Forensic petrology and geochemistry: Tracking the source of a coal slurry spill, Lee County, Virginia

In October 1996, coal slurry blew out from a mine portal in Lee County, Virginia, precipitating a fish kill and pollution of streams leading to the Tennessee River. The petrology and geochemistry of two slurries associated with coal mine portals, including the pollution source, and preparation plant fines associated with one of the mines were investigated. Maceral content and, in particular, microlithotype content distinguished the sources. Differences in concentrations of Zr, Y, and the lanthanides provided a subtle set of parameters for distinguishing between the sources, owing to the source of one mine slurry and the plant slurry from a coal known to have an enrichment in those elements. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.