ISGS - February 2006 Activity Highlights

February 2006 Activity Highlights

Bricks From Fly Ash

The Illinois Clean Coal Institute (ICCI)-funded fly ash and bottom ash brick project has been completed, and the final report has been reviewed and accepted by the ICCI. This project was a joint effort between the ISGS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and two industrial partners that produced critical data supporting the commercial viability of bricks containing substantial Illinois coal fly ash and bottom ash. The partners successfully developed a process for producing fired bricks that uses these power plant waste materials instead of the traditional raw materials. The results indicated that fired bricks containing bottom ash at up to 20% remain commercially viable. Through the course of this project, the industry partners have gained confidence in the utilization of Illinois coal fly ash and bottom ash in fired brick making and are currently moving forward with their plan to build a new brick plant in Illinois.

For the U.S. Department of Energy-funded fly ash brick project, four scale-up production test runs for making building bricks containing up to 40 vol% (about 37 wt%) fly ash were completed during this reporting period. Visual and engineering properties of these commercially prepared products were evaluated, and results show that the compressive strength of these products is improved with the addition of fly ash. These bricks have far exceeded ASTM building brick specifications and are marketable for the severe weather grade quality. The economic and environmental feasibility studies are in progress. The brick company is ready to commercialize the process once logistical and economic feasibility issues are finalized. (Contact: M. Chou and J. Chou)

Chicago River Student Congress

The Chicago River Student Congress is an annual event that brings together Chicago high school students, teachers, and environmental professionals to discuss the science and management of the Chicago River system. The 2006 Student Congress was held in Chicago on Saturday, February 4, 2006, at Amundsen High School. The event was attended by approximately 100 people. An ISGS coastal geologist was a presenter at the Congress and gave two workshops on the geologic history of the Chicago River. The ISGS workshops were attended by thirty people. (Contact: M. Chrzastowski)

Investigation of Seeps Along the Fox River

An ISGS geologist presented the results of a study of seeps along the Fox River west of Yorkville to representatives of the Illinois Department of Transportation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and several private consultants. The study also addressed potential impacts from the construction of the Prairie Parkway, a proposed new interstate highway construction project though Kane, Kendall, and Grundy Counties. Infiltration from the proposed roadway area was calculated to be a very small proportion of the total discharge to the seeps, so the loss of infiltration is not expected to significantly reduce seep discharge or acreage. Private consultants plan to develop various infiltration management techniques to minimize water-quality issues. (Contact: J. Miner)

Pecatonica Prairie Parkway Project Completed

The Pecatonica Prairie Parkway is a proposed new rails-to-trails bike path project to build a connection between Rockford and Freeport in Winnebago and Stephenson Counties. The pathway is part of a larger system in the works that will connect Freeport to another parkway running north into Wisconsin. The ISGS completed the preliminary environmental assessment or this project for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) in January 2006. The project study area was approximately 47 km (29 mi) long and involved six townships and five communities. Potential environmental hazards were investigated at approximately 33 properties. The information provided by ISGS will be used by IDOT to continue more in-depth environmental work. (Contact: D. Adomaitis)

Requests for Oil-Related Information Increasing

The demand for services in the ISGS Geologic Records Unit continues to increase. Staff in the Oil and Gas Section are also handling large increases in requests for information. These increases are linked to increased petroleum exploration and development activity in the petroleum industry leading to increased requests for information and data contained in well record files. The ILOIL Web site is also experiencing a large increase, from 80 to more than 100 daily users. The site was recently upgraded. New layers show wells with scanned logs, historic waterflood areas, and wells with sample sets and cores. (Contact: B. Seyler)

Method Developed for Estimating Background and Threshold Nitrate Concentrations

In order to determine whether groundwater quality has been affected by human activities, background concentrations for compounds such as nitrate need to be established. The basic premise for determining a background concentration is to set a threshold value; if a sample has a concentration above the threshold value, this indicates contamination. Attempting to determine background concentrations for nitrate is extremely difficult because of the widespread nature of natural concentrations and man-made contamination in the environment. Natural sources of nitrogen, such as wildlife and decay of natural vegetation, synthetic fertilizer, and human and livestock waste are the primary sources of nitrate in ground water environments. The ISGS developed a method to identify threshold concentrations of nitrate in hundreds of water samples from wells and springs in southwestern Illinois. A threshold concentration separates naturally occurring nitrate from human-related nitrate. Three thresholds were found in these samples: the first is a low concentration (less than 1 milligram per liter) that is present in rainwater and snow melt; the second is an intermediate concentration (2.5 milligrams per liter) that represents what would normally be found in well water if humans were not present; the third threshold separates contamination from nitrogen fertilizer nitrate (2.5 to 15 milligrams per liter) from waste from livestock (15 to 80 milligrams per liter). The new technique can separate background nitrate concentrations from contamination and can be used as an indicator of the sources of contamination. (Contact: S. Panno)

Wetlands Studies at Wagner Fen

An ISGS staff member participated in drilling at Wagner Fen as part of a larger study examining the possible effects of a housing development planned in uplands adjacent to the fen that is being undertaken by the Village of Lake Barrington. The fen is underlain by a layer of peat, which has accumulated on a layer of clay. Discrete mounds have formed in places in the peat layer, and these mounds are habitat for the most rare plant species in the fen. Recent drilling has shown that the clay is missing beneath these mounds, allowing groundwater to discharge to the land surface from the sand and gravel that underlies the fen and the adjacent uplands. Additional work is under way to determine whether changes to water quality or quantity caused by the proposed housing development are likely to occur in the sand and gravel. Additional consultations with the Village and other stakeholders are planned. The study is being performed by Natural Resources Technology and by Huff and Huff Consultants, who are the consultants to the Village. (Contact: J. Miner)

Highlights Archive

Updated 07/19/2012 SLD