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FINAL REPORT -- SULFATE-REDUCING BACTERIA REACTIVE WALL DEMONSTRATION MINE WASTE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM ACTIVITY III, PROJECT 12
Citation:
FINAL REPORT -- SULFATE-REDUCING BACTERIA REACTIVE WALL DEMONSTRATION MINE WASTE TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM ACTIVITY III, PROJECT 12. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/R-02/053, 2002.
Description:
Efforts reported in this document focused on the demonstration of a passive technology that could be used for remediation of thousands of abandoned mine sites existing in the Western United States that emanate acid mine drainage (AMD). This passive remedial technology takes advantage of the ability of SRB to increase pH and alkalinity of the water and to immobilize dissolved metals by precipitating them as metal sulfides or hydroxides. The SRB technology was demonstrated by constructing three bioreactors at an abandoned mine site (Calliope Mine) in the vicinity of Butte, Montana.
The bioreactors were fed by AMD emanating from a large waste rock pile. The quality of this AMD and its pH are related to the amount of atmospheric water that infiltrates into the waste rock pile and leaches metals. With the exception of the first 8 months of operation, atmospheric precipitation was well below normal. Consequently, the pH of the AMD increased, and the load
of metals in the AMD significantly decreased, bringing concentrations of iron, aluminum, and manganese in the influent AMD below the target treatment levels for the project. The bioreactors operated from December 1998 to July 2001 when they were then decommissioned.