Case Study Of Minnesota's Coal Mine Abuse

What some people may be worried about is the fact that this mine could destroy the wonderful peace of the Boundary Waters, for at least 20 years while PolyMet does their mining. The Boundary Waters are located in one of the 12 places on Earth where you can go 15 minutes without hearing human noise. You can ask pretty much anyone who has been to the Boundary Waters, and they will tell you just how peaceful and serene it is. I honestly think 20 years worth of jobs in that area cannot match up to the amazing environment that is already there.

The Susan Lee Johnson article on miners in California helped me to understand the how men in the mining towns behaved in the absence of Anglo-women. It was interesting to see some of similarities between men assuming female gender roles in California Gold Mines with that of the men in the early establishment of Jamestown, Virginia. However, the added factors like spare time and the local women in California added an even more distorted spin to the men's behavior.

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

Another reason this land should be protected is because it is one of the last natural living ecosystems. Alaska’s diverse ecosystem is one of the last places on the planet that has not effected by man. The Alaskan citizens follow a special way of life that has been going on for thousands of years. This way of life is used so that the people can coexist with nature. By mining this lad, that way of life would be completely

Imagine drifting slowly on a canoe while fishing one of Minnesota's crystal clear waters on a beautiful, sunny day. Now imagine being interrupted by the loud, ongoing sounds of drilling and being told the fish were too dangerous to eat. This is only one of many potential harms of sulfide mining. PolyMet, a new mining company would like to bring sulfide mining, also known as copper-nickel mining to Minnesota. This would involve the extraction of copper and various other metals from sulfide, hence the name. The sulfide that comes out of this type of mining can have serious consequences on the environment. Events that occurred in the past and facts mentioned in the books titled Taconite Dreams by Jeffrey Manuel and Fractured Land by Lisa

Many would not believe that North Dakota has some serious environmental concerns, at least I did not. I always thought of North Dakota as a stable and somewhat of a quiet state. After doing some extensive research, I found that North Dakota has environmental concerns with terrestrial, atmospheric, and aquatic ecosystems. As for aquatic ecosystems, the main damage has been done through haphazard artificial drainage, excessive water diversions, and improper disposal of industrial waste. Impact to terrestrial ecosystems is caused by the constant industrial and residential work sectors as well as the mechanical destruction of plant communities. Lastly, atmospheric issues can be pointed to blowing soil and improper pesticide application. As we

In Jan. 2011, the EPA decided to veto the dumping of waste from the Spruce No. 1 Mine. But the agency’s efforts have so far been rebuffed by the courts as an overreach: Under the weird legal regime that governs mining, it’s the Army Corps of Engineers, not the EPA, which has the ultimate say-so over those permits. In 2012, the D.C. district court ruled that EPA lacked authority to veto the permit after the Corps had issued it. However, in fact EPA's decision is based on evidence from scientific research on serious environmental harm from mining. In May 2013, a coalition of Appalachian and environmental groups petitioned the EPA to set a numeric water quality standard under the Clean Water Act to protect streams from pollution caused by mountaintop removal mining . They claimed that “State politics and industry pressure have so far failed to end this pollution without such a standard and more and more streams and communities who rely on those waters are left vulnerable. We need EPA to act now.” The EPA’s authority over the Clean Water Act in respect to Spruce Mine No. 1 was finally affirmed by the Supreme Court in March 2014.

Coach Dan Haskins was the basketball coach of Texas Western University. When he got his position he wanted to recruit basketball players that could help Texas Western University's basketball team. As he journeyed to find basketball players, he recruited 7 black players. During that time period it was not common for black players to play in universities basketball teams, especially in Texas. The Texas Western Miners consisted of 7 black and 3 white athletes. Coach Haskins decision to recruit black basketball players affected the team to be harassed and threatened, the funding boosters threatened to pull funding from the team, and won the championships.

The working class has served as an integral part of our capitalist society; as the building blocks, and producers of the goods that supply and support our country, the working class and working poor have faced many struggles to gain working rights. The histories of labor movements in the United States are often silenced from the mainstream culture; while we take our current union laws for granted, long forgotten are the bloody battles that took place to secure these rights. The ideological issues facing our modern day working class have shown to stem from the same socially constructed ideals that existed during past labor wars, such as the Colorado Coal Strike. The Coal Strike of 1913-1914 culminated in the Ludlow Massacre; this event

The waterways can be divided into categories of water that has been affected by the Summitville mine and water that has not been affected. Based on the location of the waterways, the Beaver Mud Dump, the Headwaters of Wightman Fork, Schinzel Flats, Wightman Fork below mine, and the small creek from tailings pile would be directly affected by the contamination initiated by mining activity, while the Cattle Guard, Iron Creek, Alum Creek, Bitter Creek, and waterways around the Alamosa River would not be affected or as affected by the mining activity (refer to Figure 1). From the data collected this year, it can be inferred that the Beaver Mud Dump is by far the most metal-polluted body of water in the area; though the waterways affected by

I learned that mines were abandoned and in this case we have the responsible helping out. In other cases like the Gold King Mine in Colorado that it was used in the early 1900’s, the responsible that abandoned the mines were from Canada and are no were to be found. The problem with these mines is that when they extract all the uranium and there is no need for the mines, these mines need to be abandoned and closed. Unfortunately, there was no cleanup process when the mines were abandoned. Leaving the areas contaminated and the water from the rain transporting the contamination to other areas. 100 years ago, there was no standard on how to properly abandon a mine. Now days, the EPA and the state environmental departments are responsible to enforce the proper abandonment procedures and make sure the closure will not contaminate nearby areas or the water used for drinking, crops, and other human and animal uses. The runoff of the mine contamination can increase the total dissolve solids (TDS) in the nearby waters, making it non usable for human consumption and fish

At the same time, many local citizens, as individuals and through the local chapter of the United Mineworkers Union, are putting significant pressure on the Town Council to help Twin Lakes in the environmental process as this will potentially impact their livelihood if the company decided to shut down and at the same time impacting the City’s economic stability which is strongly dependent on the continued success of the Twin Lakes Mining Company.

Mines pose a threat to the environment. They can degrade soil and water quality if left untreated. The United States Environmental protection Agency (USEPA)'s Region 9 assessment of state data states that there are approximately 420,000 abandoned mines in the states of

What is the Dakota Access Pipeline? The Dakota Access Pipeline is a 1,172 mile underground state of the art 30” pipeline extending from the Bakken/Three Forks production area in North Dakota to Pakota, Illinois. The pipeline will transfer oil from North Dakota to other refining markets. The pipeline will run underground and has passed federal safety requirements. They claim the pipeline is safer than most modes of transportations and will be very beneficial for Americans.