Evaluation of the Potential for Release of Residual Coal Tar by Flood Scour at a Superfund Site

by Basilis N. Stephanatos, Environmental Resources Management, Inc, Exton, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Hydraulic Engineering

Abstract:

To address the potential for release of residual coal tar by flood scour, stream cross-sections, stream discharge and sediment grain size data were collected during the Remedial Investigation as input parameters to the U.S. Corps of Engineers 'HEC-6 Scour and Deposition Model in Rivers and Reservoirs'. At Brodhead Creek, a 60,000 cfs flood event has a 0.1 percent chance of occurrence in any given year, or about once in 1,000 years. This flood event was used to simulate worst case conditions for potential coal tar release. The modeling results indicate that under normal flood events, no excessive or significant erosion of the stream bottom occurs. Under a 1000-year flood event, a maximum erosion of two feet of sediment from the stream bottom is likely to occur, northwest of the mid-channel bar deposit. The eroded material is expected to be deposited within the mid-channel bar. Since the residual coal tar is located approximately three feet beneath the stream bed, no significant release of coal-tar contaminated sediments is expected to result.

Subject Headings: Coal | Mine wastes | Floods | River and stream beds | Freight transportation | Coal mining | Scour

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