Revegetation of mining waste using organic amendments

Project objectives were to demonstrate that use of organic amendments enhances the establishment and growth of grass on lead mill tailings and evaluate the affect of those amendments on plant uptake of metals. The sources of compost and an organic fertilizer derived from municipal sewage treatment plant sludge were incorporated into two types of tailings near Desloge, Missouri, and the replicated plots were planted with grass. Both types of tailings (fine-textured floatation tailings at Big River Mine Tailings site and coarse-textured gravity separation tailings at Leadwood Chat Tailings site) contain elevated concentrations of Pb, Zn, and Cd. This project was evaluated for three growing seasons. The project was performed under the Mine Waste Technology Program, which is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and jointly administered by EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy through an Interagency Agreement. (IAG No. DW89938513-01-0 and DOE Contract No. DE-AC22-96EW 96405).