Reclamation success at an abandoned deep coal mine site near Staunton, Illinois

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5177478

LaGory, K E; Pentecost, E D; Vinikour, W S

An effort was made in 1976 to reclaim the 13.8-ha site around an abandoned deep coal mine near Staunton, Illinois. Prior to reclamation, an area of about 9.3 ha was severely eroded and largely devoid of vegetation. As a consquence, wildlife use of the site was low. Reclamation procedures included grading and recontouring the coal refuse (gob) pile and slurry area, covering exposed refuse material with soil, liming the soil, seeding with selected plant species, and creating a pond to receive runoff from the site. To evaluate the success of various reclamation procedures, soil depth (30 and 60 cm) and liming rate (112 and 224 t CaCO/sub 3/equivalentha) were experimentally manipulated on sixteen 21.3 /times/ 21.3/minus/m plots on top of the gob pile. Studies to examine the success of these reclamation efforts were conducted annually from 1977 to 1982 and again in 1987. After reclamation, vegetation quickly became established over most of the site, except for some areas on the slopes of the gob pile. As evidenced by vegetative cover, reclamation was successful for all soil depths and limimg rates used on experimental plots, but cover was greatest on plots with 60 cm of soil and a 224 tha liming rate. Soil depth appeared to be more important than liming rate in determining vegetative cover. Bird and mammal use of the site was apparent following reclamation and was similar to that typically found in early successional ecosystems in southern Illinois. 9 refs., 4 figs., 5 tabs.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5177478
• Report Number(s): CONF-880413-2; ON: DE88010059
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010900* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Environmental Aspects
510200 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
COAL MINING
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FEDERAL REGION V
ILLINOIS
LAND RECLAMATION
LIMING
MASS TRANSFER
MINING
MITIGATION
NORTH AMERICA
PLANTS
RUNOFF
SITE PREPARATION
SOILS
USA
WATER QUALITY
WILD ANIMALS