Metals and Ph Tmdls for the Tug Fork River Watershed, West Virginia
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Metals and pH TMDLs for the Tug Fork River Watershed, West Virginia U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 3 1650 Arch Street Philadelphia, PA September 2002 Metals and pH TMDLs for the Tug Fork River Watershed Acknowledgments This study was developed and prepared by Tetra Tech, Inc. in Fairfax, Virginia under EPA Contract Number 68-C-99-249, Work Assignment 2-93. The EPA Regional Coordinator was Mr. Thomas Henry of EPA Region 3. The EPA Work Assignment Manager was Mr. Francis Mulhern of EPA Region 3. EPA Region 3 support was provided by Ms. Mary Beck, Ms. Jennifer Sincock, Ms. Carol Ann Davis and Ms. Cheryl Atkinson. Completion of this study depended upon the generous informational and data support from various groups. Special acknowledgment is made to the following people: James Greenfield TMDL Coordinator, USEPA Region 4 Cecilia Harper USEPA Region 4 Pat Campbell West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection-Division of Water Resources Angela Dorsey West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection - Division of Mining and Reclamation James Laine West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection-Division of Water Resources Steve Legge West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection-Division of Water Resources Ken Politan West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection - Division of Mining and Reclamation Dave Montali West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection-Division of Water Resources Steve Stutler West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection-Division of Water Resources David Vande Linde West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection - Division of Mining and Reclamation James Adamson Kentucky Department of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement David O’Hara Kentucky Department of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Kevin Ruhl Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection Division of Water Charles Martin Virginia Department of Environmental Quality George O’Quinn Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals & Energy Department of Mined Land Reclamation September 2002 i Metals and pH TMDLs for the Tug Fork River Watershed Table of Contents Acknowledgments ............................................................. i Table of Contents ............................................................. ii List of Figures ............................................................... iv List of Tables ................................................................ iv 1.0 Problem Understanding .................................................... 1-1 1.1 Watershed Description . ............................................... 1-1 1.2 Economy . .......................................................... 1-4 1.3 Section 303(d) Listed Waterbodies . ..................................... 1-6 2.0 Water Quality Standards ................................................... 2-1 3.0 Source Assessment ........................................................ 3-1 3.1 Data Inventory and Review ............................................. 3-1 3.2 Stream Flow Data ..................................................... 3-2 3.3 Water Quality ........................................................ 3-3 3.4 Point Sources ........................................................ 3-3 3.4.1 Permitted Non-mining Point Sources ................................ 3-3 3.4.2 Permitted Mining Point Sources .................................... 3-5 3.5 Nonpoint Sources ..................................................... 3-9 3.5.1 Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) and Revoked Mines ................... 3-12 3.5.2 Sediment Sources ............................................... 3-12 3.5.3 Other Nonpoint Sources .......................................... 3-15 4.0 Technical Approach ....................................................... 4-1 4.1 Model Framework Selection ............................................ 4-1 4.2 Mining Data Analysis System (MDAS) Overview ........................... 4-2 4.3 Model Configuration .................................................. 4-3 4.3.1 Watershed Subdivision ........................................... 4-4 4.3.2 Meteorological Data .............................................. 4-4 4.3.3 Nonpoint Source Representation .................................... 4-6 4.3.4 Point Sources Representation ...................................... 4-8 4.3.5 Stream Representation ........................................... 4-11 4.3.6 Hydrologic Representation ........................................ 4-11 4.3.7 Pollutant Representation ......................................... 4-11 4.4 pH TMDL Methodology Overview ...................................... 4-12 4.4.1 Overview ..................................................... 4-12 4.4.2 MINTEQA2 Application ......................................... 4-13 4.4.3 Assumptions .................................................. 4-14 4.5 Model Calibration .................................................... 4-16 4.5.1 Hydrology Calibration ........................................... 4-17 4.5.2 Water Quality Calibration ........................................ 4-19 5.0 Allocation Analysis ....................................................... 5-1 5.1 TMDL Endpoints ..................................................... 5-1 5.1.1 Aluminum, Iron, and Manganese ................................... 5-1 5.1.2 pH ........................................................... 5-2 5.1.3 Margin of Safety ................................................ 5-2 ii September 2002 Metals and pH TMDLs for the Tug Fork River Watershed 5.2 Baseline Conditions ................................................... 5-2 5.3 Source Loading Alternatives ............................................ 5-4 5.4 TMDLs and Source Allocations ......................................... 5-6 5.4.1 Wasteload Allocations (WLAs) .................................... 5-7 5.4.2 Load Allocations (LAs) ........................................... 5-8 5.4.3 pH Modeling Results ............................................ 5-14 5.4.4 Critical Conditions and Seasonal Variation ........................... 5-14 5.4.5 Future Growth ................................................. 5-14 5.4.6 Remining and Water Quality Trading ............................... 5-15 6.0 Reasonable Assurance ..................................................... 6-1 6.1 Reclamation ......................................................... 6-1 6.1.1 Office of Abandoned Mine Lands and Reclamation ..................... 6-1 6.1.2 Special Reclamation Group ....................................... 6-3 6.2 Permitting .......................................................... 6-4 7.0 Monitoring Plan .......................................................... 7-1 8.0 Public Participation ....................................................... 8-1 References .................................................................R-1 Appendix A. Tug Fork River Watershed Data and TMDLs .......................... A-1 Appendix A-1. Region 1 ................................................. A-1 Appendix A-2. Region 2 ................................................. A-2 Appendix A-3. Region 3 ................................................. A-3 Appendix A-4. Region 4 ................................................. A-4 Appendix A-5. Region 5 ................................................. A-5 Appendix A-6. Region 6 ................................................. A-6 Appendix A-7. Region 7 ................................................. A-7 Appendix A-8. Region 8 ................................................. A-8 Appendix A-9. Region 9 ................................................. A-9 Appendix A-10. Region 10 .............................................. A-10 Appendix A-11. Region 11 .............................................. A-11 Appendix A-12. Region 12 .............................................. A-12 Appendix A-13. Region 13 .............................................. A-13 Appendix A-14. Region 14 .............................................. A-14 Appendix A-15. Region 15 .............................................. A-15 Appendix A-16. Region 16 .............................................. A-16 Appendix A-17. Region 17 .............................................. A-17 Appendix A-18. Region 18 .............................................. A-18 Appendix A-19. Region 19 .............................................. A-19 Appendix A-20. Region 20 .............................................. A-20 Appendix B. Dissolved Zinc Impairments in the Tug Fork Watershed ..................B-1 Appendix C. Water Quality Data Analysis ........................................C-1 Appendix D. Hydrology Calibration ............................................ D-1 Appendix E. Mining Permits in the Tug Fork Watershed ............................E-1 September 2002 iii Metals and pH TMDLs for the Tug Fork River Watershed List of Figures Figure 1-1 Tug Fork River Watershed ............................................ 1-2 Figure 1-2 Counties in and surrounding the Tug Fork basin ........................... 1-3 Figure 1-3 Tug Fork River watershed and its 20 regions ............................. 1-10 Figure 3-1 Water quality stations in the Tug Fork watershed .......................... 3-4 Figure 3-2 Mining permits in the Tug Fork River watershed .......................... 3-8 Figure 3-3 Potential sources contributing to impairments in the Tug Fork River watershed . 3-10 Figure 3-4 Land use distribution in the Tug Fork River watershed ....................