Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Water chemistry "Hot" Strip Pit

Howdy all!

Thought I would create a thread on a buddies place - perhaps someone here would have some pertinent experience to share.

Anyway, friend bought 180 acres directly from Peabody Coal about 15 years ago. The place had been strip mined in the 50's I believe, and reclamation was done during a limited few years which required the tips of the spoils were flattened, topsoil broadcast, then planted to oaks, pines, etc. Beautiful place today with mature trees and lots of deer/turkey, and bass in one ~8 acre pit lake.

However, another ~5 acre pit lake is "hot" - the pH is so low (4.5?) no aquatic life can survive. Past inquiries with authorities pooh-poohed the possibility of fixing it. But recent contact with the state DNR got him in touch with the division with $$ from federal taxes on current mining operations to help remediate old areas. They will be coming out sometime this summer to evaluate the source of the acidity and whether it is a candidate to attempt to fix.

Anyone been through a project like this?

Not on our lakes but professionally. Coal pits are often acidic. If its not ground water connected then lime will help. There are set reclamation standards in most states.

There are species that can survive in pH of 4.5 even down as low as 4.0, some do quite well... Many people don't find some of these species overly appealing as game fish. Species like bowfin, fliers, bullheads and longnose gar for example. Yellow perch, chain pickerel and black crappies can all survive in waters that acidic as well. It would be one extremely unusual fishery, but if you are unable to remediate the acidic conditions, attempting to stock some of these species could at least lead to some recreational fishing value to an otherwise unusable pond. I have fished Lake Drummond in Virginia where the pH usually runs between 4.0 and 4.5. I have caught bowfin in excess of 10 pounds, longnose gar pushing 3 feet, yellow perch that run 8"-10", and black crappies in the 10"-12" range. Biomass is low per acre and growth rates are affected by the extremely low pH level but the fish do survive and grow to catchable sizes. Check to see what the pH is for sure. If nothing can live in it, it sounds like the pH may be lower than 4.5.

Check the alkalinity as a better gauge or take a series of pH tests through an entire 24 hr period.

A group manager from the Missouri Dept of Nat. Resources came out and looked about. This small group inside DNR has coal tax money to burn for the next ten years then the funding runs out. They will be doing a study on the water and nearby soils for what might be accomplished. Perhaps the results late next week. Kicking myself for not taking some photos to post.

I did a quickie pH and found 4.0. We had thought it might be higher as there is algae in some areas. Any chemistry experts on here that can calculate how many pounds of hydrated lime it would take to change say 100K gallons of 4.0 pH water to 6.5 pH?