Use of Steel Slag Leach Beds for the Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage: The McCarty Highwall Project

Abstract

Abstract. Steel slag leach beds were constructed at the abandoned McCarty mine site in Preston County, West Virginia. The leach beds were constructed as slag check dams below limestone-lined settling basins. Acid water was captured in limestone channels and directed into basins to leach through the slag dams and discharge into a tributary of Beaver Creek. Since installation in October 2000, the system has been consistently producing net alkaline, pH 9.0 water. The water is still net alkaline and has stabilized at a neutral pH after the treated water encounters several other acidic seeps downstream. In addition, other than elevated Cr, which exceeds EPA water criteria for freshwater aquatics at the Beaver pond discharge, metals in the system effluent are within acceptable limits.

Assessment of characteristics and remedial alternatives for abandoned mine drainage : case study at Staple Bend Tunnel unit of Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, 2004

“…(Simmons et al, 2002a). The slag had been sieved and cleaned commercially by magnetic separation to eliminate stray scraps of iron and steel.…”

“…An important factor in selection of this site for study is that limestone and steel slag are locally available and potentially useful for mine-drainage treatment. Calcium-bearing compounds in the limestone and steel slag can neutralize AMD, increasing pH and alkalinity (Ziemkiewicz and Skousen, 1998;Simmons et al, 2002aSimmons et al, , 2002bCravotta, 2003). However, equal amounts of limestone or slag could have different neutralizing capacities and rates of reaction because limestone predominantly is composed of crystalline carbonates and slag predominantly is composed of silicate glass.…”

Neutralização de Drenagem Ácida de Rochas com Lama Vermelha de Bauxita: Ensaios de Batelada em Laboratório

“…Research on the application of alkaline industrial solid wastes as covers and liners include metallurgic slag (Simmons et al, 2002;Hamilton et al, 2007;Salviano & Leite, 2014;Pereira de Almeida et al, 2015 and others) and Bauxite Red Mud -BRM (Duchesne & Doye, 2005;Sutar et al, 2014;World Aluminum, 2015). BRM is an alkaline residue from the bauxite processing (Bayer Process) for alumina (Al2O3) production.…”