American Electric Power s Central Ohio Coal Company Muskingum Mine annually produces 1.7 million tons of coal at the mine, located near Cumberland, Ohio. The Muskingum slurry impoundment was constructed to dispose of both fine and coarse coal refuse. Coal refuse is a by-product of the coal preparation washing process, which is designed to remove impurities from the raw coal. The slurry impoundment consists of a large embankment constructed of coarse coal refuse and a large impoundment which is utilized to treat the slurry discharged from the preparation plant. Fine waste material from slurry settles out in the impoundment and the clear water is returned to the preparation plant for reuse in the coal washing process.
Vegetation is established on the lower face of the embankment.
The sediment collection pond is in the background. The impoundment is home for a small population of nesting Canada Geese year round. The most critical aspect of operating the slurry impoundment has been maintaining adequate fine refuse storage capacity. Additional storage capacity for fine refuse is obtained by building the embankment higher with coarse refuse utilizing upstream construction methods. This technique requires that coarse and fine refuse production rates be carefully monitored to ensure that adequate storage capacity is generated for future use.