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• <br /> <br />EtoconMobil Global Services <br />Colony Shale Oil Project <br />ESR Reclamation Studies <br />Weighing Lysimeter Perfomrance 1990-2003 <br />Project No. 353 <br />Page 9 <br />The second study, which included TOSCO II spent shale, relied on shallow mounds (8 feet <br />high) at 4:1 slopes built of spent shale with various cover treatments. This study also had a set of "low <br />elevation" plots located at DOE's Anvil Points facility, and a set of "high elevation" plots neaz the <br />center for the Piceance Creek basin, on Black Sulfur Creek about 20 miles northwest of the Colony <br />site. <br />Both of these studies included regulaz (monthly) measurements of moisture using neutron <br />probes, and both suggested there might be a natural limit of seasonal moisture fluctuation of about 48 <br />inches in natural soil after several growing seasons. The primary focus seems to have been salinity <br />migration and its effects on plant cover for piles with relatively thin covers. It was believed that with <br />the passage of time, with natural and artificial leaching of the salts, the Parahce and TOSCO II spent <br />shale could become suitable plant Hooting media. <br />Quantification of percolation was not a goal of the above described studies. 'T'hese studies <br />lasted only three growing seasons, until 1980. By that time commercial shale projects were already <br />entering the permitting process, and EPA needed to publish the results of these studies if they were to <br />be of any use in the pending development <br />The third referenced study is Dr. Ivan Wymore's PhD dissertation at Colorado State <br />University. This study was specifically focused on water balance, but the focus was agronomic, i.e., <br />how much water would be needed to effectively leach the salts out of the spent shale and to establish <br />a self sustaining plant cover within two to three growing seasons. The focus was, as the title implies, <br />to deternine the water requirements for a commercial oil shale industry given that revegetating the <br />spent shale piles was expected to consume water, a valuable resource in the region. <br />In this dissertation, Dr. Wymore describes the use of the Jensen-Haise evapotranspiration <br />modal for use in semi-arid alpine environments and specifically focused on spent shale piles. Jensen- <br />• Haise model for estimating potential evapo-transpiration had the advantage of directly including solaz <br />LACHEL b'ELICE & Associates <br />