Growth and Success of Common Agricultural Crops Irrigated with Water of Differing Acid Mine Drainage Impact

• Olivia Wright

  Juniata College

  Author

A major source of industry in Pennsylvania is mining of the land’s natural coal deposits, particularly through a practice called surface mining. This process produces land which cannot easily be used for agriculture, and water which flows through these mined areas becomes acidified and saturated with heavy metals. Although the health concerns related to AMD have become common knowledge, little research has been done on the effects of farmland irrigation with this impacted water. The agricultural repercussions of mine drainage were investigated through collection of data on germination success, average plant height, and groundcover ability of a common Pennsylvania crop, alfalfa. Water from both pre-limestone treatment and post-limestone treatment which was contaminated by drainage was used to irrigate small plots of alfalfa seeds. No statistically significant observations were found between the treatments, but interesting trends observed in growth rate and height warrant further investigation.

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