well since this is good news.. i'm sticking it here..
sorry but i couldn't copy the picture...rows of clumpy mud drying in the field
Project reboots treatment of acid mine drainage along Kiski River
Read more: http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourallekiskivalley/yourallekiskivalleymore/4481487-74/mine-acid-run#ixzz2dh79Snhk
By Mary Ann Thomas
Published: Sunday, September 1, 2013, 12:06 a.m.
Updated 21 hours ago
Crayola crayons and the Kiski River have something in common: acid mine drainage.
A Pittsburgh company is cleaning out acid mine drainage treatment ponds laden with iron oxide along the Kiski River and other waterways and turning the rust-colored deposits into gold.
Well, almost gold.
Hedin Environmental is taking the dregs of those rust-colored ponds, cleaning it, drying it and then selling the dark orange-crimson material, some of which has ended up as "burnt Sienna" Crayolas.
Much of the pigment, though, has ended up coloring wood stains and concrete.
The recycling is part of larger cleanup and restoration projects: Hedin recovered about 1,000 tons of the iron oxide sludge last year from treatment ponds at Wolford Run near the Kiski River, Sewickley Creek watershed at Lowber and Monastery Run, Unity Township, known as St. Vincent College Wetland No. 1.
The progress is visible: A sunny field in Bell Township is covered with a thick rust-colored cake.
And like a cake, it is baking.
This is a pleasing sight to Charlie Anderson, who, along with his wife Nancy, own the Bell Township property with a series of red-orange ponds that make up the Wolford Run passive treatment acid mine drainage system.
After the iron oxide is dried, Hedin will take the material to a plant for processing rather than dumping in a landfill.
"This is a great idea for the environment and for the river," Anderson said. "It will be beneficial to everyone."
History of pollution
Anderson remembers when Wolford Run was so polluted with acid mine drainage (AMD) that the locals called it "sulfur run."
Coal mine pollution from a number of sources poured into the Kiski for a good bit of the last century, rendering the waterway as acidic and corrosive as Coca-Cola, according to local environmentalists.
"It was good for when you had poison ivy," Anderson said.
Hedin's re-purposing of the water pollution is likely the only bright spot in the treatment of acid mine drainage, the scourge of many streams in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The deep hues of the telltale rust-colored water are as undeniable as the region's coal mining past.
The flow of contaminated water from deep mine operations that ceased decades ago just keeps coming.
AMD is the second-most widespread pollutant of streams in the state (agricultural run-off is the first), sullying one mile out of every 15 miles of streams in the state, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.
For the Kiski, AMD is the primary pollutant, prompting DEP to classify the body of water as "impaired." In addition to mines along the Kiski, the waterway is hit with AMD from the Conemaugh and Loyalhanna rivers.
Bob Kossak, president of the Kiskiminetas River Watershed Association, said that even with several AMD treatment systems along the Kiski, AMD is still pulling down the water quality of the river.
Cleaning up the AMD will take years, according to Kossak.
"And when that happens, there will be a heck of a lot more fish," he said. "It will improve water quality, and make cleaner water for everyone who uses it."
Wolford Run discharge
Acid mine water used to gush from the abandoned Jamison and Truxall deep mines into Wolford Run, a small stream that enters the Kiski River in Bell Township
"The challenge is that the miners drilled a bore hole right above the run," said Bob Hedin, owner of Pittsburgh-based Hedin Environmental.
Mining companies often drilled holes to empty the mines of water that naturally settled there.
"It's like a drain in a bathtub," Hedin said. "They drilled the holes as close to Wolford Run as they could."
The discharge from the mines at Wolford Run is about 400 gallons per minute, according to Ted Weaver, geologist with Hedin Environmental.
The passive system at Wolford Run, installed more than 20 years ago was one of the first such systems in the region, according to John Linkes, a director with both the Roaring Run Watershed Association and the Kiskiminetas River Watershed Association.
Passive treatment systems — as opposed to automated and more costly systems — use holding ponds, gravity flow, piping and limestone-lined beds to treat the acid mine water.
But the ponds filled up with so much iron oxide that the treatment system hasn't worked in years, Linkes said.
The Kiskiminetas River Watershed Association hired Hedin Environmental about five years ago to rehabilitate the passive treatment system. The watershed secured more than $200,000 in state grants to fix the treatment system.
After cleaning the ponds in Bell Township, the watershed association and Hedin will work on plans to enlarge the Wolford Run treatment area.
"We'll continue to apply for grants to clean up this site," Linkes said. "The state has made an investment, and they don't want these systems to fail."
Mary Ann Thomas is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at mthomas@tribweb.com.
DetailsThe state Department of Environmental Protection estimates that more than half of the passive treatment systems for acid mine drainage in the state are not functioning as they were designed, according to Glenn Rider, director of DEP's Bureau of Conservation and Restoration.
"The state of the systems is highly variable due to the size, quantity, quality of the AMD and whether or not the passive system has had ongoing monitoring and maintenance," Rider said.
DEP wants to help repair the systems.
Since 1999, the state's Growing Greener program has awarded more than $60 million in grants for more than 300 AMD-related projects, according to Rider.
Additionally, money from state money from Act 13 gas drilling fees will help with AMD projects.
The federal government also has funds.
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http://www.hedinenv.com/
Hedin Environmental is an environmental consulting firm specializing in assessing and remediating the effects of coal mining and acid mine drainage. The company's founder, Dr. Robert Hedin, is one of the leading authorities on the treatment of mine drainage and the restoration of streams polluted by mine drainage.Most of our projects are in the coal fields of the Eastern US. Recently, HE has become involved with passive treatment projects at hard rock and metal mine sites around the world.
Our projects include:
passive treatment design and construction, watershed assessments and restoration plan development, site reclamation planning, and the recovery of iron oxide. For information on specific projects, please select "Projects and Services" above.
MAKE NO MISTAKE
PASSIVE TREAMENT WORKS!
Click HERE to see our list of successful passive treatment projects!
Iron Oxide + heat = Molten iron + free oxygen :D
Iron Oxide is an ore of iron
Iron Oxide is what makes the canyons out here pretty... its all over the desert
Iron Oxide was used as pigment by Natives for War Paint
good to see mine dump cleanups... :D but many mine dumps are a great source of riches to people like me :D