The West Virginia Mine Drainage Task Force was formed in 1978 and assigned to investigate the acid mine drainage (AMD) problem associated with surface mining in central West Virginia. Since then, the Task Force has broadened its scope to include areas outside of West Virginia with many diverse mine drainage issues.

Task Force members represent the mining industry, regulators, private consultants, and scientists. The objectives of the Task Force are to keep current on new developments in mine drainage research, treatment and control practices, and to present this information at annual symposia. Task Force Symposia have been held every year since 1980.

COVID-19 Precautions

While we are very excited to be back in person for the 2022 WV Mine Drainage Task Force Symposium, we will be watching the ongoing public health situation in the months and weeks leading up to the event. We will be following all local, state, and federal guidelines at the time of the event, in addition to providing some additional resources and recommendations at registration.

Unfortunately this year, the symposium will not be provided via live stream.

Hotel Information

Official Conference Hotel-The Morgantown Conference Center is connected to the Marriott hotel.

Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place, Two Waterfront Place, Morgantown, WV, 304-296-1700

Conference Rate-$149* per night. Please call the Marriott (304-296-1700) and ask for the room block for the Task Force. Or online at Book your group rate for WV Task Force Symposium. *You must book by 9/7/22 to receive the block rate.

Federal Government Employees-$99* per night. Must show proof of employment upon arrival. Book your group rate for WV Task Force Symposium - Govt Rate *You must book by 9/7/22 to receive the block rate.

Other hotels nearby are:

Hotel Morgan, 127 High St., Morgantown, WV, 304-292-8200

https://www.hotelmorgan.com/morgantown-hotel

Scholar Hotel, 345 Chestnut St., Morgantown, WV, 304-777-4100

https://scholarhotels.com/scholar-hotel-morgantown/

Quality Inn, 225 Comfort Inn Dr., Morgantown, WV, 304-296-9364

https://www.choicehotels.com/west-virginia/morgantown/quality-inn-hotels/wv404

2022 PROGRAM

WEST VIRGINIA MINE DRAINAGE TASK FORCE SYMPOSIUM

Marriott Waterfront Hotel | Morgantown, West Virginia | October 4-5, 2022

Tuesday Morning, October 4, 2022

8:00 – 9:00 am Registration

9:00 – 9:05 am Welcome: Ben Faulkner, Chairman of the Task Force, Princeton, WV

Moderator: Randy Maggard, American Consolidated Natural Resources, Monongah, WV

9:05 – 9:30 am WVDEP Update on Mining, Reclamation, and AMD Treatment

John Rorrer, Acting Director, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Charleston, WV

9:30 – 10:00 am OSM Update on Mining, Reclamation and AMD

Tom Shope, Regional Director, Appalachian Region Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Pittsburgh, PA

10:00 – 10:30 am BREAK

10:30 – 11:00 am Strategy for AMD Treatment on Watershed Scales

Paul Ziemkiewicz, West Virginia Water Research Institute, Morgantown, WV

11:00 – 11:30 am Large Scale Treatment Plants at Abandoned and Bond Forfeiture Sites

Rob Rice and Dave McCoy, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Charleston, WV

11:30 – 12:00 pm Data Needed for Selection and Design of AMD Treatment Systems

Tim Danehy, Biomost, Inc., Mars, PA

12:00 – 1:30 pm Lunch

Tuesday Afternoon, October 4, 2022

1:30 – 1:35 Regroup

Moderators: Jennie Henthorn, Henthorn Env. Serv., St. Albans, WV, Jamie Gwinn, Arch Resources, Charleston, WV

1:35 – 2:00 pm 2021-22 Legislative Issues on Mining, Reclamation and Water Quality

Jason Bostic, West Virginia Coal Association, Charleston, WV

2:00 – 2:30 pm Successful AMD Abatement – Broad Top, PA

Joe Mills, Skelly and Loy, Morgantown, WV

2:30 – 3:00 pm A Design and Build Active Treatment Plant for the Globe Mine High Strength Mine Discharge

Jon Dietz, Iron Oxide Technologies, LLC, & Smith Gardner, Inc, Ridgway, PA

3:00 – 3:30 pm BREAK

3:30 – 4:00 pm Two Case Studies of Enhancing Decarbonation by Utilizing Iron Oxidation

Brent Means and Rich Beam, Office of Surface Mining, New Cumberland, PA

4:00 – 4:30 pm PHREEQ-N-AMDTreat+REYs Water-Quality Modeling Tools to Evaluate Acid Mine Drainage Treatment Strategies for Recovery of RREs

Charles Cravotta, US Geological Survey, New Cumberland, PA

4:30 – 5:00 pm Development of Pilot Plant for Extraction of Rare Earth Elements from AMD Products

Paul Ziemkiewicz, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

5:00 – 5:30 pm Effectiveness of the T&T AMD Treatment Plant on Muddy Creek

Ben Fancher, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Philippi, WV

RECEPTION – 5:30 to 7:30 pm

Wednesday Morning, October 5, 2022

8:00 – 8:05 am Moderator: Tiff Hilton, WOPEC, Lewisburg, WV

8:05 – 8:30 am 10+ Year Passive Treatment System Performance Evaluation

Tim Danehy, Biomost, Inc., Mars, PA

8:30 – 9:00 am Beginnings of AMD Passive Treatment in North America

Bob Kleinmann and Jeff Skousen, Editor-in-Chief of Mine Water and Environment and WVU, Pittsburgh, PA and Morgantown, WV

9:00 – 9:30 am Anna S Mine: A Century of Mining and Reclamation

Bob Hedin, Hedin Environmental, Pittsburgh, PA

9:30 – 10:00 am Co-treating AMD and Municipal Wastewater in an Existing Conventional Wastewater Treatment Plants

Travis Tasker and Ben Roman, St. Francis University, Loretto, PA

10:00 – 10:30 am BREAK

10:30 – 11:00 am Monitoring Brown Trout Invasion in a Native Brook Trout Stream Post Mine Drainage Remediation – A Cautionary Tale

Tom Clark and Brianna Hutchison, Susquehanna River Basin Commission, Harrisburg, PA

11:00 – 11:30 am Mine Pools as a Valuable Municipal and Economic Water Resource in the Central Appalachian Coalfields

Hannah Patton and Ben Faulkner, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA

11:30 – 12:00 pm Coagulation and Flocculation Water Treatment

Jonathan Ceslovnik, Nalco Water, Charleston, WV

12:00 Adjourn

Wednesday Afternoon, October 5, 2022

1:00 – 3:00 pm WORKSHOP - "PHREEQ-N-AMD Treat Model to Evaluate Water-Quality Effects from Passive and Active Treatment of Mine Drainage" (registration required)

Charles Cravotta and Brent Means, US Geological Survey and OSMRE, New Cumberland, PA

Instructions for the Workshop

An introduction to the program will be given in the presentation earlier during the conference (see abstract). The workshop will emphasize water-quality modeling using these tools to evaluate various treatment strategies. The workshop begins with a brief PowerPoint presentation and then will provide demonstrations on how to use the models for examples provided. Participants will use the models so laptop computers will be necessary for them to bring to the workshop. Software will be made available (either via the web ahead of time or on a flash drive for installation during the workshop). The instructors will demonstrate how the information from the models can be used with the currently available version of AMDTreat 5.0. Those already familiar with AMDTreat will be ahead of the learning curve.