At the Bent Mountain surface mine, Pike County, Kentucky, a study has been ongoing since 2005 to assess the influence of various types of loose-graded mine spoils on water quality and forest establishment. Six research plots consist of two replicates of brown weathered sandstone, gray unweathered sandstone, and mixed brown sandstone, gray sandstone, and shale that were emplaced according to Forestry Reclamation Approach criteria. A series of analyses was initiated in 2007 to examine influence of spoil matrix composition on sulfate and carbonate geochemistry of infiltrated waters, as well as to investigate the occurrence of Phytophthora, a group of exotic forest pathogens that cause dieback and may affect success of founder species of hybrid American Chestnut (Castanea dentata Marsh.) Borkh.)), on the surface of mine spoils and in infiltrated waters. To identify the constituent responsible for elevated sulfate concentrations, as well as determine the role of alkalinity in spoil waters, PHREEQC geochemical modeling was used to analyze aqueous speciation of sulfates and carbonates with respect to time and tailing media. Variance of δ34S values was analyzed to determine source of sulfate minerals. Oxidation of minor amounts of pyritic coal enriched the δ34S value in the brown plots. Overall, plots had acceptable water quality parameters, substantiating various types of mine spoils for the FRA, although brown proved best for tree establishment. Methods were employed to determine whether Phytophthora were present in the surface of mine spoils and in infiltrated waters of 2005 plots as well as 2007 plots to determine if a chronosequential effect occurred. P. cryptogea was detected from surface spoil and from waters infiltrating brown sandstone plots. The brown spoil, relative to other spoil types, has greater soil moisture, greater nutrient availability, and lower pH, which may promote the occurrence and survival of the microorganism. The occurrence of the pathogen in the 2005 plots versus 2007 plots is notable; greater ground cover from colonizing species may be a precursor to Phytophthora detection on the plots. P. cryptogea is a possible threat to American chestnut, however, high infiltration rates in loose-dumped mine spoils should reduce damage by the pathogen. Over time, the relation between water quality parameters (as influenced by spoil matrix composition), tree success, and presence of Phytophthora, is of interest as certain hydrogeochemical parameters may cause stress on trees that may increase susceptibility of plants to disease caused by Phytophthora. Alternatively, certain water geochemical parameters may directly affect Phytophthora by promoting or inhibiting survival and transport of the pathogen in spoil and infiltrated spoil waters; this too has consequences for tree establishment on loose-dumped mine spoils.

The purpose of this creative project was to derive and communicate the design process for the reclamation of an active quarry site to a residential community. An examination of existing land reclamation and housing design knowledge was conducted to form the basis for original design theories. The communication and presentation of study recommendations was applied to a case study site: an active sand, gravel, and limestone quarry located near Muncie, Indiana. A methodology was developed to analyze the site for its mining, housing and visual potential. Environmentally responsive strategies to determine rural community structure, lake form design, and housing character were developed. An integration of analyses and design strategies yielded the final land use concept and the associated site development concept. The final product of the study was a reclamation concept plan directing mineral extraction and reclamation efforts toward optimal mining and housing potential. It was the intention of this study to discuss and present its design theories, recommendations, and process in map form capable of explaining the study in its entirety without additional verbal or written communication. / Department of Landscape Architecture

This study was designed to address the issues germaine to the land planning and rehabilitation strategy of a surface-mined land area for reuse as a water-based recreational facility. This development, the White River Waterpark, is proposed as a regional level facility.The report is divided into three sections. The first introduces the notion of rehabilitation as a necessary consideration for efficient land use planning. The second section provides background material on the process and methods of sand and gravel excavation and the resultant features which affect rehabilitation and reuse. Section three presents the design process for the Waterpark beginning with the formulation of planning objectives for facilities and activities, an inventory of the existing land base and an analysis of site features. These stages allow the determination of development and land use recommendations and conceptual design plans. Each stage of the planning process is documented in written and graphic form explaining the basis for decisions and proposals articulated in the Land Use Master Plan and supportive documents. / Department of Landscape Architecture

