ASSESSMENT OF SOIL GEOCHEMISTRY AROUND A COAL POWER PLANT IN PUTNAM COUNTY, GA

The legacy of coal power plants has, unfortunately, been one of environmental contamination. The goal of this project is to assess the levels of heavy metals in water, plants, and sediments from lakes, rivers & ponds around Plant Branch coal power plant in Putnam County, GA. The power plant is located on Lake Sinclair, which is the focus of this research. This lake was formed on the Oconee River and is separated from another lake, Lake Oconee, by a dam that is used for hydroelectric power supply. Sampling sites were selected so that the variation of heavy metals could be analyzed as a function of distance from the power plant. Soil and water samples were collected using various soil samplers and augers. Both submerged and emergent plants were collected for analysis. All soil samples were oven dried overnight and analyzed using an X-Ray Fluorescence analyzer in the lab. Heavy metals that were tested included Pb, Cu, Cd, Hg, Se, Cr, V, As, P, U and Zn. Lake Sinclair’s sediment Pb concentrations ranged from 14 ppm to 18 ppm, whereas the Oconee River had no detectable Pb. Copper was only detected in the Oconee River sediments, downstream of the power plant. Zinc was found in soil samples at all sites, although Lake Sinclair had relatively lower concentrations at 17-27 ppm compared to 66 ppm found in the Oconee River. Preliminary results from plant analyses showed plants collected closer to the power plant to have relatively lower amounts of Mn at 390-994 ppm than plants further down (1571-32176 ppm) within the lake. A comparison of the Mn levels in the plants and the soils in which they were growing revealed that plants had higher concentrations than the soils. None of the samples collected, so far, had detectable levels of mercury, cadmium, selenium, chromium, vanadium and uranium.