A Geographic Information System (GIS) on FGD Product Resources

摘要

At current production rates, the Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) byproduct accumulation - with the most conservative estimates - in the U.S. will soon exceed 200 million metric tons. These will primarily be contained in storage ponds at plant sites or dumped in land fills. This inordinate quantity of material presents a potential problem - though nonhazardous - as the nation's electric power utilities run out of disposal space. The Industrial Minerals Section of the Minerals Information Team (MIT) at the USGS has developed a spatial analysis capability using MAPINFO- a Geographic Information System (GIS)-that provides information on the availability and proximity of FGD products and potential markets, such as wallboard plants, Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) problem areas, and as soil amendment or acid soil neutralization. With this information, for the first time, the economic potential of FGD product markets on a national level can be assessed. The FGD layers contain data on power plants with FGD installations, FGD product capacity, and gypsum wallboard plant installations. Work continues to add acid mine drainage (AMD) sites and mineral deficient agricultural land, for which the use of FGD product would be beneficial.