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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database

Environmental Geosciences (DEG)

Abstract

Environmental Geosciences, V. 12, No. 1 (March 2005), P. 45-55.

Copyright copy2005. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists/Division of Environmental Geosciences. All rights reserved.

DOI:10.1306/eg.07280404024

Metal attenuation processes in a landfill containing coal combustion waste: Implications for remediation

Christopher Barton,1 Lindy Paddock,2 Christopher Romanek,3 Sally Maharaj,4 John Seaman5

1University of Kentucky, Department of Forestry, 203 Thomas Poe Cooper Bldg., Lexington, Kentucky 40546-0073; [email protected]
2University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802
3University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802; present address: Department of Geology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602
4University of Kentucky, Department of Forestry, 203 Thomas Poe Cooper Bldg., Lexington, Kentucky, 40546-0073
5University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802

AUTHORS

Christopher D. Barton is an assistant professor of forest hydrology and watershed management in the Department of Forestry at the University of Kentucky. As a research hydrologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (1999–2003), his research focused on hydrochemical processes associated with restoration and remediation of disturbed and/or contaminated areas at the U.S. Department of Energy Savannah River Site, South Carolina.

Lindy Paddock is a research technician III at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory of the University of Georgia, where she manages the stable isotope laboratory. Paddock has focused her research efforts on a better understanding of the factors that influence the chemical evolution of pore fluids in sulfidic materials, including coal deposits.

Christopher Romanek is an associate professor of geology and associate research professor at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory of the University of Georgia. His primary area of research is low-temperature geochemistry, with an emphasis on the stable isotope systematics of carbonate minerals. In addition, he has studied the effects of microorganisms on the remediation of acid mine drainage in wetland systems.

Sally Maharaj is a graduate student in the Department of Geology at the University of Kentucky. Maharaj interned at the Savannah River Site as an undergraduate with the South Carolina State University and the Savannah River Environmental Sciences Field Station during the summers of 2002 and 2003.

John C. Seaman is an associate research professor with the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, located on the Savannah River Site and operated for the Department of Energy by the University of Georgia. Seaman received his B.S. (1987) and M.S. (1990) degrees from Texas AampM University in agronomy and soil science, respectively, and his Ph.D. (1994) in environmental soil science from the University of Georgia.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy–Savannah River Operations Office through the U.S. Forest Service–Savannah River (Interagency Agreement DE-IA09-00SR22188) and the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory through the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. (Financial Assistance Award DE-FC09-96SR18546). Support was also provided by the U.S. Forest Service-Southern Research Station, Center for Forested Wetlands Research, and the Environmental Research and Training Laboratory at the University of Kentucky.

ABSTRACT

The 488-D Ash Basin (488-DAB) is an unlined, earthen landfill containing approximately 1 million t of dry ash and coal reject material at the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Site, South Carolina. The pyritic nature of the coal rejects has resulted in the formation of acidic drainage, which has contributed to groundwater deterioration and threatened biota in adjacent wetlands. Establishment of a vegetation cover to both deplete oxygen through biological means and optimize evapotranspiration has been established as a remedial alternative for reducing acidic drainage generation in the 488-DAB. To determine the potential benefits of a cover, a series of characterization studies were conducted prior to field deployment to gain a better understanding of the metal attenuation processes and to use water quality and substrate data to evaluate the potential effectiveness of this remedial approach. The characterization study indicated that metal attenuation was primarily controlled by fluctuating redox and pH gradients associated with alternating saturated and unsaturated conditions in the basin. Based on this information, a vegetative cover could reduce the production of acid leachate over time, pending that oxygen transport to the subsurface is limited.

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