Environmental assessment: low wall conveyor haulage demonstration program, Lewis County, West Virginia

Technical Report · Thu Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1978

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6746980· OSTI ID:6746980

Ecker, R M

The low wall conveyor haulage demonstration program is a new method for surface mining of coal developed by Skelly and Loy, engineers-consultants for the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, and the U.S. Department of Energy. The purpose of the experimental demonstration project is to achieve improved production and better resource recovery while enhancing and facilitating reclamation and land restoration. The low wall conveyor haulage method, which incorporates portable conveyor units to transport overburden material instead of using haul trucks, has potential economic, environmental and health advantages over other surface coal mining operations. The potential environmental advantages are: The length of open pit is less, thus decreasing the duration of time the pit is exposed to the elements; less heavy duty haulage equipment is used; routing of topsoil and burial of toxic materials becomes easier by use of a radial stacker; and backfilling and grading operations are more efficient with the use of a radial stacker. This mining method integrates mining and reclamation into a single unitized operation. Economically, investment in portable conveyors and maintenance of machinery should be less than costs associated with maintenance of haul trucks and scheduling should be somewhat less complicated. The inherent congestion of the pit area is greatly reduced. Mitigating measures to minimize adverse environmental impacts during demonstration program include sediment and drainage control structures, backfilling mineral extraction area to original contour, restoration and revegetation of the disturbed area, decreasing the length of open pit, and no downslope placement of spoil. Environmental monitoring during the demonstration program will include system monitoring, head-of-hollow fill stability monitoring, surface-water quality monitoring, ground-water monitoring, aquatic ecology surveys, wildlife surveys, and air quality monitoring.

• Research Organization: Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-06-1830
• OSTI ID: 6746980
• Report Number(s): PNL-2679
• 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
510500 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR QUALITY
COAL MINING
CONVEYORS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
EQUIPMENT
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LAND RECLAMATION
MATERIALS HANDLING
MINE HAULAGE
MINE ROADWAYS
MINING
MINING EQUIPMENT
MONITORING
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SURFACE MINING
TUNNELS
WATER