Appalachian Coalfields Research Articles

Reconstructing disturbance history for an intensively mined region by time-series analysis of Landsat imagery.

Surface mining disturbances have attracted attention globally due to extensive influence on topography, land use, ecosystems, and human populations in mineral-rich regions. We analyzed a time series of Landsat satellite imagery to produce a 28-year disturbance history for surface coal mining in a segment of eastern USA's central Appalachian coalfield, southwestern Virginia. The method was developed and applied as a three-step sequence: vegetation index selection, persistent vegetation identification, and mined-land delineation by year of disturbance. The overall classification accuracy and kappa coefficient were 0.9350 and 0.9252, respectively. Most surface coal mines were identified correctly by location and by time of initial disturbance. More than 8 % of southwestern Virginia's >4000-km(2) coalfield area was disturbed by surface coal mining over the 28-year period. Approximately 19.5 % of the Appalachian coalfield surface within the most intensively mined county (Wise County) has been disturbed by mining. Mining disturbances expanded steadily and progressively over the study period. Information generated can be applied to gain further insight concerning mining influences on ecosystems and other essential environmental features.

The Suspicious, Untrusting Hillbilly in Political-Economic Contexts: Stereotypes and Social Trust in the Appalachian Coalfields

Over the past fourteen years, the authors of this article have collaborated on two community-based participatory action research projects in Appalachian Kentucky. One focused on assessing the social impacts of a major environmental disaster (2000-2014) and the other involves partnering with a small community seeking to transition a struggling, coal-driven economy to a more diverse and sustainable one (2013-present). In what follows, we discuss our experiences working with these Appalachian coalfield communities, which are characterized by low levels of social trust, a situation complicated by negative stereotypes and confused thinking by non-residents about Appalachian coalfield culture. First, we discuss stereotypes of Appalachian culture, among them suspicion and hostility toward "outsiders" and native tendencies toward violence. After debunking the myth that Appalachian culture creates distrust of outsiders, we identify the political economic structures, which have eroded trust in the Central Appalachian coal communities, with particular attention to institutional, structural, and intraregional variation in social trust. Finally, we identify strategies to engage effectively in communities characterized by low levels of trust in government, corporations, and neighbors.

Removing Mountains: Extracting Nature and Identity in the Appalachian Coalfields by Rebecca R. Scott (review)

Removing Mountains: Extracting Nature and Identity in the Appalachian Coalfields by Rebecca R. Scott (review)

Specific conductivity sensor performance: I. Laboratory evaluation

The focus on specific conductivity in the Central Appalachian Coal Fields of the USA has highlighted the need to obtain accurate specific conductivity measurements, particularly in light of the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) guidance that water discharged from mine sites in this region should have specific conductance levels less than 300–500 μS cm−1. Being able to accurately determine the specific conductance levels of mine discharged waters has significant implications for the USEPA as well as mine operators particularly when specific conductance levels approach this designated threshold. Presently, a number of sensors are available on the market for recording specific conductance measurements; however, a detailed study comparing sensor performance under controlled conditions (e.g. temperature and specific conductance levels) has not been performed. This paper compares the performance of four commonly used sensors YSI 6600 V2-4 data sonde, HOBO U-24-001, Solinst Model 3001 LTC Levelogger Junior, and In-situ Aqua TROLL 100. Results of this laboratory study indicated that for conditions more frequently encountered in Kentucky streams, the HOBO and Solinst sensors were most accurate.

