The Effects Of Mining On Air Quality

When asked to think of coal mining, what comes to mind? A mountain with a hole cut into the side of it with a set of railroad tracks disappearing into it? Maybe an old mine car or two full of some rocks or coal, with a pickaxe and shovel leaning against it. A few guys with hard hats covered in a black powder coming walking out of the mine pushing a car or two full of coal. The technology has advanced but the process is basically still the same as well as the outcome. Coal is retrieved from underground and taken to factories to be burnt to create electricity or to fuel the steel mills.

On December 3, 2014, I conducted a Health and Safety Inspection (EO1) at Warrior Coal LLC, Cardinal underground mine. I went to the mine to monitor the operators dust sampling; however, they were not sampling. Due to the operator not sampling I decided to travel to the # 2 Unit 002-0 and 004-0 Mechanized Mining Unit (MMU) to check the dust Parameters.

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

There are two main types of air pollution, particulate matter (PM) and ozone. Particulate matter is some tiny dust. For example, according to a beam of light at night there are countless dusts floating in the air. They are particle. Ozone is an invisible chemical gas in the air. When these gas touch with light will become smog. Factory and vehicles exhaust emissions have become the largest cause of PM and ozone pollution in the United States. If a plant wants to run, they need to burn fuel to provide power; however, a lot of particulate matter will float in the air when the factory burns fuel. When people drive cars can

Things like mining too far into a wall that connects to an older mine, thus increasing the danger of a collapse, is common. Other practices include shoddy dams that contain the slurry, a mixture of water and fine particles of coal, which do not always meet structural regulations that can and have broken and flood nearby communities (Light and Light, 2006). There are other environmental issues that are associated with coal mining. Acid mine drainage is the result of sulfide minerals being exposed to oxygen. This produces sulfuric acid and can dissolve heavy metals from the waste rock, making it bioavailable. Without proper treatment, this will poison the water systems near that mine and will seep into the streams, creeks, and even ground and well water. The water turns orange and is impossible for anything to live off of the water or in it (Kirsch, 2014). Another issue of coal mining is airborne coal dust, which can result in Black Lung disease. This is caused by inhaling too much coal dust and is common in miners, but with surface mining becoming more prevalent, more coal dust is being released into the air and drifting down to the communities. More children and elderly people are having respiratory problems that many believe are because of

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

This chapter of the book discussed some of the pollutants that are discharged into the air from coal-fired utilities. It explained how weather conditions play a role in exposure and explained the measuring criteria for particulates. It explained how some particulates stay in the atmosphere longer and therefore travel a greater distance till exposure. It then discussed federal involvement in the issue and some of the Clear Air legislation that has been passed over the years starting with the Air Pollution Control Act of 1955. There were six pollutants that were determined to pose the greatest risk, carbon monoxide, lead, particulate matter (now subdivided be particle size), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. The final report listed

Globally, many countries are increasingly feeling the effects of environmental degradation. This has been occasioned by the increasingly evident effects of poor environmental conservation policy. There are currently taking the brunt of environmental degradation that has been occasioned by rapid the industrialization that has occurred both within and out of the country. “Air pollution has been at fault for a significant portion of the country’s environmental problems. Studies have identified the country’s economic boom as major contributor to this (Jitendra and Tanvi, 42)”. In East Asia, yellow dust it calls “Asian dust” is the biggest issue, which is mostly influenced by China’s industrialization and coal burning electrical generating plants. The main issue concerning South Korea and Japan is the air pollution caused by China's rapid economic growth crossing the boundaries into these two countries, it is blown from China to Korea and Japan causing hazardous air pollution. There causes many problems, it occurs respiratory problems, an increase in incidence of acid rain, highway accidents, and forcing many residents to stay home. Also, dust will enter a human’s mouth and organ which will cause respiratory problems through inhalation. “Air pollutants are gaseous or particulate matter which that have an impact on human health and natural ecosystems” (Lee, Adeel, 134).

Metal mining is the process of extracting ore or minerals underneath of the earth. Mining produces economic gains for countries that have plenty of metallic ore deposits, however the mining industry has a record of causing environmental disasters by releasing heavy metals such as (lead, lithium, cadmium) and other chemicals. Also mining has increased air pollution, loss of habitat for many species and the impact on the human health can be devastating.

The very first open-pit mines that were built in the world started around when men began to develop tools and constructing massive stone monuments to their gods. They were known as quarries. Quarries are open-pit mines that produce building materials and dimension stone, such as granite, marble, limestone, and other tangible rock building materials. However, these open-pit mines produced little to no pollution at all because the technology to extract every last gram of ore from rack has not been developed. The process basically involves pulverizing every rock that comes out of a mine with any trace of ore within it. This produces what is known as tailings. Tailings are one of the biggest pollutants of the world to date. They are so toxic that they have to be mixed with water to produce sludge and are pumped into ponds (known as tailings ponds) so that they are rendered “obsolete”.

Simply being in the mines for certain duration of time can lead to several diseases such as “dust disease” otherwise known as Pneumoconiosis. “Miner’s lung” is a very large problem that is evident in British coal mines. Coal-mining areas tend to be more at risk of a socioeconomic disadvantage, higher risk of health problems, and deconstruction of the environment in comparison to non-coal-mining areas (Mclour 2008). In Mclour’s study of “miners lung”, the quality of life is briefly covered and discussed. Due to the lack of studies on injuries and illnesses in the workplace, awareness of

It is a complex social process which already becomes part and parcel of our society.

Air, is one of the most substantial source to mankind and our planet. While it exists, so does everything else along. However, in today’s epidemic, there has been certain factors that have increased in understanding whether the air we breathe today is healthy or not? Is it doing more harm than we thought? In other words, the health risks against air pollution have risen in the past few decades; all from what you may ask? Well, it could be for various factors and evaluations; either environmental or materialistic. Pollution is a major public health crisis in the world. (Friis, 2012). This is one of the conflicts that contribute to various aspects of an individual’s life, whether they may realize it or not. In this paper will include the sources that cause pollution with the effects it cause as well as policies on the regulation of air pollution.

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.