Hydrogeology and simulation of groundwater flow at the Green Valley reclaimed coal refuse site near Terre Haute, Indiana

Scientific Investigations Report 2011-5116
By: , and 

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Abstract

The Green Valley reclaimed coal refuse site, near Terre Haute, Ind., was mined for coal from 1948 to 1963. Subsurface coal was cleaned and sorted at land surface, and waste material was deposited over the native glacial till. Approximately 2.7 million cubic yards of waste was deposited over 159 acres (92.3 hectares) in tailings ponds and gob piles. During 1993, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Reclamation, improved the site by grading gob piles, filling tailings ponds, and covering the refuse with a layer of glacial drift. During 2008, the Division of Reclamation and U.S. Geological Survey initiated a cooperative investigation to characterize the hydrogeology of the site and construct a calibrated groundwater flow model that could be used to simulate the results of future remedial actions. In support of the modeling, a data-collection network was installed at the Green Valley site to measure weather components, geophysical properties, groundwater levels, and stream and seep flow. Results of the investigation indicate that (1) there is negligible overland flow from the site, (2) the prevailing groundwater-flow direction is from northeast to southwest, with a much smaller drainage to the northeast, (3) there is not a direct hydraulic connection between the refuse and West Little Sugar Creek, (4) about 24 percent of the groundwater recharge emerges through seeps, and water from the seeps evaporates or eventually flows to West Little Sugar Creek and the Green Valley Mine Pond, and (5) about 72 percent of groundwater recharge moves vertically downward from the coal refuse into the till and follows long, slow flow paths to eventual dischage points.

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Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Hydrogeology and simulation of groundwater flow at the Green Valley reclaimed coal refuse site near Terre Haute, Indiana
Series title Scientific Investigations Report
Series number 2011-5116
DOI 10.3133/sir20115116
Year Published 2011
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Indiana Water Science Center
Description vii, 54 p.; Appendices
First page i
Last page 70
Time Range Start 2008-05-01
Time Range End 2009-12-31
Country United States
State Indiana
Datum NAD83
Projection Universal Transverse Mercator projection
Scale 100000
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
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