Several projects listed below were completed by Key Personnel while employed by the Reclamation Research Unit at MSU.
The Use of Soil Amendments for Remediation Revitalization, and Reuse. In 2006, Dennis Neuman was invited to participate in a three day Soil Amendments for Ecological Revitalization Workshop sponsored by USEPA. The purpose of the workshop was to assess known problems and potential solutions related to the use of soil amendments in revitalizing ecosystems on contaminated lands. Two outcomes of the workshop were the publications of a white paper titled: The Use of Soil Amendments for the Remediation, Revitalization and Reuse (EPA 542-R-07-013), and development of an online Technical Performance Measures matrix identifying attributes that can be measured to assess the success and performance of landscapes to which soils amendments have been applied.
Project Publications:
1.cfm
Contact: Dr. Ellen Rubin, USEPA/Washington, DC
Development of a Qualitative Reclamation Assessment Handbook for Abandoned Hardrock Mine Lands. The Abandoned Mine Lands Inventory System (AMLIS) includes nearly 1100 abandoned mines in Montana. The Montana offices of the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service as well as the Montana Department of Environmental Quality AML Program have been working to clean up these abandoned mine lands since 1995. The agencies in general have given priority to sites with mill tailings and waste rock dumps situated in stream channels, and in Montana the clean up of impacted lands on a watershed basis through interagency cooperation has been emphasized. There is a developing desire of the federal agencies to begin monitoring these sites in a systematic way. A set of evaluation forms were developed that ask multiple questions regarding pertinent attributes that are found at specific locations within a reclaimed mine site (repository, wetland, etc.). The attributes may include vegetation cover, status of a cap or liner, roads, evidence of AMD, etc. The responses are qualitative in nature and agency personnel can be trained to accurately and precisely (repeatedly) provide the required information. The overall objective is to provide a common platform to evaluate these sites so that federal agencies responsible for risk management and land management can easily communicate and work in partnership to accomplish their respective missions. In the summer of 2006, BLM personnel assessed twelve remediated mine sites using the protocol and handbook.. Outcomes of a systematic monitoring program envisioned by the federal agencies include the need for maintenance, generation of temporal information that will allow trend analysis of cleanup status, and identification of cleanup methods and technologies that are proven effective and those that have resulted in poor performance. Data and information can be used by the agencies to provide evidence that reclamation work performed remains protective of the resources and reductions in human health risk are maintained.
Project Publications: Contact RRG for electronic copy of the Handbook
Clients: USDA/USFS and USDOI/BLM
Contacts: Peter Bierbach, BLM/Billings, MT., Mike Browne, USFS/Butte, MT
Bond Release Vegetation Criteria. Since the passage of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) in 1977, vegetation data have been collected by mine operators to describe pre-mining vegetation and establish baseline data from which vegetation reference areas can be derived. These vegetation reference areas are intended to serve as a standard for comparisons to revegetated areas on reclaimed coal mines to evaluate the success of reclamation for bond release. To date, the reference area data and pre-mine data have not been synthesized in a manner to facilitate statistical equivalency, derivation of revegetation standards, or facilitate appropriate categorization of reference areas and data in relation to some revegetation and postmine land use requirements. Data quality objectives and a quality assurance/quality control system were designed to screen data for inclusion in the database. A relational database has been designed and tested with representative data sets. Multivariate statistics were used to classify vegetation communities at three mine sites and these plant communities were characterized. A final operational database and user manual were written.
Client: confidential
Assessment of Effects of Amendments on Vegetation Performance at a Bentonite Minesite . A total of 135 experimental plots [15 treatments with 3 fertilized rates nested within each treatment and replicated three times] were implemented on bentonite spoils in the 1980s by staff of the Reclamation Research Unit at Montana State University. Treatments varied from physical manipulations to additions of chemical and biological amendments. The plots were seeded with mixes of plant species. Effects of these amendments and treatments on spoil chemistry and vegetation were documented in several early RRU reports. In April, 2005, a qualitative assessment of the vegetation status of the experimental reclamation plots was conducted. The purpose of this assessment was to determine which of the treatments support the "best" vegetation. Based on this assessment, soils and vegetation from these "best" plots were then evaluated in July. These treatments were as follows: 1) Treatment #7 -- Manure at 112 Mg/ha + H2SO4 at 20 Mg/ha; 2) Treatment #9 -- Gypsum at 6.7 Mg/ha + CaCl2 at 17.2 Mg/ha; and 3) MgCl2 Brine. The vegetation growing on these experimental plots was quantitative evaluated and reported in 2005.