This project examines a sanitary landfill's potential for end-use development. The main purpose is to demonstrate that landfills that have been sited and operated without the development of an end-use plan will have much less end-use potential than those landfills that were sited with an end-use as a major objective.The project consists of three basic stages, introduction, background, and case study. The introduction outlines the project, stating the purpose, the limitations and assumptions, and goals and methods. The background section presents basic information pertaining to solid wastes management and planning, landfill siting and design, and end-use considerations. The case study presents an analysis of the Madison County Landfill in an attempt to demonstrate the end-use potential, or lack of potential, as a recreation facility. In addition to these three sections, there is also an evaluation of the project and a summary and conclusions. / Department of Landscape Architecture

Surface mining of oil sands results in extensive land disturbance, earth movement and water usage. After mining, the disturbed landscapes must be reconstructed and reclaimed as natural landforms. There are numerous challenges associated with understanding the responses of these landforms over time, including a need to track and characterize water movement through closure landforms to understand the hydrological responses of these landforms over time. This study attempted to use natural stable isotopes of water (δD and δ18O) to identify and characterize source waters from various closure landforms at an oil sands mine site. The study area is Syncrude‟s Mildred Lake mine, an open pit oil sands mine located in northern Alberta. A variety of groundwater, surface water and soil samples from a variety of landforms (overburden dumps, composite and mature fine tailings areas, tailings sand structures and freshwater reservoirs) were collected in an attempt to fully represent the isotopic distribution of waters across the mine site. Laboratory analysis of δD and δ18O was done on all samples. The local meteoric water line first established by Hilderman (2011) was redeveloped with additional precipitation data and calculated to be δD=7.0(δ18O) -18.6‰. A natural evaporation line having a slope of 5.3 was calculated for the mine site with samples collected from three surface water ponds on the mine site. Five primary source waters were identified on the mine site: process affected water/tailings, rainfall, snow, interstitial shale water and Mildred Lake water. It was found that these sources of water generally have unique natural stable water isotope signatures. Process affected water at the site generally had an enriched signature compared to other mine waters. The enrichment was attributed to fractionation from the recycle water circuit and natural evaporation. The characterizations of these source waters were then used in several hydrogeological examples to demonstrate that natural stable water isotopes can be applied to water balance estimates and to identify water movement processes related to closure landforms.

Dereliction of land by mining activities within the broad range of dereliction caused by other industrial and human activities was examined. Special attention was paid to impacts, mitigation, and costs thereof. Mine reclamation was examined in detail with special reference to professional interpretations. Mine reclamation bonding was studied with reference to environmental management planning so as to contribute to a forthcoming regulation concerning exactly these matters by providing a detailed listing of mining operations to be geared toward mine reclamation in Turkey&rsquo / s conditions and by providing key concepts in the inception of a draft regulation concerning mine reclamation as part of the EU accession program.

Biofilms are significant contributors to primary production, nutrient cycling, bio-stabilization and the food web of wetland ecosystems. Photoautotrophic biomass (PB) and primary production (PP) were determined for biofilms exposed to various treatments and materials in wetlands near Fort McMurray. Biofilm additions and oil sands process-affected materials were expected to increase the microbial colonization rates on treated substrates and subsequently PB and PP of biofilms over time as compared to controls and unaffected materials. Biofilms survived the transfers and colonized new substrates immediately. Oil sands process affected materials were found to increase PB and PP throughout the first year. A strong decreasing trend for both PB and PP in treatment microcosms occurred in year two, eventually coalescing with control conditions at a lower equilibrium. Transferred biofilms and treatment materials, therefore, increased overall wetland productivity during the initial stages of wetland development when growing conditions are most limiting. / Land Reclamation and Remediation

