Open Pits In Canada

Fossil Fuels are extremely harmful to the environment, especially in the ways the fuel is obtained, such as mining or hydraulic fracturing. Coal, a commonly used fossil fuel, can be obtained by strip mining, mountaintop mining, or underground mining (“Coal Explained”). Strip mining has disastrous effects on the environment because of the destructive nature of the process, which removes all soil, rock, trees, and plants above coal deposits. The runoff from this pollutes streams and rivers nearby, which can harm aquatic life and disfigure the body of water,

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.

For those who are unaware, the PolyMet mine is a copper - nickel mine located in

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.

The process of mining lead and zinc ore produces mine tailings . The mine tailings are better known as chat. Throughout the years of mining Picher became known for the immense chat piles that surrounded the landscape, an amazing 70 million tons. Unbeknownst to the community of Picher, the chat piles contained hazardous materials. The toxins contained in the chat piles consisted of lead, zinc, cadmium, arsenic, iron and manganese. The people of Picher, unaware of the toxicity, played and picnicked on these enormous chat piles for years. It did not occur to the people of the area that health and developmental issues were caused from the chat piles until the Health Department tested 100 children of the mining community for lead. Out of the 100 children tested 43% had elevated levels of lead in their blood. The EPA declared Picher a Superfund site in 1983. This leads many people to believe that clean-up of the area is possible; however the actions taken by the EPA fall incredibly

Two wastes that resulted from this production were coal tar and purified waste. Coal tar was a formation of less volatile chemical compounds. Coal tar’s sole purpose was for roofing and road building material. Scientists taking coal tar as a starting point developed other uses. Manufactured gas plants were creating more coal than they could find buyers for and eventually formed an emulsion with water. The tar produced spills and leaks over decades of operation. Chemicals found in coal tar were anthracene, fluorene, napthalene, pyrene and many others (dec.ny.gov). Sulfur and cyanide compounds that were being removed through purifier beds consisting of lime or wood chips formed purifier waste. Reactions took place between the gas and purifier material corroding gas pipes, stoves and lighting fixtures. Purifier beds would eventually fill up with tar and become unusable. Having to dispose of the material, the waste had a strong odor and the wood chips would ignite if left uncovered. The purifier waste would either be shipped to landfills or fill low-lying areas on premises. The cyanide compound found in purifier waste contaminated groundwater away from the burial location. The water that became affected was highly acidic and caused harm to fish and

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

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

Tens of business closed up, which directly affected a large number of households. The coal mining operations companies also left environmental contaminants in the environment. Pollutions from coal mining have a direct effect on water, land air. Some of the pollutants contaminate ground water, surface water and impact on other land-uses. Besides the slope failure and explosion, environmental impact from coal mining causes erosion; leachates production, which seeping into ground water, and dust pollution. Heavy metals compound like lead, cadmium and arsenic dominates coal mining sites (Bhuiyan, Parvez, Islam, & Dampare, 2010). These metals are toxic to plant and animal. Some absorb some of these dissolved metals and introduce them into the food circle. When rainwater mixes with coal waste, the runoffs becomes acidic, which reduce PH of surface waters. (Komitas, 2001) Population inhaling coal dust suffers black lung disease and other complication like lung cancer, and heart failure (Finkelman & Orem, 2002). Coal mining in uranium mines is another source of radioactive exposure. Another environmental impact from coal mined lands includes emission of greenhouse gasses. Future land redevelopment in grand Cache, must deal with this issues before development could take

There is the present issue of contamination from existing landfills in soil, groundwater and air. Landfill mining is not a new concept, but the costs

Hazardous waste and its proper disposal have become a major sociological problem today due to its capability of contaminating the area in which we live and its potential to be lethal to all living things. In order for the United States and the rest of the world to save itself from a potentially life threatening problem they must fix the causes which lead to the improper disposal of hazardous wastes and like materials. Some reasons that hazardous waste has become a problem in the United States today is due to the breakdown in enforcing laws for the proper disposal of such wastes, a lack of initiative on big companies behalf to spend money on proper disposal, and the ease of disposing of such wastes illegally.

These left over tailings create human and ecological health problems that can be caused from exposure to the dust that are blown from these mine sites since metal toxicants can persist in tailing particles (arizona.edu, 2008).

The mining industry has seen an explosive growth from the past few decades. It has played an important role in economic growth, infrastructure development and a raise in the living standard of the whole world. According to the Australian National Accounting System, the mining sector has made contributions of 9.8% GDP growth to the Australian economy between 2008 to 2009 (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2012). However, the mining industry has caused many environmental issues such as adverse effect to air, land and water quality and continues to affect global environment as a whole. According to the World Health Organization, it evaluated that 25% of worldwide death are directly associated with environmental pollution (Blacksmith Institute, n.d). This essay will outline the environmental issue raised by the mining industry with pinpoint focus on the effects to air, water and land. It will also provide strategies for mining companies to improve the environmental conditions.

Mining Many of the planet's rainforests lie over rich mineral deposits. The mining process releases harmful toxins, like mercury and cyanide which are often used in the gold extraction process, into local streams and river, polluting both the waters and the surrounding lands. There is, however, good money in the mining industry and many residents are encouraged to work in the mines.