Monday, November 20, 2023

Williamson C: Johnston City, IL: 2006 Foresight Energy Pond Creek Mine

(Satellite)

Andrew Shafer posted two photos with the comment: "Pond Creek Mine, Foresight Energy."
John Goroncy: I’ve never been there but wondering where the refuse/slurry areas are located?
Doug Moore: John Goroncy me too.
Scott Brown: They dump it where ever they want…..
Andrew Shafer: on top of the gob pile in the picture
1

2
 
Shane Wilkerson commented on Andrew's post
Sugar Camp, its sister mine to the north.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Andrew's post
As of 2021, it has produced over 85 million tons of coal.   https://wikiimage.isgs.illinois.edu/ilmines/webfiles/topo-mines/pittsburg.pdf
Michael Westerhouse: Dennis DeBruler That's the old part of the mine. All sealed up now.

The mine is so new that the railroad that serves the mine doesn't show up on any topo maps nor my 2005 SPV Map. (The mine opened in 2006.) But a USGS map shows the spur that runs west of the CN/IC Edgewood Cutoff.
USGS

I don't understand the comments about the waste areas. I thought it would be the rectangular "ponds."
Satellite

When I saw the Google search results, I understood why there was interest in the waste management. Most of the results were about pollution complaints. I didn't dig too deep because the Sierra Club lost credibility in my eyes years ago with some of their complaints. But I did find that the mine uses a pipeline to dump wastewater into the Big Muddy River. And that water contains "high amounts of chloride." [SierraClub] While trying to find where the Big Muddy River is, I noticed that it meanders across a lot of Illinois land. The river passes this area between Zeigler and Freeman Spur. So the question is: how high is high amounts of chloride? After all, I've drunk chlorinated water since I was a kid, and I have swum in it. But care is taken to make sure the water has low amounts of chloride.
Road Map

Foresight Energy calls this their Williamson Mine.
foresight

No comments:

Post a Comment