Dust Suppression and Stormwater Management
Sandusky Bay, Ohio
 Roberts
& Schaefer designed and built an automatic dust suppression
and stormwater management system to resolve three growing environmental
concerns. First, open piles of coal in Sandusky Docks' 300-foot
wide by 2,500-foot long ground-level storage area produced significant
fugitive dust. Second, stormwater runoff created ponds in the
storage area, obstructing operations. Third, Sandusky Docks was
concerned that runoff entering the bay might be contaminated by
coal.
R&S installed an automatic spray system, consisting of 250
foot radius water cannons mounted on 10 to 20 foot high towers
along both sides of the coal storage pad. To supply the water
cannons, R&S installed an intake structure on the pier, with
two 1,850 GPM vertical turbine pumps. A programmable logic controller
(PLC), with semiautomatic and manual overrides, runs the cannons.
In its automatic mode, the PLC can accept control data from proprietary
software that monitors meteorological conditions (temperature,
precipitation, wind, and humidity) to determine whether the piles
should be sprayed. This feature both conserves water and minimizes
moisture in the coal.
Stormwater runoff from the piles collects in a concrete collection
ditch built along the length of the coal storage yard. At its
south end, a pumping station with two 3,000 GPM pumps transfers
runoff to two sedimentation ponds. Two separate pumping and sedimentation
circuits permit pond cleaning and provide protection against equipment
failure. Both pumping lines pass through a treatment building,
where polymer is added to aid settling and caustic is added to
reduce pH. Stormwater's variable pH is monitored and corrected
by automatically adjusting the rate at which caustic is added.
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