Microbiology of a multi-layer biosolid/desulfurized tailings cover on a mill tailings impoundment

Eva Pakostova; Mason McAlary; Stephanie Marshall; Samantha McGarry; Carol Ptacek; David Blowes

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114030

Microbiology of a multi-layer biosolid/desulfurized tailings cover on a mill tailings impoundment

Eva Pakostova
, Mason McAlary
, Stephanie Marshall
, Samantha McGarry
, Carol Ptacek
, David Blowes

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

119 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The Strathcona Waste Water Treatment System (SWWTS; Sudbury, ON, Canada) has received mill tailings from Ni/Cu ore processing from 1970 to present. Demonstration-scale, multi-layer cover systems were installed on selected tailings deposition cells at the SWWTS. The cover systems are comprised of an upper layer of organic carbon-rich material, composed of a layer biosolids fertilizer along with composted municipal food and yard waste, then a layer of desulfurized, fine-grained tailings. Organic carbon components used in these covers promote microbial communities that consume O2, thus decreasing sulfide oxidation rates in the underlying tailings. The aim of this study was to investigate the microbiology of the cover systems and the underlying tailings, using a combination of culture-dependent (most probable number) and culture-independent (16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing) techniques, and assess the impact of the organic component of the cover system four to six years after implementation. Most tailings samples were characterized by circumneutral bulk pH and low concentrations of dissolved metals. The presence of the organic cover resulted in elevated counts of sulfatereducers (by two orders of magnitude, compared to control samples) immediately below the organic cover, as
well as an increased abundance of heterotrophic species (~108 cells g􀀀 1) at greater depth (~4 m) in the tailings profile. Mineral-oxidizing microorganisms were also present in the tailings, with neutrophilic sulfur-oxidizers dominating the samples (mean ~106 cells g􀀀 1). Relative abundances of sulfur- and/or iron-oxidizers determined by sequencing ranged from 0.5 to 18.3% of total reads (mean ~5.6% in amended tailings) and indicated the presence of local microenvironments with ongoing sulfide oxidation. This work provides a detailed characterization
of the microbiology of a tailings impoundment with an organic cover, highlighting the opportunities associated with monitoring microbial processes in such remediation systems.

Original language	English
Article number	114030
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of Environmental Management
Volume	302
Issue number	Part A
Early online date	5 Nov 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114030
Publication status	Published - 15 Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license

Publisher Copyright:
© The Authors

Funder

NSERC

Funding Information:
Funding for this research was provided by the NSERC TERRE-NET program (grant NETGP 479708–15 ). The authors gratefully acknowledge financial and logistical support provided by Glencore. In addition, the authors thank Robert Mellow for his assistance on this project. J. Bain, L. Groza, W.D. Gould (University of Waterloo), and J. McBeth (University of Saskatchewan) provided technical assistance.

Funding Information:
Funding for this research was provided by the NSERC TERRE-NET program (grant NETGP 479708?15). The authors gratefully acknowledge financial and logistical support provided by Glencore. In addition, the authors thank Robert Mellow for his assistance on this project. J. Bain, L. Groza, W.D. Gould (University of Waterloo), and J. McBeth (University of Saskatchewan) provided technical assistance.

Funding

Funding for this research was provided by the NSERC TERRE-NET program (grant NETGP 479708?15). The authors gratefully acknowledge financial and logistical support provided by Glencore. In addition, the authors thank Robert Mellow for his assistance on this project. J. Bain, L. Groza, W.D. Gould (University of Waterloo), and J. McBeth (University of Saskatchewan) provided technical assistance. Funding for this research was provided by the NSERC TERRE-NET program (grant NETGP 479708\u201315 ). The authors gratefully acknowledge financial and logistical support provided by Glencore. In addition, the authors thank Robert Mellow for his assistance on this project. J. Bain, L. Groza, W.D. Gould (University of Waterloo), and J. McBeth (University of Saskatchewan) provided technical assistance.

Funders	Funder number
University of Waterloo
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada	NETGP 479708–15, NETGP 479708

Keywords

Acid mine drainage
Biodiversity
Biosolids
Dry cover
Mine waste
Tailings
Waste Management and Disposal
General Medicine
Environmental Engineering
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Waste Management and Disposal
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Environmental Engineering

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114030Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

PublishedFinal published version, 4.71 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

@article{b61b6533e5ce481d9d30b20c41d497a0,

title = "Microbiology of a multi-layer biosolid/desulfurized tailings cover on a mill tailings impoundment",

abstract = "The Strathcona Waste Water Treatment System (SWWTS; Sudbury, ON, Canada) has received mill tailings from Ni/Cu ore processing from 1970 to present. Demonstration-scale, multi-layer cover systems were installed on selected tailings deposition cells at the SWWTS. The cover systems are comprised of an upper layer of organic carbon-rich material, composed of a layer biosolids fertilizer along with composted municipal food and yard waste, then a layer of desulfurized, fine-grained tailings. Organic carbon components used in these covers promote microbial communities that consume O2, thus decreasing sulfide oxidation rates in the underlying tailings. The aim of this study was to investigate the microbiology of the cover systems and the underlying tailings, using a combination of culture-dependent (most probable number) and culture-independent (16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing) techniques, and assess the impact of the organic component of the cover system four to six years after implementation. Most tailings samples were characterized by circumneutral bulk pH and low concentrations of dissolved metals. The presence of the organic cover resulted in elevated counts of sulfatereducers (by two orders of magnitude, compared to control samples) immediately below the organic cover, as well as an increased abundance of heterotrophic species (\textasciitilde{}108 cells g 1) at greater depth (\textasciitilde{}4 m) in the tailings profile. Mineral-oxidizing microorganisms were also present in the tailings, with neutrophilic sulfur-oxidizers dominating the samples (mean \textasciitilde{}106 cells g 1). Relative abundances of sulfur- and/or iron-oxidizers determined by sequencing ranged from 0.5 to 18.3\% of total reads (mean \textasciitilde{}5.6\% in amended tailings) and indicated the presence of local microenvironments with ongoing sulfide oxidation. This work provides a detailed characterization of the microbiology of a tailings impoundment with an organic cover, highlighting the opportunities associated with monitoring microbial processes in such remediation systems.",

