Project Report:

The Shawnee Steel Slag Leach Bed Project

Major Construction Complete!

In the Summer 2008 issue of our newsletter, Up the Creek, VISTA volunteer Matt Miller introduced the reader to the Shawnee Steel Slag Leach Bed Project (SSLB), which was funded in part by grants from the Ohio EPA 319 Program, the Office of Surface Mining Watershed Cooperative Agreement Program and the ODNR Division of Mineral Resources Management.  The project involves the introduction of highly alkaline water into Monday Creek by conveying treated water from the Shawnee Wastewater Treatment Plant through a steel slag leach bed.

Today, this project represents another piece in the puzzle toward the restoration of Monday Creek through the improvement of water quality and the return of aquatic life.  The expectation is that the highly alkaline discharge will maintain a pH in Monday Creek between 6-9 (considered optimal for aquatic life) for several miles downstream of the SSLB and will also decrease the dependence on the Jobs Doser (a maintenance intensive lime treatment system, upstream of Shawnee) in neutralizing mine drainage in the headwaters of the Monday Creek Watershed. 

Tucson, Inc. of New Philadelphia completed construction on the Shawnee project October 10th at a cost of about $ 231,500.   Construction occurred over a two-month period with the main work items including approximately 2,900 Cubic Yards of Earthwork, 390 Tons of Type “D” Rock Channel Protection, 3,880 Tons of Steel Slag, 180 Linear Feet of 6-inch Diameter Pipe, 142 Linear Feet of 10-inch Diameter Pipe, 2 Valves, and 1 Inline Flow Control Structure.

The SSLB was officially turned on the 17th of October though it took about two weeks for the bed to completely fill with water and begin to discharge.  Initially a pH of 10 was recorded in Monday Creek below the project after the SSLB became operational.  As this exceeds the preferred range of pH, 10 being far too alkaline to support healthy aquatic life, the task of “fine-tuning” the discharges from both the SSLB and the Jobs Doser has begun. Also, due to concerns regarding algae growth in the steel slag bed, a filter system is currently being designed and implemented on site to provide the alkaline producing slag with even cleaner water. This supplement to the initial project will be finished by mid-summer.  Long-term monitoring and periodic adjustments of the treatment systems by Mary Ann Borch and Cathy Hoobler of ODNR and Nate Schlater of the MCRP will ensure that a suitable pH will be maintained in the upper reaches of Monday Creek throughout the seasons and will result in a cheaper, more sustainable, and healthier Monday Creek for us all.

Shawnee Steel Slag Leach Bed Site

Before	After

NEXT: GENERAL PLANNING AND ASSESMENT