Hydrogeology and Simulation of Groundwater Flow at the Green Valley Reclaimed Coal Refuse Site Near Terre Haute Indiana

<p>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.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>