by KE Gallaher · 1995 — When the mining is finished, Big Muskie returns the fill and topsoil. Big Muskie is no longer in service, but remains on display in. Muskingum County.
54 KB – 36 Pages
PAGE – 1 ============
Senior Thesis Geology and Mining History of Two Proposed Reclamation Sites of the Wilds, Muskingum County, Ohio by Kathleen E. Gallaher 1995 Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Geological Sciences at The Ohio State University, Winter Quarter, 1995 Approved by: ( 1 { Ł -I Ł I, Ł ( Ł Ł ——–·—————f Dr. Garry D. McKenzie
PAGE – 2 ============
TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .. 1 INTRODUCTION 1 MINING IN OHIO 4 The Coal Industry in Ohio 6 Monongahela Formation .. . . . .. .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 10 Coal Formation . 10 SURFACE MINING METHODS . 12 RECLAMATION LAWS 14 GEOLOGY OF MUSKINGUM COUNTY . 16 Topography Glacial Effects Climate .. . Stratigraphy . Geology of Rich Hill and Meigs Creek Townships .. . 16 16 18 18 18 IMPORTANCE OF RECLAMATION 20 N-VIRO SOIL . 21 The N-Viro Process .. 21 Hopkins County, Kentucky . 22 THE HISTORY OF THE NORTH AND WELL SITES 22 THE PROPOSED RECLAMATION PROJECT AT THE WILDS 24 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 29 REFERENCES CITED . . . .. .. 31
PAGE – 3 ============
LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The location of the Wilds 2 Figure 2: Oil and gas field map of Ohio .. 5 Figure 3: Coal production in Ohio from 1875 to 1993 7 Figure 4: Tonnage of coal produced by county and method in Ohio during 1993 . 8 Figure 5: Location of the Ohio coal fields in the eastern and southern portions of the state Figure 6: The Bituminous Coal Basin in the United States, extending from Ohio to Alabama 9 11 Figure 7: Diagram of area strip-mining 13 Figure 8: Diagram of contour mining .. . 15 Figure 9: Location of Muskingum County in Ohio Figure 10: The general stratigraphic section of Muskingum County Figure 11: The Well Site displays sparse vegetation Figure 12: The North Site, located in Meigs Township 17 19 23 25 Figure 13: The gently rolling topography of the Wilds . .. 26 Figure 14: The Well Site displaying the eight Sm x lOm plots 27 Figure 15: The North Site plots . 28 Figure 16: Lori Goins(right) and Billie Harrison collect a soil sample from the North Site . 30
PAGE – 4 ============
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express thanks and appreciation to Dr. Garry McKenzie for all his helpful suggestions, careful guidance, and constructive advice. Special thanks needs to be given to Dr. Terry Logan and his research assistants, Billie Harrison and Lori Goins. Their help was appreciated in the organization and preparation of the research site. Thanks also to Dr. Evan Blumer, the director of Science and Animal Health at the Wilds. I am also grateful to David Buchanan and Allen Kraps of the U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Surface Mining, Tom Hines of the Ohio Division of Reclamation, and Tom Willman of the Zanesville reclamation office. Their time and cooperation were greatly appreciated. I am also appreciative to Ruth Ohlinger of the American Electric Power Company for the information she provided. Finally, a personal acknowledgment to my parents for their love and encouragement.
