by Adding Phosphate
Fertiliser
D.G. George and W. Davison ............. . ... 365
21 Model Calculations for Active Treatment of Acidic,
Iron-Containing Lake Water Assuming Mining Lakes
as Chemical Reactors
R. Fischer, T. Guderitz and H. Reiflig . . . . . . . . . . . 385
22 Ways of Controlling Acid by Ecotechnology
H. Klapper, K. Friese, B. Scharf, M. Schimmele
and M. Schultze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
Part 5
Summary of Group Discussions and Conclusions
23 Pyrite Oxidation Control
V. P. Evangelou, Rapporteur . . . . . . . . 419
24 Limnological Fundaments of Acid Mining Lakes
M. Kalin and W. Geller, Rapporteurs. . . . . . .. ....... 423
25 Approaches for the Restoration of Strongly Acidic
Mining Lakes
R. L. P. Kleinmann, Rapporteur . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Subject Index ............................. 431
List of Contributors
Beisker, W.
GSF-Forschungszentrum, AG DurchfluBzytometrie, Postfach 1129,
D-85758, OberschleiBheim, Germany
Bender, J.
Clark Atlanta Univ., Georgia 30314, Atlanta, USA
Davison, W.
Lancaster Univ., Institute Environmental & BioI. Sciences, Lancaster, UK
Deneke, R.
Brandenburgische Technische Universitat Cottbus, LS Gewasserschutz,
Seestr. 45, D-15526 Bad Saarow, Germany
Dodds-Smith, M.
Knight Piesold, 35/41 Station Road, Kent TN23 IPP, Ashford, UK
Evangelou, v.P. (Bill)
Univ. of Kentucky, Agronomy Dept., KY 40546-0091, Lexington, USA
Fischer, R.
TU Dresden, Inst. fiir Wasserchemie & WassertechnoI., Mommsenstr. 13,
D-Ol062 Dresden, Germany
Flather, D. H.
Rescan Environmental Services, Vancouver, Canada
Friese, K.
UFZ-Umweltforschungszentrum, Gewasserforschung, Am Gouvernements
berg 1, D-39104 Magdeburg, Germany
XII List of Contributors
Geller, W.
UFZ-Umweltforschungszentrum, Gewasserforschung, Am Biederitzer
Busch 12, D-39114 Magdeburg, Germany
George, D. G.
Institute for Freshwater Ecology, Windermere Laboratory, Ambleside,
Cumbria LA22 oLP, UK
w.
Glasser,
UFZ-Umweltforschungszentrum, Hydrogelogie, Hallesche Str. 44,
D-06246, Bad Lauchstadt, Germany
Guderitz, T.
IDUS GmbH, BioI. Analyt. Environm. Lab., Dresdner Str. 43,
D-01458, Ottendorf-Okrilla, Germany
Gusek, J.
Knight Piesold, Denver, USA
Hedin, R.S.
U. S. Bureau of Mines, P. O. Box 18070, PA 15236-0070, Pittsburgh, USA
Hupfer, M.
IGB-Insitut fUr Gewasserokologie & Binnenfischerei, Miiggelseedamm 310,
D-12587 Berlin, Germany
Johnson, D. B.
University of Wales, School of BioI. Sciences, LL57 2UW, Bangor, UK
Kalin, M.
Boojum Research Ltd., 468 Queen Street East, M5A 1T7, Toronto, Canada
Katzur, J.
Forschungsinstitut fUr Bergbaufolgelandschaften, Brauhausweg 2,
D-03238 Finsterwalde, Germany
Klapper, H.
UFZ-Umweltforschungszentrum, Gewasserforschung, Am Biederitzer
Busch 12, D-39114 Magdeburg, Germany
Kleinmann, R.L.P.
US Dept of Energy, P. O. Box 10940, PA 15236-0940, Pittsburgh, USA