During oil-sands mining all vegetation cover, soil, overburden and oil-sand is removed, leaving pits several kilometres wide and hundreds of metres deep. These pits are reclaimed by a variety of treatments using mineral soil or a mixed peat and mineral soil as the capping layer and planted with trees with natural colonisation from adjacent sites. A number of reclamation treatments covering different age classes were compared with a range of natural forest ecotypes to identify the age at which the treatments become similar to a natural site with respect to vegetation composition and key soil attributes relevant to nutrient cycling. Ecosystem function was estimated from plant community composition, litter decomposition, development of an organic layer and bio-available nutrients. Key response variables including moisture, pH, C:N ratios, bio-available nutrients and ground-cover were analysed by non-metric multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis to discover which reclamation treatments were moving towards or merging with natural forest ecotypes and at what age this occurs. On reclaimed sites, bio-available nutrients including nitrate generally were above the natural range of variability but ammonium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and manganese were generally very low and limiting to ecosystem development. Plant diversity was similar to natural sites from 5 years to 30 years after reclamation, but declined as reclaimed sites approached canopy closure. Grass and forb leaf litters decomposed faster than aspen or pine in the first year, but decomposition on one reclamation treatment fell below the natural range of variability. Development of an organic layer appeared to be facilitated by the presence of shrubs, while forbs correlated negatively with first-year decomposition of aspen litter. The better restoration amendments for tailings sands involved repeated fertilisation of peat: mineral mixtures in the early years of plant establishment, these became similar to a target ecotype at about 25 years. Good results were also shown by subsoil laid over non-saline overburden and fertilised once, these became similar to a target ecotype at about 15 years. Other treatments receiving a single application of fertiliser remain entrenched in the early reclamation phase for up to 25 years.

Water recycling by membrane treatment is widely accepted as a leading alternative water source. This separation process creates a concentrated stream (called concentrates), containing most of the pollutants in 10%-20% of the flow; and a treated water stream. As nitrogen is a major concern, environmental regulations have become more stringent, requiring additional treatment to meet effluent standards. Other concerns include organic contaminants and potential production of halogenated organics if disinfection of the reject was applied. One option to address the problem of dissolved organic nitrogen and carbon is advanced oxidation. This oxidation could lead to degradation of refractory organic materials, which are poorly removed in conventional treatment. This project aims to evaluate treatment extent and cost of alternatives for organic (particularly nitrogen) removal in reject water addressing the following research gaps: (i) identifying the key organic pollutants present in the concentrated stream, (ii) the effectiveness and optimisation of coagulation, ion exchange and advanced oxidation; (iii) apparent cost of the different treatment methods. The untreated reverse osmosis concentrates were collected from two treatment plants:- Luggage Point, and Bundamba, both near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The first contains more colourful of organics than the second plant. Stirred cell fractionation with ultrafiltration membranes was used to characterise the removed key pollutants, as it offers better accuracy and reproducibility compared to centrifugation fractionation. Fluorescence spectral was used to monitor and identify specific organic compounds. The largest fraction was smaller sized <1kDa. This is probably small humic substances and fulvic acids, as indicated by Excitation Emission Matrix (EEM) analysis. A smaller portion of soluble microbial products (SMPs) also contributes to the concentrates. Bundamba contains large non coloured organics including organic nitrogen with elevated ammonia-N. In contrast, Luggage Point has higher colour, inorganic carbon and conductivity with less ammonia-N. Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) was the most effective treatment method (high removal of organics, e.g. 55% COD of initial), followed by magnetised ion exchange (MIEX) and coagulations. For UV/H2O2 AOP, the optimal operating condition 400mg.L-1 H2O2 and 3.1kWh.m-3 energy input resulted in organics removals up to 55% with complete decolourisation. The effective reduction was found in all size ranges, preferably in >1kDa. Low inorganic carbon and salinity in Bundamba may allow better overall oxidation rates. MIEX also performed better in Bundamba with organic removals up to 43% and 80% decolourisation at the optimum resin dose of 15mL.L-1. Removal was preferential in size range of >3kDa, with more proportional percentage for decolourisation. Similarly, ferric coagulation removed a wider size range of organics. Further, ferric achieved better organic removal in Luggage Point with up to 49%. At the same molar dose (1.5mM), ferric is superior to alum, especially in Bundamba where there were less hydrophobic compounds according to EEM. Alum is poor for treatment of high organics with less coloured water. MIEX with an operational cost (chemicals and power only) of $0.14-$0.20.m-3 treated water seemed to be the most effective treatment overall. The resin achieved better results with a slightly higher cost than coagulation, and had a lower environmental impact due to reduced sludge production. AOP offers better treatment, but at a higher cost ($0.47.m-3 treated). Combined alternatives may benefit the removal effectiveness. Furthermore, more specific identification of contaminants should be investigated separately to choose appropriate treatment for priority chemicals. Another issue is further investigation of costing, including capital, and full environmental impact of treatment.