PAGE – 5 ============
ABSTRACT Abandoned strip-mined lands in Ohio are being reclaimed under state and federal regulations. The abandoned lands are required to be returned to the same or better condition than before mining. Many reclaimed areas, including the Wilds, are being returned to productive uses that consist of recreation areas, wildlife areas, golf courses, and pastures. Two sites at the Wilds in Muskingum County, Ohio were chosen for this study. Neither site was suitably reclaimed using lime fertilizer. The proposed reclamation project at the Wilds is to examine the effectiveness of N-Viro Soil, a bio-organic aglime topsoil, on the two sites. The N-Viro Soil is expected to adjust the pH of the soil, increase nutrients, and add organics. Although the project was designed for continuing research, the information gathered from previous projects suggests that predictions can be made about the effectiveness of the N-Viro Soil on the current two sites. INTRODUCTION The problem of environmental degradation caused by surface mining is widespread and serious. Surface mining drastically alters the ecological characteristics of the area disturbed and can have an effect on surrounding areas. Vegetation is removed, topographic features and characteristics are changed, and the original geological surfaces and soils destroyed. This has. resulted in areas of unsightly landscapes and soils that are essentially useless. This paper was designed to investigate the effect of N-Viro Soil in reclamation of surface mine spoils. The study area is in a 9,154-acre wild-animal preserve, the Wilds, located in Muskingum County, Ohio. The Wilds, originally known as the International Center for the Preservation of Wild Animals, is located 15 miles southeast of Zanesville, Ohio (Figure 1 ). It is 14 miles to the west of the village of Cumberland and 15 miles southwest of 1
PAGE – 8 ============
MINING IN OHIO Ohio has a long history of mineral and natural resource production. Many of Ohio’s counties depend on mineral extractions as their dominate industries. One of the earliest mined minerals was flint. The most abundant occurrence of flint is located at Flint Ridge which extends from Licking County, south to Muskingum County. Flint’s earliest use was by Ohio Indians and later by settlers. A variety of objects including knives, arrowheads, and spearheads has been traced to a Flint Ridge source (Collins, 1987). Another mineral resource used by early settlers was salt. The salt was obtained from natural brines produced from wells located in the Mississippian and aged sandstones (Collins, 1987). Meigs County was the most successful salt industry, though the industry was also developed in Columbiana, Guernsey, Hocking, Morgan, and Tuscarawas Counties. Rock salt was later discovered in northeastern Ohio, particularly Cuyahoga, Lake, Medina, Summit, and Wayne Counties. It was not until the 1860’s that heavy exploration of gas and oil was undertaken in Ohio, though the presence of oil in Ohio had been known even by the earliest settlers. The Indians and European settlers found small amounts of petroleum on the surface of streams and used it for medicinal purposes (Collins, 1987). The first serious efforts for commercial gas and petroleum development occurred mainly in the northwestern portion of Ohio. The Lima-Indiana field was the first “giant” field in the United States, reaching a net production peak of 24 million barrels in 1896 (Collins, 1987). The industry was later developed in the eastern section of the state. Gas and oil fields extend from Cuyahoga County in the north to Lawrence County in the south (Figure 2). The Division of Oil and Gas estimates that 822 new wells were drilled in Ohio in 1993 (Weisgarber, 1994). The top five counties were Muskingum, Coshocton, Holmes, 4
PAGE – 10 ============
Portage, and Stark. In Muskingum County, 61 new wells were drilled with 45 wells productive. The oil and gas industry is still a major contributor to the state’s mineral economy, though production decreased by 6.2% in 1993 (Weisgarber, 1994). Small amounts of gypsum are also mined in Ohio. A substantial industry is located in Ottawa County, along the shoreline of Lake Erie. Gypsum is currently used in the manufacturing of plaster, wallboard, and cement (Collins, 1987). Large quantities of limestone and dolostone are quarried throughout Ohio. Limestone and dolostone are used to produce aglime, cement, glass, and aggregates. Substantial amounts of building stone, especially Berea sandstone, are also mined. Other industrial rocks and minerals include clays, shale, sand, and gravel. These materials have a large variety of uses including tile, pottery, grindstones, pipes, and cement. In 1993, Ohio reported a net production of 47,972,399 tons of sand and gravel (Weisgarber, 1994). This ranks Ohio second nationally in the production of sand and gravel. The majority of sand and gravel is found in fluvial and glacial material in northeastern Ohio (Collins, 1987). The Coal Industry in Ohio Coal is Ohio’s most valuable mineral resource and has been mined in significant amounts since the late 1800’s. Figure 3 shows a graph of coal production in Ohio, dating from 1875 to 1987. The coal industry in Ohio during 1993 produced 27,668,810 tons of coal (Weisgarber, 1994). Figure 4 shows the tonnage of coal produced by county and the methods used during 1993. Ohio coal resources are located in 30 counties in the eastern and southern portion of the state (Figure 5). These resources lie on the northwestern edge of a structure known as the main bituminous coal basin (BUSML, 1974). The basin extends from north-central Pennsylvania through eastern Ohio, West Virginia, western Maryland, and down into 6
54 KB – 36 Pages