Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Long-Term Field Performance Of Geomembrane-Lined Cover Systems At Mine Waste Rock Piles, Deanna Hersey

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mine waste rock piles (WRPs) are anthropogenically created landforms at active and former mining sites that can generate and release highly toxic acid mine drainage (AMD) to the environment. A common solution to control AMD generation is the use of cover systems at the WRPs to isolate the reactive waste from water and oxygen in the atmosphere. Geomembranes exhibit the characteristics needed to be highly effective barriers to atmospheric influx; however, knowledge on their performance at in-service WRPs is limited. The objective of this thesis is to comprehensively assess the field performance of geomembrane-lined cover systems for limiting meteoric water …