Water quality of coal deposits and abandoned mines, Saginaw County, Michigan

Surface water arid;ground water from an area underlain by coal- bearing rocks in the vicinity of St. Charles Michigan, were analyzed to determine the quality characteristics of these water resources and to assess the relation between the two. Data for 15 constituents, including boron, phenol, lithium, strontium and manganese, were in such high concentrations that they could be used to differentiate between water from wells drilled into coal-bearing beds and water from streams not directly associated with coal deposits.

Ground water from abandoned mines and undisturbed coal-bearing beds is highly mineralized, and contains higher concentrations of trace metals than surface water. Water from the undistrubed coal- bearing beds and abandoned mines is not suitable for domestic, public supply, or agricultural uses. Large amounts of this highly mineralized ground water reaching local streams would have a deleterious effect on surface-water quality.