Client: BLM
Evaluation of Organic Matter Addition and Incorporation on Steep Cut Slopes. Fundamental to successful revegetation of highway corridors following disturbance is the creation of a growth environment conducive to the establishment and early survival of the seeded plants. Steep cut slopes present a unique problem. The steepness of cut slopes prevents practical replacement of salvaged topsoil with conventional equipment. Current techniques all too often result in marginal plant establishment since germination and initial seedling survival is limited by nutrient poor, rocky substrates characteristic of cut slopes. These results often lead to increased erosion and sedimentation, occasional slope failure, increased noxious weed growth, and low aesthetic quality. The overall research objectives for the project were to: 1) reduce sediment yield and erosion from steep highway cut slopes through amendment with compost; 2) enhance vegetation establishment on steep highway cut slopes through amendment with compost; 3) develop amendment rates, application protocols and techniques for compost addition and incorporation on steep highway cut slopes; 4) implement, monitor and evaluate test plots on steep highway cut slopes; and 5) communicate, report and provide technology transfer of the research findings. This project was completed in 2006. Final Report ID: FHWA/MT-07-001/8176. Client: Montana Department of Transportation.
Optimization of Construction BMP Performance in the Northern Rockies for Enhanced Stormwater Control . The overall purpose of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of installed stormwater BMPs under several geological and climatological regimes characteristic of the Northern Rocky Mountains. Data and observations from this investigation will be synthesized and modeled to formulate improved guidelines for BMP construction. Dynamic technology transfer will be employed to disseminate these guidelines and associated documents through interactive, computer-based products including both website and CD media. This project is progressing through five related parts described below:
Literature review of existing stormwater BMP guidelines from Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming;
Inventory of BMPs utilized in Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs) filed with State regulatory offices in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming;
Assessment and evaluation of the apparent effectiveness of these BMPs as installed in the field;
Data interpretation, computer modeling and synthesis of the assembled information;
Technology transfer utilizing several media formats with emphasis placed on delivering design guidelines to permittees. Client: US EPA
Development of the Land Reclamation Evaluation System (LRES) for the Anaconda Smelter SuperFund Site . Tens of thousands of acres of land have been disturbed in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin as a result of historic mining and smelting. The Anaconda Smelter site was used to process hundreds of millions of tons of ore for recovery of copper and other metals. The resulting waste disposal area and landscape downwind from the smelter stack were designated as a federal Superfund site. Remediation of the site was mandated by EPA, yet the Record of Decision did not specifically delineate the areas of remediation. Rather, EPA prescribed the use of the Land Reclamation Evaluation System or LRES. The LRES was developed to objectively delineate tens of thousands of acres of land for remediation through field evaluation of soil and vegetation conditions paired to the potential for re-release of contamination. The complex pattern of vegetation at the site required careful preservation of good vegetation while treating adjacent areas of barren and sparsely vegetated land. Remediation at this site is on-going using the LRES-delineated areas.
