Susquehanna Valley Local Section

May 2002 Meeting

The three hundred and thirty sixth meeting of the Section will be the Annual Awards Banquet held at MaGee‚s Main Street Inn in Downtown Bloomsburg, on Wednesday, May 8. This year, the featured speaker will be Professor Carl Kirby of Bucknell University, who will speak about Acid Mine Drainage in Pennsylvania.

Dinner is at 6:00pm, awards and talk to follow. Cost for the buffet dinner will be $17 per person. Please RSVP by 4/30 to Janet Zimmerman in the Department of Chemistry Bucknell (jzimmrmn@bucknell.edu or 570-577-3258 ).

Directions: MaGee‚s is located at 20 west Main Street (US-11) in Downtown Bloomsburg, about 2 blocks east of the monument. There is parking on the street and in lots behind Main Street.

Acid Mine Drainage Solutions
The environment of several states and countries is significantly impacted by mine drainage (MD). In Pennsylvania alone, it is estimated that MD cleanup will cost $15 billion. Historical coal and metal mining practices that have left behind intermediate-pH orange streams or clear low-pH metal-laden streams devoid of most life forms. This talk will include an explanation of how MD forms, the effects of in Pennsylvania, how it can be treated, and Bucknell student and faculty research on iron oxidation rates, MD sediments as a resource, and MD treatment technology.

Carl Kirby grew up in the foothills of North Carolina. He received an AB in Latin Education from UNC-Chapel Hill and then taught Latin in high school for three years. He received a BS in Geology, MS, and Ph. D. in Geochemistry at Virginia Tech with Don Rimstidt. His dissertation was a study of municipal solid waste incinerator ash. Dr. Kirby has taught in the Bucknell University Department of Geology since 1993, becoming Associate Professor and Chair in 1999. Dr. Kirby's research has shifted to several aspects concerning mine drainage produced by water and oxygen releasing dissolved metals and acidity to stream. He and his students have worked on iron oxidation rates, problems in measurement of acidity and alkalinity, mine drainage sediments (yellow boy), and passive treatment. He is the proud producer of "The Yellow Boy Shirt", colored with sediments from mine drainage (see http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/kirby/pigment.html). He is thrilled to be currently working with students on episodic acidification of two headwater streams in protected natural areas rather than always mucking around in mine drainage. He is an avid musician, fly fisher, and racquetball player.

If you need more information or would like to submit information,
E-mail our Local Section Webmaster at mencer@wilkes.edu.
E-mail the National ACS Webmaster

Last update: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 at 5:27:21 PM.