English

Specific conductance and selenium (Se) are two water quality parameters of emerging concern in the Appalachian coalfields. Isolation of high specific conductance and Se producing spoils from environmental water flows using a low permeability barrier is one method of minimizing the leaching of these constituents from coal mine spoils. Ideally, the material used to form the barrier should be readily accessible, have low levels of specific conductance and Se, and be capable of achieving a low permeability with the proper moisture adjustment. Brown and gray weathered sandstones are often readily available at mine sites in the Appalachian coalfields. Spoil samples and water quality samples from the University of Kentucky Bent Mountain Research Complex near Pikeville, Kentucky indicated that these spoil types hold promise in meeting the criteria of being a low specific conductance producing material. However, these sandstones tend to have higher sand contents than those typically used in compacted barriers or liners in landfills. The objective of this study was to assess the potential of using brown and/or gray weathered sandstones to create a low permeability barrier. To meet the objective of the study, a total of four spoil samples (identified as M1-M4) were collected in 2012. Each spoil sample was obtained from a different mine in eastern Kentucky. Samples M1 and M2 consisted of brown sandstone; sample M3 was gray sandstone; and sample M4 was a mixture of brown and gray sandstones. Each spoil sample was screened and analyzed for soil texture. Spoil moisture content-density relationships and spoil saturated hydraulic conductivity-moisture content relationships were developed for each sample using double ring permeameters. Maximum saturated hydraulic conductivity values ranged between a low of 5.9 x 10 -8 cm s -1 to a high of 3.1 x 10 -7 cm s -1 in the laboratory for the <2mm fraction. These saturated hydraulic conductivity values were comparable to soils used to construct liners in landfills, particularly in instances where the percentage of fines in the spoils were about 50% or greater. When in the field, however, it is expected that these saturated hydraulic conductivity values will typically be 1-3 orders of magnitude higher due to rock fragments. These results demonstrate that brown sandstone, with its higher fines content, is likely a more suitable media than gray sandstone for constructing a low permeability barrier to isolate high specific conductance producing and/or Se generating spoils. Based on these laboratory results, field assessments of brown weathered sandstones for this application are recommended.

Helen Matthews Lewis: Living Social Justice in Appalachia by Helen Matthews Lewis (review)

Reviewed by: Helen Matthews Lewis: Living Social Justice in Appalachia by Helen Matthews Lewis Jessica Wilkerson Helen Matthews Lewis: Living Social Justice in Appalachia. By Helen Matthews Lewis. Edited by Patricia D. Beaver and Judith Jennings. (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2012. Pp. xii, 263.) Helen Matthews Lewis has long been heralded as a leading voice in Appalachian Studies. Born in 1924 in rural Georgia, she made her way to Appalachia in 1955 to teach sociology at Clinch Valley College (later University of Virginia's College at Wise). There she developed a lifelong interest in coal mining and the culture and history of the Appalachian coal fields. In the 1970s she helped to establish Appalachian Studies, drawing on the energy of the war on poverty, a wave of progressive movements, and more democratic educational models. Helen Matthews Lewis: Living Social Justice in Appalachia, with co-editors Patricia D. Beaver and Judith Jennings, brings together in one volume Lewis's many contributions to Appalachian Studies. This collection provides the historical backdrop to Lewis's career and activism, and it offers a glimpse into the personal influences and struggles that helped to shape her. Lewis and the editors knit together oral history interviews, excerpts from essays, speeches, reports and proposals, reflections from former students and colleagues, and poetry and recipes to create a tapestry of Lewis's extraordinary personal and academic life. Each chapter captures a phase in the life of Helen Lewis. The first chapter charts her childhood and young adulthood in the Jim Crow South. Her earliest forays into progressive activism were as a student at Georgia State College for Women. There she became involved in progressive social and political campaigns, including the YWCA, which was promoting interracial solidarity in the 1930s and 1940s. Chapter two (1955-1977) covers Lewis's move to Appalachia and her growing interest in the coal-field economy, culture, and history, as well as the intellectual development of internal colonialism. Documents in chapter three (1975-1985) trace Lewis's transition to [End Page 89] comparative research and include her studies on the similarities and differences between Welsh and Appalachian working-class communities. This chapter also includes sources from Lewis's work at the Highlander Research and Education Center, where she used her deep knowledge of the coal fields and Appalachia to develop community-based health projects. Chapter four (1983-1999) details Lewis's activist model: participatory research. Lewis developed relationships with working-class and rural women to create economic development, education, and leadership programs in which grassroots participants researched problems in their communities and conceived possible solutions. In the last chapter (1999-2010) Lewis continues to do what she does best: tell stories based on her own experiences and use her vast knowledge of the Appalachian region to speak to broader national and global issues. This book not only encapsulates the incredible life of one woman, but it documents a rich history of social movements in the twentieth century. One comes away from the book with a deeper understanding of how the Appalachian Movement was part of what historian Van Gosse has termed the "movement of movements" in the second half of the twentieth century. Through Lewis's stories and documents we realize the push and pull of a cross section of movements, from the black freedom struggle, women's rights movements, and anti-imperialism to environmental and economic justice movements. This book will be a useful resource for teachers of Appalachian history, southern history, women's history, and the history of twentieth-century social movements. The blend of oral history narrative and essays make this an accessible and enjoyable read for undergraduates and a good teaching tool. The bibliography and host of primary documents provide a treasure trove of research topics for the graduate student developing a project on Appalachia. With its range of sources and topics, this book reveals the breadth and depth of scholarship and activism in Appalachia and will no doubt become a classic in Appalachian Studies. Jessica Wilkerson University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Copyright © 2013 West Virginia University Press

