Turning Water Pollution Into Paint
Turning Water Pollution Into Paint
Learn More About This Artistic Approach To Help Fight An Environmental Challenge.
The film, "Toxic Art," (above) by Rivers are Life is a powerful exploration of how creativity can help meet environmental challenges.
The story begins in southeast Ohio, where a toxic problem has been looming for decades.
Each day, almost a million gallons of acidic water pours from an underground coal mine into Sunday Creek, leeching iron into the water.
The problem is a toxic sludge called acid mine drainage (AMD). It forms when water flows through abandoned mines, creating a chemical reaction as the water skirts against mineral rocks turning it into acidic, bright orange water.
The Truetown Discharge, located in the Sunday Creek watershed, is the largest single acid mine drainage discharge in the state of Ohio.
Acidic water from the old mine flows into Sunday Creek and beyond. While the water itself is clear, the iron precipitates out once it hits the air, coating the creek beds. It makes the water uninhabitable for aquatic life in the waterway. The air around it smells like sulphur.
These polluted waters are the toxic legacy of Appalachia’s coal mining past, and present an expensive and overwhelming environmental problem.
Coal was once an integral part of Ohio’s economy. The state produced about 2.35 billion tons from its underground mines between 1800 and 2010. Once the U.S. introduced the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act in 1977, many mines were simply abandoned. Decades later, communities have been the ones stuck cleaning up the mess.
“It’s a nuisance and an eyesore and an embarrassment really to the population,” Guy Riefler, an environmental engineer and Ohio University professor told CNN. “And because it’s a poor area, it really doesn’t get the attention it deserves.”
Turning Pollution Into Paint
Riefler connected with John Sabraw, an art professor at Ohio University, to craft a creative solution for the toxic leftovers filling their local streams.
The problem reminds me of the old adage for environmental woes when we used to say, “the solution to pollution is dilution.”
Area residents have experienced the true impact of this toxic problem that has not resolved on its own. There’s not enough water to dilute it.
The two professors and their students came together with a common goal: to clean up these polluted rivers. They discovered that they could extract iron oxide from the waterways and turn it into paint.
The process involves collecting iron oxide sludge from the creek, extracting the pigment, and using varying temperatures to make different colors. The final product is a variety of high-quality pigments used for oil paints, which are now sold as True Pigments.
This artistic outcome reminds me of Ryan Holiday’s book, The Obstacle is the Way, a book which offers a framework to flip obstacles into opportunities.
They took the problem and turned it into the solution by making a pigment product that can be sold and actually help pay for the clean-up and restoration of the surrounding watershed.
This model could even work for other AMD sites across the country.
Earlier this month, about 80 people attended a ceremony along Truetown Road in Ohio to break ground on construction for a new facility that will clean up acid mine drainage, diverting the discharge to a plant that can treat up to 1,200 gallons per minute.
The project is a partnership with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Ohio University, regional environmental nonprofit Rural Action, and True Pigments.
“Together we’re imagining a world where Appalachian streams run clear and where vibrant economies flourish in these historic coal towns,” said Michelle Shively Maclver, True Pigments director of project development, at the ceremony.
The project has received millions in funding from state and federal sources, including Ohio’s Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization Program and the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.
Are you inspired by this solution to pollution? Let us know in the comments below!