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Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Geosciences Theses Department of Geosciences 5-10-2019 Investigating the Relationship Between Water Flow Path and Contaminant Risk from Georgia Coal Ash Ponds in the Piedmont Claire C. Mathis Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/geosciences_theses Recommended Citation Mathis, Claire C., "Investigating the Relationship Between Water Flow Path and Contaminant Risk from Georgia Coal Ash Ponds in the Piedmont." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2019. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/geosciences_theses/125 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Geosciences at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Geosciences Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INVESTIGATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WATER FLOW PATH AND CONTAMINANT RISK FROM GEORGIA COAL ASH PONDS IN THE PIEDMONT by CLAIRE MATHIS Under the Direction of Nadine Kabengi, PhD ABSTRACT Half of all the coal ash produced in the United States is stored in coal ash ponds. Coal ash contains a variety of toxic contaminants, which can contaminate nearby water resources. Georgia has a total of eight coal power plants, both active and retired, which all have unlined ash ponds without any leachate removal system to prevent groundwater contamination. This research analyzes publicly available water quality data from Coal Ash Pond Groundwater monitoring reports and focuses on Plant Scherer, Plant Wansley, and Plant Yates within the Piedmont Geographic Province. Contaminant concentration patterns and their flow paths suggests that some of the higher levels are coming from surface infiltration of dry coal ash surrounding the pond, as opposed to leaching from the pond itself. This finding raises questions regarding developing practical solutions and best practices that needs to be put in place to prevent groundwater contamination in unlined coal ash ponds. INDEX WORDS: Coal Ash Ponds, CCRs, groundwater, contaminants, Piedmont, flow path INVESTIGATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WATER FLOW PATH AND CONTAMINANT RISK FROM GEORGIA COAL ASH PONDS IN THE PIEDMONT by CLAIRE MATHIS A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2019 Copyright by Claire Cynthia Mathis 2019 INVESTIGATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WATER FLOW PATH AND CONTAMINANT RISK FROM GEORGIA COAL ASH PONDS IN THE PIEDMONT by CLAIRE MATHIS Committee Chair: Nadine Kabengi Committee: Luke Pangle Dajun Dai Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University May 2019 iv DEDICATION I would like to dedicate my thesis to my fiancé, Tony. None of this would have been possible without his support over the last two years. I love you and thank you for continuing to support me as I pursue my dreams. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you so much to my thesis committee, Dr. Kabengi, Dr. Pangle, and Dr. Dai. I appreciate all of you taking time out of your busy lives to help me with my thesis. Thank you Dr. Pangle for everything I have learned in your hydrology courses which have laid the foundation for my academic career. Not only are you always extremely knowledgeable and helpful, but you also provide plenty of practical applications. Also, thank you Dr. Dai for everything GIS-related that I have learned. GIS is an priceless skill set that I am sure I will use for the rest of my career, so again thank you so much. I especially want to thank my advisor, Dr. Kabengi. None of this would have been possible without your awesome advisement and very detailed feedback. Thank you for helping me stay on track for the past two years, despite the many setbacks that happen in life. I wish you the very best with your new role as the Geosciences Graduate Director. I couldn’t think of a better person to support my fellow classmates. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ V LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... XI LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... XII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................... XIV 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 What is Coal Ash? ............................................................................................... 1 1.2 Significance of Coal Consumption in Georgia .................................................. 2 1.3 Study Purpose ...................................................................................................... 2 1.4 Research Questions ............................................................................................. 4 2 BACKGROUND ......................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Coal Combustion Residuals (CCRs) .................................................................. 5 2.2 Coal Fly Ash Chemical Composition ................................................................. 5 2.3 Coal Ash Disposal ................................................................................................ 7 2.4 Coal Fly Ash Leachate Behavior........................................................................ 7 2.5 Current Coal Ash Disposal Regulations............................................................ 8 2.6 Evidence of Coal Ash Ponds Leaching .............................................................. 8 2.7 Kingston Coal Ash Spill ...................................................................................... 9 2.8 Health and Environmental Risks of Coal Ash Ponds ...................................... 9 2.9 Coal Power Plants in Georgia .......................................................................... 12 vii 2.10 Hydrogeology of Georgia .............................................................................. 14 2.11 Soils of Georgia .............................................................................................. 15 3 METHODS ................................................................................................................ 18 3.1 Georgia Coal Power Plant Map Creation ....................................................... 18 3.2 Water Quality Data Collection and Analysis .................................................. 19 3.3 Power Plant Impoundments Map Creation .................................................... 20 3.4 Groundwater Flow Path Map Creation .......................................................... 20 3.4.1 Contaminant Flow Path................................................................................ 20 3.4.2 Contaminant Migration Distance Graphs ................................................... 21 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................... 22 4.1 Georgia Coal Power Plant Maps...................................................................... 22 4.1.1 Georgia Coal Power Plants and Principal Aquifers .................................... 22 4.1.2 Georgia Coal Power Plants and River Basins ............................................. 25 4.2 Water Quality Data Analysis Summary ......................................................... 27 4.2.1 Water Quality Data Analysis Summary for Plant Scherer .......................... 29 4.2.2 Water Quality Data Analysis Summary for Plant Wansley......................... 35 4.2.3 Water Quality Data Analysis Summary for Plant Yates .............................. 41 4.3 Contaminant Flow Path .................................................................................... 48 4.3.1 Plant Scherer Contaminant Flow Path ........................................................ 48 4.3.2 Plant Scherer Contaminant Migration Distance ......................................... 51 viii 4.3.3 Plant Wansley Contaminant Flow Path ....................................................... 56 4.3.4 Plant Wansley Contaminant Migration Distance ........................................ 56 4.3.5 Plant Yates Contaminant Flow Path ............................................................ 63 4.3.6 Plant Yates Contaminant Migration Distance ............................................. 63 5 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................... 70 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 76 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................. 81 Appendix A Plant Scherer Water Quality Graphs .................................................. 81 Appendix A.1 Plant Scherer Boron Concentration (mg/L) .................................... 82 Appendix A.2 Plant Scherer Calcium Concentration (mg/L) ................................. 82 Appendix A.3 Plant Scherer 푺푶₄ퟐ −Concentration (mg/L) ................................... 83 Appendix A.4 Plant Scherer TDS Concentration (mg/L) ....................................... 83 Appendix A.5 Plant Scherer Cobalt Concentration (mg/L)