Combating Mountaintop Removal: New Directions in the Fight against Big Coal By Bryan T. McNeil University of Illinois Press. 2011. 216 pages. $45 cloth, $25 paper * Removing Mountains: Extracting Nature and Identity in the Appalachian Coalfields By Rebecca R. Scott University of Minnesota Press. 2010. 296 pages. $75 cloth, $25 paper

Combating Mountaintop Removal: New Directions in the Fight against Big Coal By Bryan T. McNeil University of Illinois Press. 2011. 216 pages. $45 cloth, $25 paper * Removing Mountains: Extracting Nature and Identity in the Appalachian Coalfields By Rebecca R. Scott University of Minnesota Press. 2010. 296 pages. $75 cloth, $25 paper

“Typically American”

“Typically American”

Removing Mountains: Extracting Nature and Identity in the Appalachian Coalfields (review)

Reviewed by: Removing Mountains: Extracting Nature and Identity in the Appalachian Coalfields Sarah A. Watson Removing Mountains: Extracting Nature and Identity in the Appalachian Coalfields Rebecca R. Scott. 2010. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 271 pp. Photos, notes, bibliography, and index. $75.00 cloth; $25.00 paper. (ISBN 978-0-8166-6599-0) (ISBN 978-0-8166-6600-3) In the coalfields of Central Appalachia, concerns about the economic and environmental future of the region are inextricably connected to the historical legacy and contemporary practices of coal mining. It is within this complicated landscape that Rebecca R. Scott focuses her attention in the book Removing Mountains as she attempts to unpack the cultural politics of coal mining and shed light on how the process of mountaintop removal mining (MTR) has become acceptable, despite its destructive environmental consequences. To do this, Scott crafts a picture of southern West Virginia that relies upon observations of community organizations, analysis of representations, and interviews with coal miners, local residents, activists, and business people over the course of three visits (in 2000in 2004, and 2008). In doing so, she challenges readers to avoid viewing the intricacies of environmental issues in the region purely through a “jobs-verses-the-environment” paradigm and oversimplifying them. Instead, Scott attempts to add nuance to discussions about mountaintop removal mining, arguing that it must be understood as a practice ensconced within a larger constellation of political subjectivities and cultural practices within Appalachia and the United States. To advance this argument, Scott begins the book by examining various representations of Appalachia that marginalize the region, leading mainstream America to often understand it via its regional distinction and difference. She pulls examples from pop culture, photojournalism, and news events to illustrate the continuing sway of “hillbilly” and “redneck” imagery that distills complexities found within the region to simple stereotypes and naturalizes issues like poverty and environmental destruction. Scott argues that part of the national imaginary of the region is connected to a notion of sacrifice. This, she believes, is entangled in the representations of otherness which eventually has helped cast the region into an “environmental sacrifice zone,” as per Valerie L. Kuletz (1998). A sacrifice zone is a space where the exploitation of the environment and people is understood as necessary to promote and protect larger interests of the nation. Scott argues that we can understand the process of MTR through this lens [End Page 343] because debates surrounding MTR often appeal to ideas of national security and progress, while the negative effects of MTR, like health problems and environmental destruction, are oftentimes only endured by residents living adjacent to MTR sites. In the second chapter, Scott focuses her attention to issues of gender in Appalachia and the role of coal mining in gender construction. Scott is mainly interested in how the production and perpetuation of certain masculinities are understood through a legacy of coal mining, which in turn can create, reinforce, and stabilize the dominance of coal mining to the culture. Scott gives examples of difficulties faced by women working in the mines and interviews various men who dismiss non-coal mining jobs as not “men’s work” to illustrate the identity construction that can happen through appeals to coal mining. Scott focuses on three separate yet interwoven masculine identity constructions, “the family man,” “the tough guy,” and “the modern man,” to highlight various ways that gender norms become linked to representations of coal mining. With each of the identity constructions, Scott teases out how they help create building blocks for pro-MTR advocates to represent MTR as a natural and logical undertaking in the region. To highlight the dominance of these gender constructions, Scott also discusses how anti-MTR activists oftentimes must perform gender identities that are in response to the hegemonic masculinity fostered by coal mining. For example, she gives details from interviews with various male anti-MTR activists, who speak of developing alternative ways to understand their role as men in the community and within their families. In chapter five, Scott extends her exploration of issues concerning gender, representations, and ideas of sacrifice by turning her focus towards the development of historical narratives centered on the coal...

