SREL Reprint #2865

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

Christopher Barton1, Lindy Paddock2, Christopher Romanek2, Sally Maharaj1, and John Seaman2

1University of Kentucky, Department of Forestry, 203 Thomas Poe Cooper Bldg.,
Lexington, Kentucky 40546-0073
2University of Georgia, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802

Abstarct: 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 reducgin acidic drainage generation in the 488-DAB. To determine the potentail benefits of a cover, a series of characterization studies were condcuted prior to field deployment to gain a better understanding of the metal attenuation process and to use water quality and substrate data to evaluate the potentail effectiveness of this remedial approach. The characterization study indicated that metal attenuation was primarily controlled by fluctuating redoc and pH gradients assocaited with alternating satuarted and unsaturated conditions in the basin. Based on this information, a vegetative cover could reduce the productions of acid leachate over time, pending oxygen transport to the subsurface is limited.

SREL Reprint #2865

Barton, C. D., L. S. Paddock, C. S. Romanek, S. Maharaj, and J. Seaman. 2005. Metal attenuation processes in a landfill containing coal combustion waste: implications for remediation. Environmental Geosciences 12:45-55.

This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).