An Evaluation Of The Ely Copper Mines

Some important things made from metals include cars, bridges, appliances, power generation, infrastructure, and obviously many more. Everything electrical needs copper, (which is mined), to function. A major concern for the mine is that it will pollute and destroy the nearby natural

There are many factors that contribute to Idaho’s pollution problem, but mining may be the biggest. Mining is a huge industry in Idaho, hence the nickname “The Gem State”. The biggest product from Idaho’s mines is silver. Silver mines are some of the largest polluters in the state. Bunker Hill, or Silver Valley, as the Coeur d’Alene region is known for its numerous mines, was recently named a Superfund site. A Superfund site is a site under protection for removal of toxic wastes by the EPA. Although that beautiful valley was also once known for its abundant wildlife, now the rivers are flooded with phosphorous, selenium, zinc, lead, silver, cadmium, and arsenic, all from tailings of several mines in the region. Lake Coeur d’Alene now contains over 70 million tons of toxic waste sediments in its bottom. This pollution has endangered people in the area for years. In Smelterville, where a smelter ran for nearly 100 years, a large number of people have been diagnosed with health complications caused by extremely high levels of lead and other toxins in their blood. These conditions, for most, have existed nearly all their lives. Many remember being ill for most of their childhood and on. In 1973, before the smelter was closed, the average lead toxin level per deciliter of blood in children tested was 70. A reading of 10 is considered high alert. Rocky Hill, who grew up in Smelterville and

The Copper Basin of southeastern Tennessee is an area that is climatically unique with a rich history rooted in copper mining. It is thought that man is responsible for the total destruction of the environment over this large area, but it is mostly contributed to the exclusive location. The Copper Basin was susceptible to negative environmental effects due to its topographical, geological, climatic, edaphic, and meteorological location. However, the copper mining had a transformative effect on the surrounding lands that of which are still recovering.

The Tar Creek Superfund Site is part of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. The Tar Creek area is where lead and zinc were mined from 1900’s to the 1960’s. When the mining came to a halt over 500 million pounds of toxic waste was left over. This waste, called chat, has caused elevated blood lead concentrations in as high as 43% in some children. When the mines were abandoned they soon flooded. This resulted in contaminated ground water, surface water, and soil. In 1983, the site was put on the National Priorities List Sites. The Tar Creek area has been on the National Priorities List for 20 years and has a rating of 58.15. Cleanup of the site has occurred since the 1980’s and is still in progress today as various organizations such as the DEQ and

One consequence on the environment would have been from the pollutants the mine would have given off. One of these pollutants would be Mercury. In the process of getting iron ore from taconite pellets, which is what is mined, the taconite must be heated up, one element that is given off during the heating process is Mercury (WI DNR, 2003, 22-25). When Mercury is in it’s gaseous form, it enters the water cycle and helps form acid rain (WI DNR, 2003). When the acid rain is released as precipitation, it enters the waterways and pollutes the waters. In the case of Northern Wisconsin, this acid rain would help pollute the Bad River Watershed, one of the biggest tributaries of Lake Superior, which would be polluted from the Mercury. Pollution of Lake Superior would be devastating. Lake Superior is the world’s largest freshwater lake and it’s water flows through the Great Lakes, down the St. Lawrence River, and into the Atlantic Ocean, all of which would be polluted. Also, Lake Superior is a huge source of drinking water for a huge portion of cities located right on the lake including Ashland and Superior in Wisconsin, Duluth and Cloquet in Minnesota, Sault St. Marie and Marquette in Minnesota, and Thunder Bay in Canada just to name a few (Lake by Lake, 2003). Another major pollutant is Sulfate. Sulfate is one of the major parts of taconite mine runoff. Sulfate does the same as Mercury except it is mixed in the water right away instead of being in acid rain, though it is a component to acid rain (WI DNR, 2013, iv). Sulfate directly ran off into watersheds creates more problems than if it were just in acid rain. In the Bad River Watershed, wild rice is a prominent crop grown in the water for the Ojibwe. That runoff can form Sulfide, and it has been shown in Minnesota to be toxic to wild rice, helping destroy a means of income for so many people (“Wild Rice Sulfate, 2014, 5-6).

The Britannia Mines has played such a major role in the building blocks of British Columbia’s economic development and early history. Behind the unforgotten community that once flourished with 60,000 miners of different races and religions, lies a rich history that captures the hearts of many who pass by one of the most successful copper sites of its time. With that being said, the legend behind the discovery of affluent minerals in Britannia Mines is by a doctor who was searching for gold in the year, 1888. After many failed attempts to set up a mining industry, the Britannia Mine and Smelting Company Ltd. took interest in this discovery and developed operation systems and communities. The Britannia Mines in the 1920s became such a successful

Some argue that, economically, the mining operation will be a net gain in money for the working class and that 75 to 80 percent of the jobs in northern Minnesota will be local [1]. However, for the project to fully go through, it requires “$200 million to $400 million in financial protections, and would overall be a financial liability for taxpayers” [2]. So despite how many jobs the project will create, it could result in a net loss of money for the people living in that area. Another problem that PolyMet thinks they have solved is the mass amount of pollution that will surface during the mining process. They say they will “use the most advanced mining procedures to extract the materials and prevent pollution during the mines 20 year life” [3]. Not only is this solution incredibly vague in its description, but many argue that “the pollution will be a problem long after the mine plays out and PolyMet is gone. The latest studies shows a possibility that the mine’s wastewater could flow north to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness” [3]. The argument that advanced procedures would be used against pollution falls short of satisfactory when their description is so ill-defined.