Water recycling by membrane treatment is widely accepted as a leading alternative water source. This separation process creates a concentrated stream (called concentrates), containing most of the pollutants in 10%-20% of the flow; and a treated water stream. As nitrogen is a major concern, environmental regulations have become more stringent, requiring additional treatment to meet effluent standards. Other concerns include organic contaminants and potential production of halogenated organics if disinfection of the reject was applied. One option to address the problem of dissolved organic nitrogen and carbon is advanced oxidation. This oxidation could lead to degradation of refractory organic materials, which are poorly removed in conventional treatment. This project aims to evaluate treatment extent and cost of alternatives for organic (particularly nitrogen) removal in reject water addressing the following research gaps: (i) identifying the key organic pollutants present in the concentrated stream, (ii) the effectiveness and optimisation of coagulation, ion exchange and advanced oxidation; (iii) apparent cost of the different treatment methods. The untreated reverse osmosis concentrates were collected from two treatment plants:- Luggage Point, and Bundamba, both near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The first contains more colourful of organics than the second plant. Stirred cell fractionation with ultrafiltration membranes was used to characterise the removed key pollutants, as it offers better accuracy and reproducibility compared to centrifugation fractionation. Fluorescence spectral was used to monitor and identify specific organic compounds. The largest fraction was smaller sized <1kDa. This is probably small humic substances and fulvic acids, as indicated by Excitation Emission Matrix (EEM) analysis. A smaller portion of soluble microbial products (SMPs) also contributes to the concentrates. Bundamba contains large non coloured organics including organic nitrogen with elevated ammonia-N. In contrast, Luggage Point has higher colour, inorganic carbon and conductivity with less ammonia-N. Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) was the most effective treatment method (high removal of organics, e.g. 55% COD of initial), followed by magnetised ion exchange (MIEX) and coagulations. For UV/H2O2 AOP, the optimal operating condition 400mg.L-1 H2O2 and 3.1kWh.m-3 energy input resulted in organics removals up to 55% with complete decolourisation. The effective reduction was found in all size ranges, preferably in >1kDa. Low inorganic carbon and salinity in Bundamba may allow better overall oxidation rates. MIEX also performed better in Bundamba with organic removals up to 43% and 80% decolourisation at the optimum resin dose of 15mL.L-1. Removal was preferential in size range of >3kDa, with more proportional percentage for decolourisation. Similarly, ferric coagulation removed a wider size range of organics. Further, ferric achieved better organic removal in Luggage Point with up to 49%. At the same molar dose (1.5mM), ferric is superior to alum, especially in Bundamba where there were less hydrophobic compounds according to EEM. Alum is poor for treatment of high organics with less coloured water. MIEX with an operational cost (chemicals and power only) of $0.14-$0.20.m-3 treated water seemed to be the most effective treatment overall. The resin achieved better results with a slightly higher cost than coagulation, and had a lower environmental impact due to reduced sludge production. AOP offers better treatment, but at a higher cost ($0.47.m-3 treated). Combined alternatives may benefit the removal effectiveness. Furthermore, more specific identification of contaminants should be investigated separately to choose appropriate treatment for priority chemicals. Another issue is further investigation of costing, including capital, and full environmental impact of treatment.