Selective placement of coal stripmine overburden in Montana. II. Initial field demonstration. Open file report (interim) Jan 76-Jun 77

Technical Report · Wed Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1977

OSTI ID:6386730

Dollhopf, D J; Hall, W D; Cull, C A; Hodder, R L

A week-long selective overburden handling dragline operation was conducted at a strip mine near Colstrip, Mont. The objective of the demonstration was to hydrologically isolate a saline overburden zone during placement in the spoil piles. The saline zone had concentrations considered inimical to successful reclamation and was potentially dangerous to future water quality in the spoils aquifer. The zone was identified after review of chemical data for overburden samples collected from the intense 60-m-grid drilling pattern. The saline zone in the overburden was (1) handled in a normal manner; (2) segregated and buried; and (3) segregated, buried, and covered with a relatively impermeable 1.0-m thick clay cap. The method used to formulate this demonstration, the demonstration itself, and the monitoring and evaluation techniques are described in this report.

• Research Organization: Montana State Univ., Bozeman (USA). Agricultural Experiment Station
• OSTI ID: 6386730
• Report Number(s): PB-81-103178
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010900 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Environmental Aspects
012000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Mining
CHEMISTRY
COAL MINES
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOLOGY
HYDROLOGY
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS HANDLING
MINE HAULAGE
MINES
MINING
MONTANA
NORTH AMERICA
OVERBURDEN
POLLUTION
POLLUTION ABATEMENT
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION
STRATIGRAPHY
SURFACE MINING
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WATER POLLUTION
WATER POLLUTION ABATEMENT