keywords = "Acid mine drainage, Biodiversity, Biosolids, Dry cover, Mine waste, Tailings, Waste Management and Disposal, General Medicine, Environmental Engineering, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law",

author = "Eva Pakostova and Mason McAlary and Stephanie Marshall and Samantha McGarry and Carol Ptacek and David Blowes",

note = "This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Authors",

year = "2022",

month = jan,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114030",

language = "English",

volume = "302",

journal = "Journal of Environmental Management",

issn = "0301-4797",

publisher = "Academic Press",

number = "Part A",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Microbiology of a multi-layer biosolid/desulfurized tailings cover on a mill tailings impoundment

AU - Pakostova, Eva

AU - McAlary, Mason

AU - Marshall, Stephanie

AU - McGarry, Samantha

AU - Ptacek, Carol

AU - Blowes, David

N1 - This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license Publisher Copyright: © The Authors

PY - 2022/1/15

Y1 - 2022/1/15

N2 - The Strathcona Waste Water Treatment System (SWWTS; Sudbury, ON, Canada) has received mill tailings from Ni/Cu ore processing from 1970 to present. Demonstration-scale, multi-layer cover systems were installed on selected tailings deposition cells at the SWWTS. The cover systems are comprised of an upper layer of organic carbon-rich material, composed of a layer biosolids fertilizer along with composted municipal food and yard waste, then a layer of desulfurized, fine-grained tailings. Organic carbon components used in these covers promote microbial communities that consume O2, thus decreasing sulfide oxidation rates in the underlying tailings. The aim of this study was to investigate the microbiology of the cover systems and the underlying tailings, using a combination of culture-dependent (most probable number) and culture-independent (16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing) techniques, and assess the impact of the organic component of the cover system four to six years after implementation. Most tailings samples were characterized by circumneutral bulk pH and low concentrations of dissolved metals. The presence of the organic cover resulted in elevated counts of sulfatereducers (by two orders of magnitude, compared to control samples) immediately below the organic cover, as well as an increased abundance of heterotrophic species (~108 cells g 1) at greater depth (~4 m) in the tailings profile. Mineral-oxidizing microorganisms were also present in the tailings, with neutrophilic sulfur-oxidizers dominating the samples (mean ~106 cells g 1). Relative abundances of sulfur- and/or iron-oxidizers determined by sequencing ranged from 0.5 to 18.3% of total reads (mean ~5.6% in amended tailings) and indicated the presence of local microenvironments with ongoing sulfide oxidation. This work provides a detailed characterization of the microbiology of a tailings impoundment with an organic cover, highlighting the opportunities associated with monitoring microbial processes in such remediation systems.

AB - The Strathcona Waste Water Treatment System (SWWTS; Sudbury, ON, Canada) has received mill tailings from Ni/Cu ore processing from 1970 to present. Demonstration-scale, multi-layer cover systems were installed on selected tailings deposition cells at the SWWTS. The cover systems are comprised of an upper layer of organic carbon-rich material, composed of a layer biosolids fertilizer along with composted municipal food and yard waste, then a layer of desulfurized, fine-grained tailings. Organic carbon components used in these covers promote microbial communities that consume O2, thus decreasing sulfide oxidation rates in the underlying tailings. The aim of this study was to investigate the microbiology of the cover systems and the underlying tailings, using a combination of culture-dependent (most probable number) and culture-independent (16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing) techniques, and assess the impact of the organic component of the cover system four to six years after implementation. Most tailings samples were characterized by circumneutral bulk pH and low concentrations of dissolved metals. The presence of the organic cover resulted in elevated counts of sulfatereducers (by two orders of magnitude, compared to control samples) immediately below the organic cover, as well as an increased abundance of heterotrophic species (~108 cells g 1) at greater depth (~4 m) in the tailings profile. Mineral-oxidizing microorganisms were also present in the tailings, with neutrophilic sulfur-oxidizers dominating the samples (mean ~106 cells g 1). Relative abundances of sulfur- and/or iron-oxidizers determined by sequencing ranged from 0.5 to 18.3% of total reads (mean ~5.6% in amended tailings) and indicated the presence of local microenvironments with ongoing sulfide oxidation. This work provides a detailed characterization of the microbiology of a tailings impoundment with an organic cover, highlighting the opportunities associated with monitoring microbial processes in such remediation systems.

KW - Acid mine drainage

KW - Biodiversity

KW - Biosolids

KW - Dry cover

KW - Mine waste

KW - Tailings

KW - Waste Management and Disposal

KW - General Medicine

KW - Environmental Engineering

KW - Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85118580378

U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114030

DO - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.114030

M3 - Article

SN - 0301-4797

VL - 302

JO - Journal of Environmental Management

JF - Journal of Environmental Management

IS - Part A

M1 - 114030

ER -

Microbiology of a multi-layer biosolid/desulfurized tailings cover on a mill tailings impoundment

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funder

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this