M.S. Thesis: Evaluation of the Chemical Effects of Waste to Energy (WtE) Ash used for the Remediation of Abandoned Coal Mines and Potential for Removal of Chlorine from WtE Fly Ash
By Michael P. Hyland
Advisor: Professor Nickolas J. Themelis
Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering
Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Science
Columbia University
October 2005
Bark Camp is the site of an abandoned coal mine in western PA that was targeted for remediation by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP). This work was initiated by research at Penn State University on the material strength of ash-sediment mixtures and also by efforts of the Clean Ocean and Shore Trust of NY/NJ (COAST), a bi-state commission, to find beneficial uses of river sediments that could not be disposed offshore. The objective of the PADEP was to restore these hillsides, so they could support vegetation and thus return the area to a productive state within the ecosystem, by filling the gouges in the land using materials such as dredged soils and fluidized bed combustion (FBC) or municipal solid waste (MSW) ash that would otherwise be disposed in landfills.