So often humans extract for resources like Lead, Aluminum, coal, marcellus shale, natural gas, or asbestos, and over time leave behind a environmental contaminated location. When nearby people start getting sick, showing up with health issues linked to the contamination in their environment, then the EPA usally gets involved. In a different light, the ecological effects from these sites can be things like habitat fragmentation, or in particularly vulnerable species, extinction. For example, in Wyoming, when the coal extraction began, a nearby lake is inevitably going to be contaminated with acid mine drainage. Say a specialists amphibian lived symbiotically with a moss or algae in the lake ecosystem, and without intervention the species dramatically suffer. Superfund sites are a popular topic sustainability and conservation biologists should use their popularity in the nation to aide in the local community remediation methods. For example, I am working to sample vegetation, water quality, fish biomass, and macro invertebrates biomass in local acid mine drainage remediation sites here in Indiana. This is a direct impact from human

Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a response update to assess potential impacts to human and aquatic life (2014). The method the EPA employed was to analyze surface water and sediments for contaminants and compare those results to its screening levels. To assess impact to human health, the EPA compared the sediment data to health risk screening levels and compared drinking water samples to Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) as well as to other indicators. Overall, the EPA found those levels found in sediment data and water samples to not exceed human health screening levels and thus determined that there wasn’t significant risk to human health, although the EPA did recommend that people do not come in direct contact with coal ash as it could still pose health risks. These findings were consistent with that of Dr. Shea.

Uranium mining in and near the Grand Canyon will be devastating to the complex ecosystem found in the park and will also have a damaging effect on visitors’ experiences. Uranium mining produces toxic waste that if not managed properly will leak into the groundwater systems. This threatens not only the local animal and plant life but also people who use the watershed for their drinking water. Individuals should consider the detrimental effects of additional noise and air pollution produced by the mining operations, the very serious threat of what a contaminated aquifer would mean to the Park’s health and the health of the 20 million people who live downstream. Additionally mining operations will need to install roads and buildings to support

The Jasper County area has a history of lead and zinc mining dating back to the early 1900s. The first lead mining was approximately two miles east of Joplin at Leadville in 1848, with the Granby area as the largest Missouri producer from 1850‑1870 ("Missouri lead mining”). In 1850, commercial development of mineral resources in southwestern Missouri began to flourish spreading into southeastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma forming the Tri-State Mining District with Joplin as the urban center (Dressel & Stewart, 1986). In 1870, the discovery of lead ore in Joplin was the starting point in the Tri-State District's growth to national prominence ("Missouri lead mining”). Between 1850 and 1950, the value of Tri-State Mineral production exceeded one billion dollars with the region becoming the world’s leading producer of lead and zinc concentrates, generating one-half of the zinc and one-tenth of the lead produced in the United States until 1945 (Dressel & Stewart, 1986). By 1950, reductions in market prices caused most of the mining and milling operations to decline and ultimately cease during the 1960’s (Dressel & Stewart,

Montana has been affected by the toxic mine waste, causing billions of dollars in damage because of the

Most mining companies tend to file for bankruptcy leaving contaminated lands and bodies of water for taxpayers to clean up. (Mining Truth MN) Even though the companies deposit money for cleanup costs when starting it is never enough as they are calculated inaccurately and end up costing the state a lot of money for the cleanup. For example the Summitville Mine in Colorado went bankrupt and the mine was abandoned and “The EPA estimates it will cost $100 million to clean up the mine, including millions of gallons of cyanide-contaminated water.”(Young and Noyes). Granted that the mining companies would bring new jobs to the area they may significantly alter the business landscapes for other industries. Mining will cause a loss in tourism as more and more people will opt to stay home than visit contaminated water. In addition to the loss of tourisms we are unsure of the true economic changes that mining will bring as we are often provided with unreliable job predictions and unstable employment due to the boom and bust economy. To be sure that mining doesn’t negatively impact other thriving industries in Northern Minnesota we should make sure that mining won’t happen in our

Coal mining is said to be one of the most dangerous type of mining in the world because it exposes miners to a wide range of risks and health hazards inside the tunnel (Gowrisankaran, He, Lutz, Burgess. 2015). Health and Safety was the major issue identified in the Pike River mine disaster. Proper inspection was not implemented to ensure safety of employees, contractors and subcontractors. They also have insufficient information on the geological location of the mine which was a major factor in the disaster.

Before environmental laws and standards were adopted, most of the mining company dumped tailings (wastes) in the nearest location. Extracting metals use high demand of water and for water disposal. It pollutes fresh water and as a result water is contaminated with harmful constituents such as mercury (Appendix B). Example of former open pit mine is Butte, Montana known as the Berkeley pit (Appendix B). It was closed in 1982 but the pit and its water present a serious environmental issue. In 1995, there was a flock of snow geese landed in the pit and a total of 342 carcasses were found and today, Berkeley pit consists with highly contaminated water as stated by (Barbey, 2009).