Collection and Treatment of Acid
Runoff from Coal Gob—Pile— ;;     ":        Storage Areas    f '-'':-::¦':'-''
¦'-'¦'•¦^•::-'-;' ^    ' ¦ Part I    "      ¦''^''¦/(.¦;:--•'¦'¦
CARLO.   GROSS '      ' ''      ¦
, -      •        Sanitary Engineer, Illinois Sanitary Water Board .^      Springfield, Illinois
.'¦    Part II -:/;;;Vv.:vV
CARL  LEE , . :
Chief Engineer, Peabody Coal Company   ^   ¦' '
'¦ ¦• Chicago, Illinois
Part I
Complaints of fish kills in the South Fork of the Sangamon River between Kincaid and Springfield, Illinois, were received by the Illinois Sanitary Water Board regarding three dates in September, 1947, one in March, 1948, two in July and two in August, 1949, and one in September, 1950. The destruction of fish in each instance was during an extreme low stream stage and all complainants agreed that the stream color changed to a bright orange-yellow color when fish were killed.
There are no public or industrial water supplies taken from the South Fork but the stream had been very popular recreationally. Channel and mud catfish and sun perch were normally abundant and catches of these served to round out the Sunday and holiday picnic excursions of many Springfield as well as rural families. Quite a few small, timber and farm tracts were acquired by Springfield residents to provide outdoor recreation for their children and the virtual elimination of fish caused many complaints to be made to the State Department of Conservation and the Sanitary Water Board.
The only known major source of unusual discharge into the water¬ course above the affected portions of the stream was the Peabody Coal Company's properties at Kincaid. Mine No. 7, a relatively large coal producer, is located on the west bank and the Carter Processing Plant, which receives and processes that portion of coal from other Central Illinois Peabody Mines containing objectionable quantities of rock, is on