The partnership initiative OSU is co-operating with American Electric Power on the reclamation project taking place behind the Conesville power plant. Officials touted it not just for its environmental impact, but also its cost effectiveness.
OSU Research Associate Professor Dr. Tarunjit Butalia, from the school's Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering, and AEP geologist John Massey-Norton, both of whom have been integral in the project, spoke to Drake about what they are working to accomplish.
"It's great to see the university working with industry and the local community to try and do everything we can to be both sustainable and address some of the issues we had in the past, and do it in an economically sound and scientifically progressive way," Drake said.
OSU Director of Public and Media Relations Ben Johnson said AEP and OSU have partnered to divert approximately 1.7 million tons of coal combustion byproducts from the landfill, instead using the byproduct to reclaim abandoned mine land in the area.
Coal combustion products are solid minerals such as fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag and flue gas desulferization. The FGD, consisting of sulfite, sulfate and dry FGD materials, is a powder-like substance that is also being used by farmers seeking a boost in crop growth.
Source: Times Recorder
