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Mar. 24, 2011
Pee Wee Hill and Kitzmiller Road residents will soon have something many other people in Garrett County probably take for granted: a reliable, abundant supply of clean water. Immediately following public hearings last Thursday afternoon, the Garrett County commissioners approved the Pee Wee Hill Water Supply Replacement Project.
Creation of a new service area and water/sewer master plan amendment were also approved for the project.
The Abandoned Mine Land Division (AMLD) of the Maryland Department of the Environment’s Land Management Administration will cover the entire $1.4 million project.
“A lot of those people there don’t have water,” Director Linda Lindsey, Garrett County Department of Public Utilities (DPU), told the previous board of commissioners last June when the project was being planned. “They’ve drilled numerous wells – over again, very deep. They might get ½ a gallon a minute, if they’re lucky.”
Last year, the AMLD hired CTL Engineering of West Virginia Inc. to determine if abandoned coal mines have impacted the quality/quantity of private water supplies in the Pee Wee Hill area.
Maps and records indicated that substantial mining activity occurred there and that all the deep mining was performed prior to the Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, making the project eligible for AMLD funding.
The CTL study found that water wells in the Pee Wee Hill area were drilled to depths that intersect the mined coal seams or at least the fractured strata zone above the seams, which creates a hydrologic connection between the wells and the abandoned mines.
The coal structure declines to the southeast toward the North Branch of the Potomac River, where there are several visible mine drains entering the river. This indicates that the aquifers are being dewatered at these locations and that during dry periods insufficient recharge of the wells would occur.
The study also included a field evaluation of the water supply for residences in the Pee Wee Road and Kitzmiller Road area, and draw-down tests were performed on four wells.
“Of 21 residents interviewed,” Lindsey said, “eight indicated concerns with their wells regarding quantity, including minimal flow, slow recovery, and insufficient supply during dry weather conditions. One resident was currently hauling water for daily use. Seven residents stated their concerns regarding poor water quality.”
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