Editors: The report, Ground-Water Quality in Unmined Areas and
Near Reclaimed Surface Coal Mines in the Northern and Central
Appalachian Coal Regions, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, is
available at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2006/5059/. A study of
private water wells in reclaimed surface-coal-mining areas of
the northern and central Appalachians shows that traces of
mining-related contaminants persist in some wells, the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) announced. These contaminants typically
decreased to background levels at distances 1,000 feet or more
from surface coal mines and in wells deeper than 150 feet. "Iron
and manganese were commonly detected at concentrations exceeding
U.S. EPA drinking-water standards. Although more frequently
detected with sulfate, aluminum, and five other constituents in
water from wells in mined areas, only concentrations of iron and
manganese exceeding drinking water standards are also commonly
detected in water from wells in unmined area's" said Mark Kozar,
a USGS hydrologist a