Reclamation Research Group, LLC 376 Gallatin Park Drive Bozeman, MT 59715 Phone 406.585.7402 Email info@kcharvey.com
Development of a Qualitative Reclamation Assessment Handbook for Abandoned Hardrock Mine Lands. The Abandoned Mine Lands Inventory System (AMLIS) includes nearly 1100 abandoned mines in Montana. The Montana offices of the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service as well as the Montana Department of Environmental Quality AML Program have been working to clean up these abandoned mine lands since 1995. The agencies in general have given priority to sites with mill tailings and waste rock dumps situated in stream channels, and in Montana the clean up of impacted lands on a watershed basis through interagency cooperation has been emphasized. There is a developing desire of the federal agencies to begin monitoring these sites in a systematic way. A set of evaluation forms were developed that ask multiple questions regarding pertinent attributes that are found at specific locations within a reclaimed mine site (repository, wetland, etc.). The attributes may include vegetation cover, status of a cap or liner, roads, evidence of AMD, etc. The responses are qualitative in nature and agency personnel can be trained to accurately and precisely (repeatedly) provide the required information. The overall objective is to provide a common platform to evaluate these sites so that federal agencies responsible for risk management and land management can easily communicate and work in partnership to accomplish their respective missions. In the summer of 2006, BLM personnel assessed twelve remediated mine sites using the protocol and handbook.. Outcomes of a systematic monitoring program envisioned by the federal agencies include the need for maintenance, generation of temporal information that will allow trend analysis of cleanup status, and identification of cleanup methods and technologies that are proven effective and those that have resulted in poor performance. Data and information can be used by the agencies to provide evidence that reclamation work performed remains protective of the resources and reductions in human health risk are maintained.
Assessment of Effects of Amendments on Vegetation Performance at a Bentonite Minesite . A total of 135 experimental plots [15 treatments with 3 fertilized rates nested within each treatment and replicated three times] were implemented on bentonite spoils in the 1980s by staff of the Reclamation Research Unit at Montana State University. Treatments varied from physical manipulations to additions of chemical and biological amendments. The plots were seeded with mixes of plant species. Effects of these amendments and treatments on spoil chemistry and vegetation were documented in several early RRU reports. In April, 2005, a qualitative assessment of the vegetation status of the experimental reclamation plots was conducted. The purpose of this assessment was to determine which of the treatments support the "best" vegetation. Based on this assessment, soils and vegetation from these "best" plots were then evaluated in July. These treatments were as follows: 1) Treatment #7 -- Manure at 112 Mg/ha + H2SO4 at 20 Mg/ha; 2) Treatment #9 -- Gypsum at 6.7 Mg/ha + CaCl2 at 17.2 Mg/ha; and 3) MgCl2 Brine. The vegetation growing on these experimental plots was quantitative evaluated and reported in 2005. 
Evaluation of Organic Matter Addition and Incorporation on Steep Cut Slopes. Fundamental to successful revegetation of highway corridors following disturbance is the creation of a growth environment conducive to the establishment and early survival of the seeded plants. Steep cut slopes present a unique problem. The steepness of cut slopes prevents practical replacement of salvaged topsoil with conventional equipment. Current techniques all too often result in marginal plant establishment since germination and initial seedling survival is limited by nutrient poor, rocky substrates characteristic of cut slopes. These results often lead to increased erosion and sedimentation, occasional slope failure, increased noxious weed growth, and low aesthetic quality. The overall research objectives for the project were to: 1) reduce sediment yield and erosion from steep highway cut slopes through amendment with compost; 2) enhance vegetation establishment on steep highway cut slopes through amendment with compost; 3) develop amendment rates, application protocols and techniques for compost addition and incorporation on steep highway cut slopes; 4) implement, monitor and evaluate test plots on steep highway cut slopes; and 5) communicate, report and provide technology transfer of the research findings. This project was completed in 2006. Final Report ID: FHWA/MT-07-001/8176. Client: Montana Department of Transportation.
Development of the Land Reclamation Evaluation System (LRES) for the Anaconda Smelter SuperFund Site . Tens of thousands of acres of land have been disturbed in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin as a result of historic mining and smelting. The Anaconda Smelter site was used to process hundreds of millions of tons of ore for recovery of copper and other metals. The resulting waste disposal area and landscape downwind from the smelter stack were designated as a federal Superfund site. Remediation of the site was mandated by EPA, yet the Record of Decision did not specifically delineate the areas of remediation. Rather, EPA prescribed the use of the Land Reclamation Evaluation System or LRES. The LRES was developed to objectively delineate tens of thousands of acres of land for remediation through field evaluation of soil and vegetation conditions paired to the potential for re-release of contamination. The complex pattern of vegetation at the site required careful preservation of good vegetation while treating adjacent areas of barren and sparsely vegetated land. Remediation at this site is on-going using the LRES-delineated areas.