Ashlee Dere, Richard Stehouwer, Kirsten McDonald, and Emad Aboukila. Pennsylvania State Univ., Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, 116 ASI Building, University Park, PA 16802
Pennsylvania has an estimated 250,000 acres of damaged land from coal mining activities. In the same region, concentrated animal production facilities produce manure in excess of crop needs, creating an increased risk of nutrient pollution in surface and groundwater. This poultry manure could be used for mine reclamation, however, the large quantity of manure needed to ameliorate mine soils would likely lead to excessive nutrient leaching. A preliminary greenhouse study determined that composting or adding organic carbon to poultry layer manure greatly reduced nutrient leaching. Based on these results, a field reclamation study was established on a surface coal mine in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania in April 2006. Treatments include a lime and fertilizer control, two rates of composted poultry layer manure (78 and 156 Mg ha-1 dry weight), and two blends of fresh poultry manure (60 Mg ha-1 dry weight) mixed with paper mill sludge (90 and 170 Mg ha-1) to achieve C:N ratios of 20:1 and 30:1. Leachate was collected after every rain event using pan lysimeters located 30 cm below each treatment. Leachate analysis shows a three month pulse of NO3-N from the two rates of poultry manure and paper mill sludge blends (170 and 234 mg N L-1) during the first year. Compost treatments showed no such pulse. In the second year there was no pulse of NO3-N and concentrations rarely exceeded 10 mg N L-1. An initial pulse of phosphate (5.8 mg P L-1) from the control treatment was observed within the first month after application. Subsequently, all treatments show minimal leaching of P (less than 0.5 mg P L-1). This research confirms that amending mine soils with either composted poultry layer manure or fresh manure mixed with paper mill sludge will facilitate effective reclamation and revegetation while minimizing nutrient loss.
Audio File