The Poco Field: An American Story of Place (review)

Reviewed by: The Poco Field: An American Story of Place Mark S. Myers The Poco Field: An American Story of Place. By Talmage A. Stanley. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012. pp. xx, 232.) In his work, The Poco Field: An American Story of Place, Talmage Stanley masterfully weaves issues of identity with the personal story of his grandparents, C. T. and Aldah Apperson. Stanley begins his work with the observation that the idea of “place” is the result of interaction between three concepts: the natural environment, the built environment, and human culture and history. The idea of community and sense of place that is common in Appalachian identity is the result of the interaction of these three complex ideas. By evaluating the lives of his grandparents in both Keystone, West Virginia, and Newbern, Virginia, as well as their efforts to create a middle-class life for their family, Stanley is not only able to place the story of Appalachia within the context of the American story of consumerism, but to also create a framework for change and the building of stronger communities. A primary focus of Stanley’s work is the effort of his grandparents to achieve a middle-class standard of living. To depict this effort, Stanley uses the Keystone neighborhood of Westfield. Westfield was the “white” neighborhood [End Page 95] of the town, which contained the white school and church. In this area, native whites and immigrants lived in close proximity, implying that there was true diversity in Westfield. However, Stanley notes that the middle-class and elite white community of Keystone owned these homes. In other words, Westfield defined not only the values of the middle class of Keystone, and by extension the rest of the Central Appalachian coalfields, but it also depicted the rigid segregation between the different populations in the region. Stanley believes that there is more to the story of Westfield, however. He says that “owing its existence to the emergence of the Poco field as part of the American economic engine and a way of life defined in terms of industrial profit and consumer goods, Westfield is also a way of thinking and speaking with particularity about larger systems and structures of values, forces, ideas, understandings, and choices” (55). In other words, the idea of Westfield is a manifestation of American middle-class values about place, as well as a definition of the limits of middle-class desires in the Poco field. Stanley’s grandparents realized these limits, and eventually left the coalfields for Newbern in the late 1940s. Stanley also does an excellent job of connecting the Westfield concept to the modern history of McDowell County. Despite a significant production of coal and the desire for a middle-class, consumerist standard of living, McDowell County remains mired in endemic poverty and the many problems that result from economic catastrophe. Using the examples of the efforts of the Big Creek People in Action to improve their community in Caretta, the failure of the First National Bank of Keystone, the devastating floods of 2001 and 2002, and the failure of the McDowell County school system, Stanley discusses the true detachment between the values of Westfield and what he calls a citizenship of place. As Stanley notes, “a citizenship of place that moves against and across the old Westfield boundaries understands place as a dynamic, ongoing social reality expressed in all aspects of daily life. This citizenship knows that we need each other on a deep and significant level” (187). Using extensive primary sources, as well as an excellent amount of the relevant literature, Stanley has produced an important contribution to the field of Appalachian studies. His work requires scholars and students of the region to think of the modern history of Appalachia in a sophisticated and interdisciplinary way. How this notion of place will impact our history or our view of the region is an important question for scholars to consider as the region moves into the post-coal era. [End Page 96] Mark S. Myers The Indiana Academy–Ball State University Copyright © 2012 West Virginia University Press

Mountains of injustice: social and environmental justice in Appalachia

* Foreword Donald Edward Davis * Introduction: Environmental Justice and Appalachia Michele Morrone and Geoffrey L. Buckley * Part One. Perspectives * 1: The Theoretical Roots and Sociology of Environmental Justice in Appalachia Stephen J. Scanlan * 2: A Legacy of Extraction: Ethics in the Energy Landscape of Appalachia Brian Black * 3: Pollution or Poverty: The Dilemma of Industry in Appalachia Nancy Irwin Maxwell * Part Two. Citizen Action * 4: We Mean to Stop Them, One Way or Another: Coal, Power, and the Fight against Strip Mining in Appalachia Chad Montrie * 5: Commons Environmentalism Mobilized: The Western North Carolina Alliance and the Cut the Clearcutting! Campaign Kathryn Newfont * 6: Injustice in the Handling of Nuclear Weapons Waste: The Case of David Witherspoon, Inc. John Nolt * Part Three. In their Own Words * 7: Housewives from Hell: Perspectives on Environmental Justice and Facility Siting Michele Morrone and Wren Kruse * 8: Stories about Mountaintop Removal in the Appalachian Coalfields Geoffrey L. Buckley and Laura Allen * Afterword: An American Sacrifice Zone Jedediah S. Purdy * Contributors * Index

