ISGS - October 2004 Activity Highlights

Nitrogen Inputs to Illinois River Explored

Scientists from ISGS and Illinois State Water Survey visited the Stickney water reclamation plant on September 30, 2004, to discuss nitrogen sources and treatment processes with plant officials and collect samples of the input and outfall water for testing. The facility receives and treats about a billion gallons of waste water from the Chicago area each day. This plant and about 6 other water reclamation plants in the Chicago area may be one of the major inputs of nitrate-nitrogen to the Illinois River. The Council on Food and Agriculture Research (C-FAR) is supporting our study of the sources of nitrate-nitrogen in the Illinois River. (Contacts: S. Panno, K. Hackley)

Computer Application for 3-D Visulation Under Development

The acting head of the ISGS Hydrogeology Section, with help from student programmers, has been developing a new computer application that will make it possible to provide powerful visual portrayals of three-dimensional block diagrams and two-dimensional maps or cross sections. The tool will allow geologists to interactively explore geological data models by "exploding" the layers in a diagram, turning layers off and on and performing a variety of other visualization functions that are not possible with other known geological software systems such as Landmark and EarthVision®. Preliminary discussions with the University of Illinois Office of Technology Management have been held, and a formal disclosure soon will be submitted. (Contact: D. Keefer)

U.S. EPA Rule Changes May Alter ISGS Environmental Assessments

Two geologists from the Environmental Site Assessments Section attended a public hearing in St. Louis regarding a proposed change in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) rules entitled "Standards and Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries: Proposed Rule for Phase I Environmental Assessments." If enacted, the new rule would significantly change the requirements for a landowner to claim exemption from liability under Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and require some changes in the procedures used by ISGS to perform preliminary environmental site assessments for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). The ISGS prepared written comments on the impacts of the proposed regulations and offered them to IDOT officials for possible presentation to the USEPA. (Contacts: A. Erdmann and Phyllis Bannon-Niles)

Continuing Enhancements of Databases for ILOIL Web Site Attract Users

The ILOIL Web site, which is the major deliverable of a U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored project, continues to draw heavy usage from both the oil industry and the public. From January 1 through July of 2004, the number of users increased from 1,181 in January to 1,783 in July 2004. Several independent producers have told us that they have used the Web site to develop oil exploration prospects and devise ways to increase production from existing fields. Large and important databases that will soon be added to the site include contoured structure maps on the top of the Barlow Limestone, the Ste. Genevieve Limestone, and the New Albany Shale that will add more than 100,000 formation tops to the Survey's master computer database, the results of porosity and permeability measurements made on more than 168,000 core samples, and data and maps from more than 2,000 waterflood units and waterflooded areas of fields. (Contact: B. Seyler)

Resources of Limestone and Dolomite for Sulfur-Scrubbing Cataloged

The ISGS recently completed a survey of the suitability of limestone and dolomite resources in the southern half of the state for use in scrubbing sulfur from the exhaust gases of coal-fired power plants. With many new mine-mouth power plants planned, demand for limestone or dolomite to use in extracting the sulfur oxides from the stack gases is expected to grow substantially. Studies of the physical and chemical characteristics of the rocks showed that coarse-grained, high-calcium limestones generally are best suited for use in wet scrubber systems. Dolomites, apparently because of their greater magnesium carbonate content, work best at the higher temperatures of fluidized bed boilers.

The geologists found that the sulfur-scrubbing capacity of the carbonate rocks mined in a quarry can vary from one layer to another, and, in some instances, a quarry may need to mine and sell the stone from a particular layer to serve the needs of a nearby power plant. In the second year of the project, the ISGS geologists will examine the sulfur-scrubbing capacity of the carbonate rocks in the northern half of the state. The primary goal of the Illinois Clean Coal Institute (ICCI)-funded project is the completion of a comprehensive database and a set of maps on the quality of distribution of the scrubber stone resources of the state. (Contacts: Z. Lasemi, S. Koenig, M. Rostam-Abadi, R. Norby)

Updated 08/08/2012 SLD