RECYCLING GEOLOGY EarthCache
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Welcome to Wingfield Pines an Allegheny Land Trust Conservation Area.
Many of us have heard the phrase, “One mans garbage is another mans treasure”. This Earthcache will attempt to illustrate that concept from the perspective that one industry’s waste can become another industry’s source material for a different product.
Here in western Pennsylvania we have a long-standing history of coal mining. This history has brought about a somewhat unpleasant legacy known as Abandoned Mine Drainage (“AMD”). AMD, a by-product of coal mining, can seen as an orange colored sediment in a streambed voiding life in that stream.
AMD results from groundwater in this case penetrating an abandoned underground coal mine. While the water sits within the abandoned mine it chemically reacts with Iron Pyrite, also known as Fool’s Gold, found with the surrounding rocks. The water chemically absorbs the Iron and Sulfur. Once this water discharges onto the surface, the exposure to air causes the iron to precipitate out in the form of Iron Oxide, more commonly referred to as rust.
We will be looking at a Passive AMD Treatment Facility. Allegheny Land Trust, (“ALT”) developed the system, which, was designed by Hedin Environmental Engineering with input from landscape artist Angelo Ciotti and ALT staff.
One of the best definitions of an overview of a passive treatment system can be found at http://www.amrclearinghouse.org/Sub/AMDtreatment/PassiveTreatment.htm. This information was largely taken from EPA Region 3 publication A Citizen's Guide to Address Contaminated Coal Mine Drainage, EPA-903-K-97-003.
Passive systems remove or neutralize contaminants in mine drainage by exposing them to air, limestone, vegetation in ponds, neutralization ditches, buried channels, and wetlands. Exposing AMD to air helps to precipitate metals through oxidation processes; limestone contact neutralizes acid by adding alkalinity; vegetation such as cattails filter contaminants and aid in oxidation and metals removal; and organic wetlands remove metals and provide habitat for bacteria that break down sulfates.
Since passive systems are designed to make use of gravity flow through ponds, buried channels, ditches and wetlands, they can treat AMD without the continual addition of chemicals or neutralizing agents. In general, ponds are used to collect mine drainage, settle out larger particles of sediment, oxidize metals, and can reduce acidity when underlain with organic material and limestone. Ditches convey drainage to ponds or wetland cells, and often contain crushed limestone rock for acid reduction. Wetlands serve a variety of treatment functions, including filtration of smaller sediment particles, uptake of water and some contaminants, oxidation/adsorption of metals, and removal of sulfates through bacterial action.
The ultimate goal of this particular passive AMD treatment system is to recover the Iron Oxide from the ponds transforming it into a source material used in the pigmentation industry while discharging cleaner water into Chartiers Creek. Thus the “Recycling of Geology”.
I would like to thank both the Allegheny Land Trust and Hedin Environmental for allowing access to this property.
PARKING
N 40 20.165 W 080 06.691
TRAILHEAD
N 40 20.272 W 080 06.613
STOP 1
N 40 20.390 W 080 06.560
STOP 2
N 40 20 454 W 080 06.589
STOP 3
N 40 20.493 W 080 06.640
STOP 4
N 40 20.473 W 080 06.541
Requirements
Email me the answers to the following questions.
At Stop 1 N 40 20.390 W 080 06.560
Please take a minute and look at the Mine Map.
What do you notice from the water discharging here?
What is the name of the mine responsible for the AMD?
At Stop 2 N 40 20 454 W 080 06.589
This should take you to the center of several sediment ponds. See if you can follow the sequence of flow through these ponds. You can verify your interpretation at Stop 3
At Stop 3 N 40 20.493 W 080 06.640
What is the name of the horizontal pipe that discharges the AMD into this faciilty?
How many jets are located along this pipe and what purpose do they serve?
How long does it take the water to run through the first 5 ponds and how much iron oxide has been removed from the water?
At Stop 4 N 40 20.473 W 080 06.541
What is the visible difference of the water in the wetland phase of this treatment facility?
Posting any pictures of yourself or the area is always welcomed. Be careful not to include the information signs.
As always... Enjoy
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