ISGS - March 2006 Activity Highlights

ISGS Centennial Open House

The Illinois State Geological Survey held an Open House on March 10 and 11, 2006, as part of its Centennial Celebration. The event was held in conjunction with the University of Illinois engineering and agriculture open houses. More than 1,000 students, teachers, families, and other members of the general public attended the two-day ISGS event, which featured more than 40 exhibits, activities, and demonstrations. Visitors learned about the history of the ISGS, watched the geologic history of Illinois come to life in "Build Illinois", hunted for buried treasure at the "kids fossil dig", got up close to a drill rig that can penetrate hundreds of feet into the Earth's surface, learned about the state's energy resources, and much more. (Contact: D. Sieving)

Earthquake Exercises - Illinois Emergency Management Agency

An ISGS engineering geologist made presentations, provided 46 separate maps and answered questions during three two-day earthquake exercises in the Illinois Emergency Management Agency’s three southern-most regions in Illinois. He provided information on historical earthquakes and what to expect in the way of main shocks and aftershocks associated with the New Madrid and Wabash Valley Seismic Zones. In total, about 120 emergency managers and representatives from the Red Cross, Department of Public Health, state police, and Illinois Department of Transportation attended the three exercises. Individual county and regional maps that were produced for the exercise showed the roadways superimposed on soil amplification maps. The maps gave indications of how earthquake ground motions would be amplified by the various soils in the regions. (Contact: R. Bauer)

Groundwater Legislative Conference

An ISGS hydrogeologist attended the National Ground Water Association's (NGWA) annual legislative conference in Washington, D.C. The first day was devoted to briefing attendees on the GNWA's legislative issues, which included increase funding for aquifer mapping and other groundwater data, release of the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund money for cleanups and training of operators, continued funding of low-cost loans for domestic wells, and tax credits for geothermal heat pumps. The briefings were conducted by federal government staff members, followed by panel discussions by NGWA members who related the briefings to specific NGWA issues. Gene Whitney of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy discussed how his office is responding to the President's request for a long-term strategy for water research and development. Whitney acknowledged the value of the groundwater availability survey the ISGS staff member conducted with NGWA staff a few years ago. The survey led to Whitney's request that NGWA suggest a design for a national water monitoring program. The ISGS staff member had participated in the design of this program, which was delivered to Whitney last year. The draft strategy will be out for stakeholder input this summer. Bill Wilbur, head of the USGS National Water Quality Assessment Program, discussed the just-released report on pesticides in water. The ISGS staff member discussed the importance of Whitney's and Wilbur's talks to the Association. (Contact: B. Herzog)

Macon County Conservation District Assistance

An ISGS wetlands scientist provided information to the Macon County Conservation District regarding the past and present status of wetlands in Macon County and the current wetland restoration projects being studied there by the ISGS. The Conservation District requested the information for an article being written about the relationship between mosquitoes and healthy wetlands. The article is to be included in the Macon County Conservation District newsletter, which is distributed to about 3,000 households. (Contact: E. Plankell)

Coal Mine and Coalbed Methane Information Provided

This month brought several opportunities for ISGS geologists to share coal information with a variety of audiences. An ISGS senior geologist gave a talk on coal mining to the Fayette County Soil and Water Conservation District in Vandalia. The audience of 250 farmers was concerned about proposed longwall mining in Fayette County. The talk and question-and-answer session focused on how coal is mined (longwall vs. room-and-pillar) and how and why ground subsidence takes place.

Two members of the Coal Section presented a program on coal and coalbed methane potential in Effingham County at the Effingham County Farm Bureau. Multiple posters showing coal thickness, depth and other information about the county were demonstrated and donated to the Effingham Farm Bureau. A Farm Bureau attorney also discussed mineral rights ownership, severed titles, recovery of titles, and related issues. About 50 farmers were present, and there was a lively discussion and many thanks for the ISGS contributions to the program. (Contact: D. Morse)

Interactive Oil Database Demonstrated

An ISGS geologists presented instruction on using the ILOIL interactive map service to more than 60 industry attendees at a Petroleum Technology Transfer Council (PTTC) workshop in Evansville, Indiana that was conducted as part of the Illinois Oil and Gas Association's annual convention and meeting. Instruction included a live demonstration during the workshop and continued at the PTTC's exhibit booth during the next 2 days. PTTC and the ISGS jointly sponsored a booth at the annual convention of the Illinois Oil and Gas Association in Evansville, Indiana. (Contact: S. Gustison)

Honors and Awards

Steve Gustison was awarded the Petroleum Professional of the Year by the Illinois Oil and Gas Association at its awards banquet March 3 in Evansville, Indiana. Melissa Chou was awarded Graduate Faculty status to 2010 by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Reports Released

Two outside publications and 12 unpublished Preliminary Environmental Site Assessments were released this month. Citations for the outside publications are as follows:
      Chrzastowski, M. J., 2006, Illinois to join NOAA's Coastal Zone Management Program: Coastal Voice—The Newsletter of the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association, March 2006, p. 9-11.
      De Mello, J.W.V., W.R. Roy, J. Talbott, and J.W. Stucki. 2006. Mineralogy and arsenic mobility in arsenic-rich Brazilian soils and sediments. Journal of Soils and Sediments, v. 6 (1), p. 9-19.

Highlights Archive

Updated 07/19/2012 SLD