U.S. Water News Online
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Scientists are studying the possibility of using flooded coal mines as drinking water sources, and they have asked their peers for help.
Researchers think better science will lead to better drinking water for residents of Greenwood.
Van Brahana, a University of Arkansas professor of geosciences, and graduate student Curtis Varnell said the water project will succeed only when researchers explore every scientific aspect of the proposal. Feedback from other scientists is essential, Brahana said.
``If the science is not right, the plug should be pulled,'' Brahana said recently.
``We want to get as much science as we can use, and we're inviting input into the system,'' he said.
About 75 university faculty and students and representatives of state and federal agencies attended a lecture recently at the annual Arkansas Water Resources Center conference, where Brahana and Varnell recounted the successes and pitfalls of their research.
Although the two determined water from the mines contains few contaminants, one scientist suggested the researchers test fish found in flooded mine entrances and nearby creeks for the same contaminants.
Another cautioned Varnell about the possibility of large amounts of methane gas that could be released if Greenwood begins to draw down water from the mines.
``The science needs to be very, very precise here,'' Brahana said.
The geology supervisor for the Arkansas Department of Health said the science looks good now, though politics could derail the project. It may worry regulators that Greenwood is the first Arkansas municipality to consider the project, said Roger Miller, with the Health Department.
``The people that really have the decision-making authority, I don't think they are averse to this,'' he said. ``I don't think they would hit a lot of resistance, but there is that fear of the unknown. You never know.''
Miller lived in a West Virginia town with a mine water source. He said he was skeptical of the idea at first, but he thinks the water can be an adequate drinking-water supply if properly treated.
Brahana, too, was initially skeptical, but his opinion changed with research.
``When I first heard the idea, I thought it was crazy as a hoot owl,'' he sa id.
Greenwood city officials enlisted the help of Brahana and Varnell to study the feasibility of using the estimated 65 million gallons of water in the coal mines to supplement Greenwood Lake, the primary water source.
A preliminary report indicates the water is a safe, accessible and inexpensive alternative to constructing a dam to enlarge the lake. The estimated cost for tapping the coal mines is about $1.35 million.
A dam would cost at least 10 times more. More research findings will result from a major pumping test later this year. The researchers hope to discover the source of the mine water and to test the quality of the water by pumping 3 million gallons per day for three days.
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