Denver Coal Club

The Denver Coal Club welcomes everyone with an interest in the mining, processing and use of coal.

The Denver Coal Club meets monthly on the 2nd Thursday of the month. Members will receive an email announcement with the details of each meeting

Speaker: Michael Wireman
Hydrogeologist, US EPA

Topic: Hydrogeologic Characterization of Ground Waters, Mine Pools and the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel, Leadville, Colorado

Speaker Biography:
Michael Wireman is a hydrogeologist currently employed by the US EPA in Denver, CO where he serves as a Regional Ground-Water Expert. He has a Master’s degree in hydrogeology from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan and 25 years of experience in ground-water investigations in the Rocky Mountain west. He has served as a project manager for a private consulting firm where he directed ground-water exploration and development projects. In his current position he provides technical and scientific support to several EPA programs, other Federal agencies, International programs and to ground-water protection / management programs in several western states. Mike manages research projects related to mine-site hydrology / geochemistry, ground-water sensitivity/vulnerability assessment, isotope hydrology, ground-water / surface water interaction and aquifer characterization. He has significant experience in the legal, scientific and programmatic aspects of ground-water resource management.

He also has extensive experience in ground-water related work in the Baltic countries, Ukraine, Romania and Georgia. He has served as an adjunct professor at Metropolitan State College in Denver where he taught a class on Contaminant Hydrology.

He is a member of the Colorado Ground- Water Association, the National Ground Water Association, the Geological Society of America, is on the Board of Directors for the North American Chapter of the International Association of Hydrogeologists and is an advisor to the Board of Directors of the Mountain Studies Institute in Silverton. CO.

Presentation Abstract:
The 3385 meter long Leadville Mine Drain Tunnel (LMDT) was completed in 1952 to create a free-draining tunnel to dewater existing and future mine workings in the Leadville Mining District in the Sawatch Mountains of central Colorado. Since 1952 mining has been mostly discontinued in the Leadville district and the physical condition of the LMDT, which discharges approximately 82 l/s, has deteriorated. Roof falls have resulted in blockages which can cause water to pool up, increasing the hydraulic head and presenting a potential blowout problem. Using its’ authority under CERCLA, the US EPA is planning to implement a number of hydraulic and source control elements which are designed to contain and control mine pool water. To support this work the US EPA has completed a rigorous hydrogeologic characterization aimed at developing a sound conceptual understanding of the hydrologic, geologic and geochemical conditions that control inflow of ground water to the underground workings associated with the LMDT and the outflow of mine water from these workings. The investigations discussed here included hydrogeologic mapping, interpretation of water chemistry data, water level data, tunnel tracing and isotopic tracer analysis. The results of this investigation indicate that the LMDT drains only a small volume of mine pool water and a very large volume of regional bedrock and adjacent alluvial ground water. These understandings have been used to design a containment system will be used to control and manage the ground water intercepted by the LMDT and the mine pool(s) that are connected to the LMDT.