any day now...he he

another fine example of continuous disclosure by pst...


http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/11576114.htm

Posted on Fri, May. 06, 2005


'Miracle' fix to be tested on I-99

By Mike Joseph

[email protected]


Environmental regulators gave road builders the go-ahead Thursday to have 4,000 tons of "miracle" fix Bauxol shipped to an Interstate 99 construction site at Skytop for extensive testing as a possible permanent solution to the acid-rock drainage hazard.

The testing procedures on perhaps 5 percent of the almost 1 million cubic yards of pyritic rock haven't been approved yet and will have to be set forth in writing and posted publicly before they begin, the state Department of Environmental Protection told the state Department of Transportation.

Gary Byron, assistant director of the DEP's 14-county northcentral region, said the tests will need to determine whether PennDOT's planned massive injections of Bauxol slurries will accomplish the necessary comprehensive contact with the pyrite.

"Can we get it there?" Byron said. "Can we deliver this material to the surface of the rocks within the piles?"

Kevin Kline, PennDOT district executive, has said another crucial question is how long the treatment will last. The injections will be delivered with vegetable oil to foster an environment for bacteria to thrive and help reduce sulfates, the sulfuric acid salts that result from the oxidation of pyrite.

"They're telling us that we should see results soon," Kline said. "It's basically going to give us a good snapshot of what we could expect to see."

Bauxol -- the name comes from the aluminum-producing mineral bauxite -- is made from the highly alkaline "red mud" left over from that manufacturing process. Bauxol is produced and marketed by an Australia-based company, Virotec. The 4,000 tons on the way to Skytop will be produced in the Virgin Islands and shipped to Philadelphia.

It will be used in four places among the spoil piles and fill areas around Skytop after it arrives in late May or early June, Kline said.

The cost of a Bauxol treatment at Skytop has not been estimated by either the manufacturer or PennDOT. Both say product formulations differ to fit specific problems. Kline said Thursday that Bauxol will be less expensive than the alternative of moving the pyritic rock off the site.

"It's cost-effective," he said. "The per cubic yard treatment costs less than hauling costs."

More than 900,000 cubic yards of pyritic rocks at Skytop lie in spoil piles and fill areas, and Bauxol has been applied elsewhere in proportions that range from 7 percent to 10 percent of the acid-rock drainage material it is designed to counteract, Kline has said.

A Penn State scientist said independently this week that Bauxol costs between $250 and $500 a ton. Figuring a cubic yard of rocks weighs a ton, the math for a 7 percent proportion of Bauxol at $250 a ton works out to a low-ball figure of about $16 million.

PennDOT and the DEP agreed Thursday that, when the testing is completed in summer or early fall, the state agencies will organize a meeting to update the public on their plans.

The sulfuric acid leaching from the pyrite is now being pretty much captured and treated with stopgap engineering before it runs into streams and ground water, and from there into area wells, state officials said.

"All the problems haven't gone away," DEP hydrogeologist Randy Farmerie said Thursday, "but a considerable number of wells have shown improvement."

Mike Joseph can be reached at 235-3910.