New Opportunities to Apply our Science
25th Annual Meeting
Mineral sands mining, dredge spoil utilization, wetland creation, sand & gravel mining and reclamation. Leader: W. Lee Daniels, Virginia Tech
This field trip will depart the Richmond Marriott at 8 am and travel by vans to the Iluka Mineral Sands mining complex in Dinwiddie County to tour active mining operations, prime farmland reclamation research, and the Virginia Tech/Carraway-Winn cooperative research farm. The tour will then proceed to Vulcan’s Puddledock sand and gravel mine near Petersburg for an overview of active mining and reclamation procedures and challenges. The trip will conclude with a visit to Weanack LLP in Charles City County to focus on beneficial conversion of dredge materials to agricultural uses and research on creation of tidal freshwater wetlands. Related details on these sites and associated Virginia Tech research and outreach programs can be found at http://www.cses.vt.edu/revegetation/.
Cost: $50 per person; includes transportation and lunch. Min/Max participants: 10/60.
Tour #2 - Historic Gold and Metal Mining and Rehabilitation
Leaders: Allen Bishop and Bob Sobeck, VDMME Div. of Mineral Mining
Mining began at the massive sulfide deposits of the Gold-Pyrite belt in Mineral, Virginia in 1834 with exploration continuing into the 1970’s. With 20 metal mines in this area of Louisa and Spotsylvania Counties, this tour will visit several mines along Contrary Creek that have not been reclaimed and the Valzinco Mine where reclamation has recently been completed. Reclaimed under Virginia’s Orphaned Land Program, the Valzinco Mine reclamation has seen average annual pH values of 2.6 – 3.9 rise to above 5 and dissolved metal concentrations fall 75 – 99%. The tour will include discussion of the history of the mining in this area, the environmental and safety problems, which continue to exist many years after mining has ceased, and the various techniques to reclaim the sites. Sturdy shoes recommended. Min/Max participants: 10/60. $50 per person; includes transportation and lunch.
Tour #3 – Acid sulfate Soil Impacts and Remediation
Leaders: Zenah Orndorff (Va Tech) and Del Fanning (U. of MD)
Acid sulfate soils are increasingly encountered at construction and road-building sites in the mid-Atlantic region as sulfide bearing sediments and rocks are disturbed and oxidize to produce highly acidic soils and local water quality impacts. This field trip will visit a range of acid sulfate soil impacted sites near Fredericksburg including Stafford Regional Airport, Great Oaks Subdivision, and Massaponax. Recognition of acid sulfate soil conditions, associated morphologies, and damage to concrete/soil/water will be reviewed at Stafford Airport along with a tour of areas remediated via use of lime stabilized biosolids. The tour will return via Luck Stone’s Caroline sand and gravel mine where active mining/reclamation will be reviewed along with a discussion of remediation of on-site acid-sulfate sediments that were used for pond embankments. Sturdy shoes recommended. Min/Max participants: 10/60.$50 per person; includes transportation and lunch.
Info: http://www.cses.vt.edu/revegetation/remediation.html
Tour vans will depart the Marriott at 9:30 am and travel to Petersburg to meet your dynamic tour guide, Mr. John Marler (http://www.appomattoxtours.com/). The tour will start with an overview of the city and the siege. Next, you will take a walk round Battery #5 for a review of the initial Federal assault, and visit the site of the charge of the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery (largest loss of troops in any action during the war…started out with 900+...10 minutes later 632 were dead and wounded). The tour will continue to Lee's last offensive at Fort Stedman and then onto the Battle of the Crater plus other smaller sites. This tour will finish up with a delicious lunch at the Brickhouse Run Pub in restored Petersburg and then your vans will return you to hotel by 3:00 pm. Cost: $50 person including transportation and lunch. Min/Max participants: 20/60.
Monday, June 16 – Colonial Williamsburg and Shopping.
Van will depart the Marriott at 8:30 am and transport you to Colonial Williamsburg and area shopping. Return to hotel at 5:00 pm. Cost: $20 per person for transport and assistance by a “local”. Admission fees not included. Min/Max participants: 6/24. Info: http://www.colonialwilliamsburg.com/
Tuesday, June 17 – Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and other Richmond cultural sites. Van will depart the Marriott at 8:30 am and return at 4:30 pm. Cost: $20 per person for transport and local assistance. Admission fees not included. Min/Max participants: 6/24. Info: http://www.lewisginter.org/; http://www.mfa.org/
Wednesday, June 18 – Busch Gardens. Van will depart the Marriott at 8:30 am and transport you to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. Cost: $20 per person for transport and assistance by a “local”. Return to hotel at 5:30 pm. Admission fees are not included. Min/Max participants: 6/24. Info: http://www.buschgardens.com/BGW/default.aspx
Friday, June 20 – Civil War Battlefields Tour #2
Tour vans will depart the Marriott at 9:30 am and travel to Petersburg to meet your dynamic tour guide, Mr. John Marler (http://www.appomattoxtours.com/). This tour will start with the Battle of Weldon RR followed by a visit to Poplar Grove National Cemetery. Next you will visit Fort Fisher, (largest fort in the Union lines), and the "Fishook" (where the kickoff for the final charge of Petersburg began. Then it’s onto Five Forks battlefield where Custer and other famous solider fought. The tour will conclude at Ft. Gregg, (the Alamo of the Confederacy). Compared with the first Civil War tour offered on June 15, this tour visit more remote locales and involve more walking. Your vans will return you to hotel by 3:00 pm. Cost: $50 person including transportation and lunch. Min/Max participants: 20/60.