Assessment of fish assemblages in streams of the coal mining region of West Virginia

Mountaintop mining (MTM) and Valley Fill (VF) operations in the Appalachian Coal Region prompted an examination of the impacts of these operations on watersheds.  Based upon data collected from streams in the MTM/VF area of West Virginia in 1999 and 2000, an EIS was prepared.  This presentation focuses on the EIS’s fish assemblage data.  The data were analyzed to:  1) determine if the biological condition of streams in areas with MTM/VF operations is degraded relative to the condition of streams in unmined areas, and 2) determine if there are additive biological impacts to streams where multiple valley fills are located.  The IBI scores from Filled and Mined sites were significantly lower than those from Unmined sites and the IBI scores from Filled/ Residential sites were significantly higher than those from Unmined sites.  From the additive analysis, it was observed that Twentymile Creek, which has only mining-related land uses, may experience impacts from a tributary, Peachorchard Creek.  Above the confluence, IBI scores in the Twentymile Creek are higher than in the Peachorchard Creek, but decrease below the confluence.  It was determined that IBI scores were reduced at Filled sites compared to Unmined sites by an average of 10 points.