Mining and The Environment Essay examples

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

I would have to say that from the reading that it can be very harmful for the coal mining chemicals to seep into the ground into our drinking water.

Minerals can affect society in many ways for example; Surface mining destroys vegetation across large areas, increasing erosion. Open-pit mining uses huge quantities of water. Acid mine drainage is pollution caused when dissolved toxic materials wash from mines into nearby lakes and streams. Minerals is approximately 80 percent of mined ore consists of impurities that become wastes after processing. These wastes, called tailings, are usually left in giant piles on the ground or in ponds near the processing plants (Figure 12.9). The tailings contain toxic materials such as cyanide, mercury, and sulfuric acid. Left

Acid deposition can come in two forms, dry and wet. Wet deposition is when the acid falls in the form of fog, snow or other precipitation. Dry deposition is found in dry areas where it does not precipitate often. In these areas the chemicals fall as dust or smoke, and stick to whatever they land on. Acid deposition can be result to both natural and manmade sources. Natural sources of acid deposition include electrical storms, volcanoes, and decaying vegetation. Man-made emissions, from power plants that burn fossil fuels are released into the atmosphere as nitrogen oxides (NOx), and sulfur dioxide (SO2). These elements react to oxygen, water, and other gasses in the atmosphere in order to form acidic compounds. These acidic compounds then fall in either a wet or dry form. Acid rain can have a potentially devastating effects on the ecosystem it falls on. When acid rain hits the ground, it faces a natural buffer in the soil often in the form of limestone and calcium carbonate. The water will then travel into either a stream or a lake, where it affects fish. If the fallen rain has a pH at or below 5 undesirable species invade, often in the form of mosses or plankton. The top layer of water becomes too acidic for the inhabitants reproductive cycle to work properly, slowly killing off the

The families that live near the mine also face being diagnosed with dangerous side effects. Since the ground becomes polluted with the chemicals, most homes in the surrounding area don’t have running water because the aquifers are polluted by said chemicals that originate from the mine. And the air becomes toxic also, toxic levels of arsenic, fluorine, mercury, and selenium is emitted by coal fires, entering the air and the food chain of those living nearby. These pollutants affect the water also, making it dangerous to any living life form. It causes deformities and creates birth defects if ingested into the body (Breitenender 2). And to an extent, causes death if the water is drunk regularly. It can go unnoticed also if people don’t check their water. And if a person is unfortunate enough to live near these areas, then he likely has no running water due to the pollution of his local aquifer. People are deprived of a vital source to live and they travel far to get water. And these areas are arid which means water is a necessary

In the middle ages, farmers came upon the issue of barren fields after their repeated use. By planting countless crops of corn in one area of land for decades, the soil became depleted of the nutrients necessary to grow the crop (The Editors of…”). Granted, the three field system became a popular method to combat this inconvenience, but throughout history, humans constantly need to solve the issues they created themselves. During the California Gold Rush, some 100,000 non-natives rushed to San Francisco and the surrounding area in the hopes of striking literal gold. However, commercial gold mining is the largest source of mercury release, a liquid metal that causes nervous system failure, kidney damage, and even death in humans and other organisms alike (“The Gold Rush of 1849”). Even disease contamination of surface-level water is caused by humans, whether by mistake or otherwise, affects not only those bathing and cooking with the water, but those living in the water - fish, aquatic plants, etc. Even by making valiant efforts to reduce our use of coal and oil by converting to nuclear and solar energy, the waste products cause more harm than good. The land that we use again and again is treated poorly and without much thought as agriculturalism becomes a larger part of survival throughout history.

If the rivers are flowing though a mine store the water in the catchment have increased levels of calcium, magnesium, carbonates and other ions associated with mining ores

Phosphorus mining is inherently destructive to the land, and many issues such as soil and water contamination are common due to strip mining and the associated run-off. Other issues preventing progress are those surrounding certain state and private institutions that hold stake in the mining industry, and who have resisted the idea of environmental protection for decades.

Our company has used this process in most of our previous projects, and we’ve found it to be an excellent “go to” for spills of this kind. In short, this method neutralizes any pollutants in the acid mine drainage using lime, and it should return the water to the Animas River in a safe

While researching the effects of mining I thought of 3 main reasons why mining should stop. Mining can affect water quality which may loose farmers, fishermen, and boat shops to go out of business. Plus, once all the ore is mined the miners will have nowhere to go and also lose their jobs. And finally, no one would move here because no one wants to live near polluted water

Pollutionissues.com. (2017). Mining - water, effects, environmental, disasters, United States, impact, EPA, soil, chemicals, industrial, toxic, human, sources, disposal, use, life, health. [online] Available at: http://www.pollutionissues.com/Li-Na/Mining.html

Problems with acid mine drainage from many abandoned mines are known throughout Colorado. The leaking mine water that goes into Cement Creek was stem by the EPA team at the Gold King Mine when the accident occurred. The EPA safe crew was supposed to be cleaning up the abandoned mine but they accidentally sent 3 millions of gallon of chemicals filled waste water pour into the river. To be more specific, a concrete bulkhead was built to plug the leak by the EPA team. They are planning to add pipes so that the release can be slow down and better treatment environment of the water. The machine from the team breached a wall and the wall was used to hold back the waste water. After that, the waste water went out and it contains a list of chemicals include iron, zion and copper. It flowing down to the Animas River from Gold King mine initially and goes through Durago and then mixed with the San Juan River in New Mexico and Colorado river. According to a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Colorado School of Mines called Ron Cohen, the yellow color of the water is due to the oxidation of iron. This oxidation reaction is common chemical process around the world and the mustard-yellow color will occur when metal sulfide minerals (ie pyrite) were exposed by the subsurface mining to air and water.

The worldwide problem of acid mine drainage causes harm to waterways, plants, animals, and even humans. Acid mine drainage is water with a high acidity content that originates from water coming in contact with highly acidic-bearing materials in rocks. Those rocks are common in mining regions, which is why acid mine drainage is such a problem for those locations, including the coal mining region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The water affected by acid mine drainage becomes yellow or orange in color due to the presence of dissolved iron in the oxygen-rich water and the water reeks of sulfur. The water from acid mine drainage has a high pH level and can be dangerous if it comes in contact with living organisms. Acid mine drainage occurs gradually, with some scientists and governmental officials predicting some cases of acid mine drainage may be around for as long as a thousand years (Earthworks Action). Acid mine drainage is a monetary burden as well as an environmental one. The materials used in the common chemical-treatment processes for acid mine drainage are very costly, with materials costing nearly $1,000 per gallon. Six primary chemicals are used to treat acid mine drainage, and they are: calcium carbonate, calcium hydroxide, calcium oxide, sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide (in solid, 20% liquid and 50% liquid forms), and anhydrous ammonia (Skousen, Hilton and Faulkner, Overview of Acid Mine Drainage Treatment with Chemicals). All of these chemicals can be efficient in

Surface mining process include the excavation of overburden including the profitable topsoil and regular vegetation has spread to meet the mineral ores (singh, et al. 2010). These activities are connected with destructive impact to neighborhood. Proper planning needs to be done in mining since it is a short term environmental activity with long term hazards. There are several measures which can be implemented to prevent the harmful effects of mining. Mining exercise are completed in different stages, each

This hazard is important because rain, snow or wind will move materials from the abandoned place and would contaminate aquifers through their recharge zone. It is important to first solve the use and dispose of chemical elements exposed in a mine before abandoning it.