Wayne National Forest ranger Mike Baines hopes an experimental water filter might bring life back to Lawrence County creeks suffering from acid mine drainage.

Saturday, August 05, 2000

Wayne National Forest ranger Mike Baines hopes an experimental water filter might bring life back to Lawrence County creeks suffering from acid mine drainage.

The filter, a large box with dividing screens, forces water to pass through sheets of wood fibers then into another tank where limestone adjusts the water’s acidity, Baines said.

The method was developed by a national forest research chemist, James Han.

"They’re using it New York watersheds to purify water but I didn’t see why it wouldn’t work with acid mine drainage," Baines said.

So, the district asked for an experimental filter at the Wayne ranger station in Pedro. It’s been there for just over a week but forest specialists have no data yet, he said.

"We’re experimenting to see how it works, but it should filter out heavy metals, phosphates, petroleum products and other materials," Baines said.

Planned buffering filters that use limestone can be linked to the system to move the water’s pH value, its acidity, from three to about five.

"You can sustain aquatic life at 5.5," Baines said. "Where we have eight miles of Pine Creek where life has been decimated by acid mine drainage, it might kick life back into it."

The forest would like to install two functional units on the Wayne, one in the Athens area and one in Lawrence County, although there are no extensive plans, he said.

You can’t haul away the tons of metal-contaminated soil and but a filter that intercepts metal-laden water and treats it might be economical, Baines said.

For instance, operators can rinse the simple filters, ending up with only two barrels of hazardous materials.

"But as it is now, it’s running right through our community," he said. "You remove two barrels of harmful materials but end up with perhaps a billion barrels of clean water."

Drinking water lines are expected in the area soon but they will not help aquatic life whereas filters would, he added.

"It’s an exciting prospect," he said. "I think the Wayne will become known nationally for recreation and watershed restoration."

"That’s maybe not a good thing to be known for but it’s the hand we’ve been dealt."

The forest plans to seek grants to develop the idea, Baines said.