UVa-Wise Campus History- Acid Mine Drainage
The University of Virginia’s College at Wise has an incredible rich history, filled with stories of individuals and groups coming together to accomplish great tasks. Before the College was created, there were no public colleges in Virginia west of Radford. Higher education was simply out of reach for most residents of Virginia's mountains.
In 1954, a group of local residents made their case to the University of Virginia for establishing a college in Wise. Since the enrollment of the first students, the college continues to grow and provide educational opportunities for the entire region and continues to be the only four-year, state-supported college in far Southwest Virginia as well as the only branch of the University of Virginia.
Throughout the College’s development, there have been many unique challenges and opportunities. Prior to the College’s establishment much of the land around UVa-Wise was mined for coal. While the mining industry supported and continues to support regional and national growth, much of the mining that was done prior to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 and remains a liability for future generations.
Today, countless abandoned mines can be seen throughout the region, and yield to a caustic tale of mined-scarred communities.
On the UVa-Wise campus, evidence of drift and strip mining remains today. One common sign of nearby abandoned mines is Acid Mine Drainage (AMD). AMD results when groundwater dissolves minerals exposed during mining, creating acidic water loaded with metals such as iron, aluminum and sulfates. AMD smothers streams and often stifles aquatic plant and animal life beneath a bright orange layer of mineral precipitate, resulting not only in habitat destruction, but the loss of waterways as recreational, industrial and community resources.
On the UVa-Wise campus AMD flows into the Yellow Creek, coating the streambed with a thick layer of foul orange sediment. If left untreated, this dreg seeps into our water sources and suffocates vital wildlife and aquatic habitats, while loading abundant amounts of metals into river ecosystems.
The UVa–Wise campus is located within the Guest River Watershed in Wise County, Va. Guest River is the third largest tributary to the Clinch River, one of the most biologically diverse rivers in the nation. Serious AMD problems continue to impact water quality in the Guest River and threaten the diversity of the Clinch.
The Wetlands at
UVa-Wise
The Wise Wetland Project began as an effort to remediate the impacts of AMD on the University of Virginia’s College at Wise campus, while providing educational opportunities for the students and citizens of Southwest Virginia.
In 2001, UVa-Wise joined a unique partnership with local citizens, landscape architects, environmental organizations and coalitions, and federal agencies to expand traditional views of land reclamation and AMD remediation practices.
In 2000, the Lonesome Pine Soil and Water Conservation District (LPSWCD) and the Guest River Group (GRG) set forth to identify and reduce the impacts of AMD in the Guest River watershed. UVa-Wise was chosen as a unique environment for an AMD reclamation site. While AMD significantly impacts the Yellow Creek, the restoration of the ecology was not the only objective.
From the beginning, all of the individuals involved with The Wetlands at UVa-Wise, saw the opportunity to involve local citizens in the process of transforming the environmental liability into learning environment.
Enrolled in the concept, the Department of Mines Minerals and Energy (DMME) began initial site studies to evaluate the feasibility of the project.
A $10,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation initially funded the project, helping to pay for a site assessment. These funds were limited.The partners began to see that the project had much more potential and that more funding was needed.
In 2001, DMME encouraged the LPSWCD to apply for an Office of Surface Mining “Clean Streams Initiative” Grant. These grants use a combination of private and governmental resources to facilitate and coordinate citizen groups, university researchers, the coal industry, corporations, the environmental community and local, state, and federal government agencies in cleaning up streams polluted by acid drainage. With the support of Black Diamond Resource Conservation and Development as the fiscal managers of the grant, the LPSWCD was awarded $100,000 for the reclamation of the Yellow Creek on the UVa-Wise Campus.
During this same period, Dr. T. Allan Comp was in the throws of developing AMD&ART, an innovative reclamation project in Vintondale, Pa. Through integrating the perspective of history to mix with the discipline of reclamation science, innovative design, the energy of community engagement, AMD&ART was becoming a model of reclamation. Hearing about the successes in Vintondale, the LPSWCD contacted Dr. Comp for insight on how the UVa-Wise Wetlands site could further incorporate the community in the development of the site.
Having secured the OSM Clean Streams Grant, the LPSWCD and the Guest River Group began developing a Wetlands Project stakeholders group. A series of public meetings were conducted with UVa-Wise faculty to determine the wants and needs of the College and the Wise community. In addition to identifying and wanting to enhance the historical and ecological relevance of the site, the group suggested an interpretive trail that would lead citizens through the transformed environment.
Following the first partners meeting and gathering of ideas for the site the group determined that a concept drawing was needed to help visually understand what could be built. Rhode Island School of Landscape Design student Corey Kissel began working with the LPSWCD, Maxim Engineering, UVa-Wise biology, chemistry, environmental science and art professors to develop the First Concept Drawing of the site.
With the initial concept design complete, the Powell River Project completed an inclusive watershed restoration design, and implemented several small engineering measures that would support the construction of a passive AMD remediation system.
In the spring of 2003, the LPSWCD hired Landscape Architect Kathy Poole to integrate the ideas developed in the concept plan with detailed design that would lend itself to inviting people into the reclaimed landscape.
As the construction date was approaching, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) joined in the partnership, donating construction services through their Wetlands Mitigation program. With VDOT’s support and funding from VDCR, OSM, and a Virginia Department of Forestry Grant, construction began in the summer of 2004 and was completed in November 2004.
As the water quality improves and the local ecology continues to mature, The Wetlands has become a resource for students, teachers and the UVa-Wise community. Partnerships continue to grow and as people visit the Wetlands Project an immensity of opportunities reveal themselves.
Many thanks to the partnering organizations and all of the numerous individuals who have dedicated their time and energy into the project.
AmeriCorps OSM/VISTA ACCWT
Appalachian Math and Science Partnership
Black Diamond Resource Conservation and Development
Flatwoods Job Corps
Lonesome Pine Soil and Water Conservation District
Maxim Engineering, Inc.
National Science Teachers Association
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Office of Surface Mining
Poole Design
Powell River Project
Rhode Island School of Design
Tennessee Valley Authority
Tuck Engineering
Upper Tennessee River Roundtable
U.S Forest Service
Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
Virginia Department of Forestry
Virginia Department of Mines Minerals and Energy
Virginia Department of Transportation
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Wise County Health Department
University of Virginia's College at Wise
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Landscape as Our Legacy