Book Review: Removing Mountains: Extracting Nature and Identity in the Appalachian Coalfields. By Rebecca R. Scott

Book Review: Removing Mountains: Extracting Nature and Identity in the Appalachian Coalfields. By Rebecca R. Scott

Risky Business: Coal Waste Emergency Planning in West Virginia and Kentucky

Abstract This study investigates emergency action planning to cope with potential coal waste spills in the central Appalachian coalfields. It is based on a survey study of emergency preparedness in West Virginia’s Mingo and Wyoming Counties as well as a participant-observation and interview study in Martin County, Kentucky. This research suggests that merely having an emergency plan is insufficient for creating a public perception of disaster preparedness. Greater public and stakeholder participation in emergency planning should be encouraged in an effort to enhance emergency preparedness and build community trust. This is particularly challenging in resource-dependent communities which generally have comparatively high levels of environmental risk and often suffer from political-economic inequities that serve as barriers to institutional trust and community engagement.

Forest restoration on steep slopes after coal surface mining in Appalachian USA: Soil grading and seeding effects

Native trees can be re-established on coal surface mine sites in eastern USA if appropriate reclamation techniques are used. Soil grading and herbaceous vegetation seeding are essential reclamation practices that may influence plant community reestablishment and hydrologic processes that are essential to forested landscapes. We evaluated effects of grading and seeding practices on tree survival and growth, recruitment of plant species, and water infiltration on three steep-slope mine sites in the USA’s central Appalachian coalfield. Half of each site was graded to a smooth condition while the other half was graded less intensively leaving a rough, loose soil surface. Three seeding practices were applied on each grading treatment: a conventional seed mix of grasses and legumes; grasses and legumes selected to be less competitive with planted trees (“tree compatible”); and annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) alone. Native trees of 13 species were hand-planted on all areas. Over one growing season with adequate rainfall, the survival and average height growth for trees were similar on smooth (69%, 121mm) and loose (70%, 119mm) grading treatments, as well as on the conventional (65%, 116mm), tree-compatible (69%, 129mm), and annual ryegrass (75%, 126mm) seeding treatments. After two years, herbaceous ground cover did not differ among grading treatments but was greater on conventional seeding (83%) than on annual ryegrass seeded areas (55%), while non-planted herbaceous richness (11) and herbaceous native species richness (4.5) were greatest on the annual ryegrass treatment. Water infiltration was slowest on areas with the annual ryegrass seeding treatment and positively correlated with living herbaceous ground cover. Annual ryegrass seeding appears promising as a potential reclamation practice when restoring native forest vegetation where site properties are favorable to native species invasion and where water runoff and potential soil erosion are not short-term concerns.

Removing Mountains: Extracting Nature and Identity in the Appalachian Coalfields. By Rebecca R. Scott. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. Pp. xi+271. $75.00 (cloth); $25.00 (paper).

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewRemoving Mountains: Extracting Nature and Identity in the Appalachian Coalfields. By Rebecca R. Scott. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. Pp. xi+271. $75.00 (cloth); $25.00 (paper).Shannon Elizabeth BellShannon Elizabeth BellUniversity of Kentucky Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Sociology Volume 116, Number 6May 2011 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/660049 Views: 96Total views on this site © 2011 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. For permission to reuse, please contact [email protected]PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Removing mountains: extracting nature and identity in the Appalachian coalfields

Removing mountains: extracting nature and identity in the Appalachian coalfields

Coal, Identity, and the Gendering of Environmental Justice Activism in Central Appalachia

Women generally initiate, lead, and constitute the rank and file of environmental justice activism. However, there is little research on why there are comparatively so few men involved in these movements. Using the environmental justice movement in the Central Appalachian coalfields as a case study, we examine the ways that environmental justice activism is gendered, with a focus on how women’s and men’s identities both shape and constrain their involvement in gendered ways. The analysis relies on 20 interviews with women and men grassroots activists working for environmental justice in the coalfields of Appalachia. We find that women draw on their identities as “mothers” and “Appalachians” to justify their activism, while the hegemonic masculinity of the region, which is tied to the coal industry, has the opposite effect on men, deterring their movement involvement. We explore the implications of these findings for understanding the relationship of gender to environmental justice activism.

