West Ferris Wheel Project:
The West Ferris Wheel site is located on upper Little Laurel Run about ¼ mile from the Klondike system. Two major acid discharges and several smaller ones emerge from the abandoned Ferris Wheel reclaimed strip mine upslope to the east. In 2012-2016, 3 treatment systems were constructed in the West Ferris area using EPA319 grants totaling $935,325 plus $66,000 from the US Office of Surface Mining.
System West Ferris Wheel 1, consisting of 2 settling ponds, a vertical flow pond and a wetland treats a small stream draining the Ferris Wheel strip mine. This flow averages 22 gal/min with pH 3.4, iron 1.9 mg/L, aluminum 13 mg/L and 112 mg/L acidity.
System West Ferris Wheel 2, consisting of an inflow pond, a vertical flow treatment pond, and an outflow pond, treats a larger stream emerging from the reclaimed Ferris Wheel strip mine. Inflow averages 101 gal/min with pH 3.6, iron 6.6 mg/L, aluminum 13 mg/L and acidity 105 mg/L.
System West Ferris Wheel 3, consisting of 2 large limestone beds, treats shallow subsurface flow from Ferris Wheel which turned out to be minor. The outflow of all 3 systems is net alkaline with <1 mg/L iron and aluminum. The remaining large 32R3 flow (70 gal/min with pH 3.1, iron 14 mg/L, aluminum 1.1 mg/L and acidity 117 mg/L) represents deep subsurface flow emerging as a seepage area from Ferris Wheel remains to be treated, but we hope to accomplish this in the future.
