1: 2,500,000

Appalachian Basin Bituminous 

Coal: Weight Percent Sulfur of 

Produced Coal by County, As 

Received at the Power Plant

By Emil D. Attanasi and Robert C. Milici

Digital Compilation by William C. Kallander and Woody G. Wallace

No data

Produced Coal Sulfur 

Content in Weight Percent 

for 1983-1995

Discussion

 This map shows the average sulfur content of produced coal by county 

from the Appalachian basin received at power plants from 1983 through 

1995. The county level sulfur coal quality data are displayed on a base map 

of the Appalachian basin with outlines of the watersheds (in blue). County 

level data does not reflect finer details of the spatial and stratigraphic 

distribution of the sulfur content of the coal. Instead, they represent the 

average values of sulfur content delivered to power plants from mines in 

each of the counties. 

 Since 1983, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has 

required power plants of least 50 megawatts capacity to report the following 

coal data: county of origin, mine/operator, tonnage received, and quality of 

coal. The coal quality data include calorific value (Btu/lb.), weight percent 

sulfur, and weight percent ash. Specifically, FERC collects the coal quality 

data at power plants with FERC Form 423, "Monthly report of cost and 

quality of fuels for electric plants." For the purpose of making this map, we 

compiled these data for the years 1983 through 1995 to calculate the average 

weight percent of all shipments for each county. The original data are 

presented in Table 1. Although much of the coal received at the power plants 

from mines in the Appalachian basin is washed, the data collected by FERC 

does not distinguish between washed and unwashed coal. 

 Figures 1, 2, and 3 show the percentages of cumulative tonnage versus 

sulfur grade expressed in pounds per million Btu for Northern Appalachia, 

Central Appalachia, and Southern Appalachia, respectively. Northern 

Appalachia includes Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and northern West 

Virginia. Central Appalachia includes southern West Virginia, eastern 

Kentucky, and southwestern Virginia. Southern Appalachia consists of the 

counties in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. The vertical dashed line at 0.6 

pounds per million Btu is roughly the standard required for emissions set in 

Phase II of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments that will take effect in 2000. 

In 1995, coal shipments received at power plants from Northern Appalachia, 

Central Appalachia, and Southern Appalachia amounted to about 100 

million, 160 million and 17 million short tons, respectively. 

 Coal quality data shown in table 1 were used with ArcView software to 

prepare the map. The base map was obtained from U.S. Geological Survey 

1:2,000,000 DLGs. Water basin coverage was obtained from the 1:2,000,000 

Hydrologic Unit Map of the Conterminous United States (Allord, G.J., 1992, 

http://water.usgs.gov/lookup/getspatial?huc2m).

0 

10 

20 

30 

40 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

PERCENT OF ANNUAL PRODUCTION

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4 4.2 4.4 4.6 4.8 5 

SULFUR CONTENT, POUNDS PER MMBTU 

1985 1995

Figure 1. Cumulative distribution of produced coal by sulfur content, in pounds per 

million Btu (MMBtu), of coal delivered to power plants in 1985 and 1995 from northern 

Appalachia. Data are from Form 423," Monthly report of cost and quality of fuels for 

electric plants," (1985 and 1995) compiled by the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission. Vertical dashed line shows Phase II emission standard.

0 

10 

20 

30 

40 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

PERCENT OF ANNUAL PRODUCTION

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4 4.2 4.4 4.6 4.8 5 

SULFUR CONTENT, POUNDS PER MMBTU

1985 1995

Figure 2. Cumulative distribution of produced coal by sulfur content, in pounds per 

million Btu (MMBtu), of coal delivered to power plants in 1985 and 1995 from central 

Appalachia. Data are from Form 423," Monthly report of cost and quality of fuels for 

electric plants," (1985 and 1995) compiled by the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission. Vertical dashed line shows Phase II emission standard.

Figure 3. Cumulative distribution of produced coal by sulfur content, in pounds per 

million Btu (MMBtu), of coal delivered to power plants in 1985 and 1995 from southern 

Appalachia. Data are from Form 423," Monthly report of cost and quality of fuels for 

electric plants, " (1985 and 1995) compiled by the Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission. Vertical dashed line shows Phase II emission standard.

0 

10 

20 

30 

40 

50 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

PERCENT OF ANNUAL PRODUCTION

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4 4.2 4.4 4.6 4.8 5 

SULFUR CONTENT, POUNDS PER MMBTU

1985 1995

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

This map is preliminary and has not been reviewd for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards. Any use of trade, product or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

OPEN-FILE REPORT 98-763

SHEET 1 OF 1

Northern Appalachia

Central Appalachia

Southern Appalachia