English

Mined land reclamation and reforestation issues traditionally have been viewed in scientific and regulatory terms over the last thirty years. However, in this paper we explore levels of political trust among stakeholders -- the coal industry, regulators, scientists and environmentalists -- in the coal mining states of West Virginia and Wyoming who are responsible for designing and implementing the scientific and regulatory terms of reclamation pursuant to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). Survey data collected from 400 stakeholders and in-depth interviews document stakeholder attitudes about trust in the reclamation process (i.e., planning process through implementation) and in other stakeholders. Preliminary findings indicate that many SMCRA stakeholders (including scientists) hold pessimistic views about the fairness, legitimacy and inclusiveness of the reclamation process. We also find that a sizeable number of stakeholders have a substantial lack of trust in other stakeholders, results which lend support to historical and anecdotal accounts of dissension among SMCRA stakeholders. Our study suggests that even if the best reclamation/reforestation science is implemented correctly, key stakeholders responsible for designing and implementing it may not view on the ground results of reclamation as a success because they lack trust in the reclamation process and in each other. In other words, the significance of political trust should not be undervalued. Recent reclamation efforts by members of the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) illustrate this point. Despite an aggressive scientific and technical outreach by ARRI's leaders, they report that serious cultural barriers remain pervasive in the Appalachian coalfields. Political trust issues are likely limiting the benefits that ARRI's scientific advances can achieve.

English

Proponents of geomorphic mine land reclamation have criticized current reclamation practices in the coal fields of steep-sloped Central Appalachia as too narrowly focused on civil engineering principles and neglectful of the functional and aesthetic benefits of reclaiming mine sites in ways that mimic landforms and drainage patterns. They observe that current mining and reclamation practices are radically transforming the mountain-and-valley terrain into gigantic flat plateaus and, in doing so, disrupting the beauty and ecology of the landscape. Instead of designing and constructing linear or planar surfaces and unvarying slope gradients during the reclamation process, they recommend landforming, i.e. the adoption of curvilinear, compound slope forms that blend well with the surrounding physiography and represent the result of naturally stabilizing geomomorphic processes. The authors feel that the concept of geomorphic mine land reclamation is sound, however, its application to the Central Appalachian coal fields faces significant--albeit not insurmountable--challenges. They include: (1) existing reclamation-enforcement regulations that are focused on civil engineering principles and not explicitly supportive of geomorphic methodologies; (2) regulatory agencies' current intent to limit the down-gradient reach of excess spoil fills in order to allay disruption or burial of streams; (3) actual or perceived increases in reclamation costs; and (4) the challenge of designing and constructing natural landforms that are mature and stable in an otherwise youthful, erosional landscape.

English

Elevated levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) have been identified as stressors to aquatic life in Central Appalachian coalfield streams. At present there are no aquatic life water quality criteria for TDS in the primary coal-producing Central Appalachian states (KY, VA, WV). In all three states, mining-related impacts on aquatic life have been characterized using measures of benthic macroinvertebrate community structure. Impacts of mining on aquatic life have been documented in the literature, but our understanding of impacts from TDS is confounded because elevated TDS rarely occurs independent of other stressors in coalfield streams. Potential TDS covariates in coalfield streams include acidic pH, toxic metals, sedimentation, in-stream and riparian habitat degradation, trophic structure alteration, and hydrologic modification. As a means of isolating TDS effects, we identified 17 headwater streams in Virginia's coalfield region that represent a gradient of TDS concentrations, where influence from non-TDS stressors was minimized (i.e., pH between 6.0 and 9.0, low metal concentrations, reference-quality habitat, primarily forested land-use). Benthic macroinvertebrate communities were sampled from these streams in Spring 2009. Organisms were enumerated and identified to the family/lowest practicable level. These data were then used to calculate common benthic macroinvertebrate community metrics. In addition, TDS and component ions were measured for water collected concurrently with biological samples. Data were analyzed for significant associations between TDS and biological metrics. We identified stream sites with elevated TDS where influence from non-TDS stressors was minimal. Dominant components of TDS were sulfate (46% by weight, mean), bicarbonate (26%), and calcium (13%). Several benthic macroinvertebrate richness measures were correlated negatively with increasing TDS (p 0.05) within the range of TDS that we measured (28-792 mg/L). Our results suggest sulfate is a good candidate for single-parameter prediction of biological condition.