Slow change is occurring off-campus as efforts to revitalize aquatic systems prevail over the effects of coal mining.
The well-tended cobblestone streets and manicured foliage of the Ohio University campus aren’t necessarily indicative of Athens County itself. A fifteen minute drive away from campus can reveal that beneath the beauty of the Appalachian hillsides lies the disturbing reality that is acid mine drainage.
I had the opportunity to visit several areas in and around Athens where coal refuse piles, strip mining sites and underground tunnels have left the waterways less than ideal.
To put it vividly, a lot of the streams — up to 116 square miles of them — in Athens look like someone replaced the water with murky orange Gatorade.
It’s the kind of phenomenon that catches your attention. Creeks and patches of wet earth on the side of State Route 691 are literally stained with the mineral pyrite, or Fool’s Gold, that lies in abandoned mining sites.
If you haven’t seen the orange streams for yourself, they’re worth a look. It reminded me of a lot of things — Cheese dust, cartoonish depictions of radioactive waste sites, packets of Easy Mac — but mostly, it just made me sad.
The oxidation of these kinds of exposed metals cranks down the acidity level of the water they’re in. It can hit pH levels of 3 and 4, which are comparable to vinegar.
Naturally, fish, insects and other forms of aquatic life can’t really manage in these kinds of conditions, resulting in expansive dead zones across the county.
As streams converge and reach more alkaline sources of water, the pH levels began to rise again, letting life flow. But for the foreseeable future, you won’t be catching any minnows in the Monday Creek watershed.
But slowly and steadily, improvements in water quality are being made.
Programs instituted by nonprofits, water restoration groups and even students and faculty here have imposed changes that are gradually renewing streams.
Without getting too technical, the biggest challenge these efforts face is altering the pH level of the water back to healthy levels. One such method involves generating water with super-high pH (like 10 or 11, which compares to household ammonia) and pumping that into the streams. The waters mix and even out to a neutral level.
The silo across from the Snow Fork tributary stream does just that. And bonus, the walk out to it is enveloped in gorgeous flowers, fields and hills.
So, what’s the point of all this? Yes, the streams are orange, but it’s not like we have to drink from them.
However, we do have to live with them, and live with the effects of damaged wildlife. You can turn away from the destructive effects of mining coal, but at some point, we’re going to have to rebuild an entire ecological system from the ground up.
It’s just not feasible to expect to contaminate all our fresh water, because while we don’t necessarily need it right now, we may need that wildlife to sustain our ecological map.
Perhaps more importantly, the work in Athens County to combat acid mine drainage and the resulting successes prove that the reversal of environmental degradation is actually attainable, if we just try. And don’t let Fool’s Gold make a fool of us.
Kat Tenbarge is a freshman majoring in journalism and environmental studies. What environmental issues do you think demand attention? Email her at kt154714@ohio.edu or tweet her @katsappho.
