The Hazards Of The Abandoned Mining

How serious is the problem? Since 1930, the aquifer's water has been reduced by 11 percent (Lewis). The volume of water has decreased because the use of irrigation has increased so much since World War II. In 1949, 2.1 million acres were under irrigation. In 1969, the amount of irrigation land rose to 9.0 million acres; and in 1978, it rose to 13 million acres

There are three main mechanisms by which the chemical composition of groundwater, which is our natural source of drinking water, may be changed: by natural processes, by man's waste-disposal practices such as those for sanitary wastes, liquid industrial wastes, solid wastes, and radioactive wastes, and by spills, leaks, and agricultural activities and other sources unrelated to disposal. The degree of risk posed by contaminants varies according to many factors. These include the volume and toxicity of the contaminant, its concentration in the aquifer, its persistence in the environment, and the degree of human and environmental exposure to the contaminant. In addition, the number of persons affected, or likely to be affected, over time and the percentage of available groundwater both locally and regionally should be taken into consideration. If the contaminants in the groundwater exceed the standards set for drinking water by the federal government, for example, then the water is hazardous for the use for which it was designated under the standards. These standards include, however, only a limited number of chemicals, and thus they do not necessarily protect humans or the environment against either the short-term or the long-term effects of every contaminant that might be found in

Now, what is an aquifer and what is it used for? Aquifers are an aquifer is a body of saturated rock through which water can easily move (isu.edu). In order for a well to be productive, it must be drilled into an aquifer (isu.edu). Rocks such as granite and schist are generally poor aquifers because they have a very low porosity (isu.edu). However, if these rocks are highly fractured, they make good aquifers (isu.edu). A well is a hole drilled into the ground to penetrate an aquifer (isu.edu). One aquifer, called the Ogallala aquifer, produces one-fifth of the nations freshwater to crops in the mid-west (washingtonpost.com). But there is a problem, it is starting to dry up (washingtonpost.com). As a result, the aquifer is slowly getting depleted, with the water table dropping by as much as two feet per year in some counties (washingtonpost.com). And once they drain, it could take hundreds or thousands of years for those ancient aquifers, which were first formed millions of years ago, to fully recharge with rainfall (washingtonpost.com). Researchers found that 30 percent of the Kansas portion of the Ogallala Aquifer has already been pumped out, and another 39 percent will get used up in the next half-century at existing rates (washingtonpost.com). Kansas, clearly, is on the fast track to depletion (washingtonpost.com). As a result, agricultural production is likely to

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

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

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

The minor aquifers are Dockum, the Capitan, the Rustler, the Hickory, the Ellenburger- San Saba, the Lipan and to a small amount Marble Falls (Anaya 2001, 113). The aquifer is mostly unconfined but is semi confined in parts of the Trinity (Anaya 2001, 113). The direction of the groundwater flow is controlled by the areas of discharge, which are displayed by the strong influence of the streams form on the potentiometric surface (Barker and Ardis 1996, 35). The predominant direction of the groundwater flow is northwest to southeast, caused the base slope of the aquifer (Barker and Ardis 1996, 35). This flow is also normal to the potentiometric surface as shown in figure 3, except where the aquifer is anisotropic (Barker and Ardis 1996, 37). Most of the recharge that occurs in the Edward-Trinity aquifer happens from infiltration of precipitation over the outcrops and the sinkholes (Anaya 2001, 113). The average recharge rate over the eastern part of the plateau is 0.12 to 2.24 inches per year whereas over the Trans-Pecos region is 0.3 to 0.4 inches per year (Anaya 2001, 113). In certain areas of the plateau such as Pecos and Reeves counties there is induced recharge being caused from the water level declines due to irrigation pumping (Anaya 2001, 116). Discharge occurs in the southern and eastern portions from cross-formational flow

The problem in my regions, is that farmers use so much of the aquifer,whether it be from wells, irrigations systems, and even citizens using it in town. Our problem is that the Ogalala aquifer is runing low, and without that we wont have saafe drinking water. If we use up our aquifer, what are we supposed to do? The Texas Panhandle uses too much water, with farmers and in ctizens in town. We need to conserve water and attempt to make our aquifer last longer than we expect it to. Becuase without it, we won't have any safe drinking water, or any safe water for that

The radioactive elements and huge concentration of salt that is injected into the shale rocks concerns the nation because they’ve seen cases to when those chemicals have found their way into our water and even our air. In results of this problem- biology professor Robert Jackson, discusses in Source D- how he, along with some researchers, analyze two hundred private wells of residents in

If California regulates aquifer, farmers are going to be looking at buying less pickups, employing less people, and buying less tractors (Source 1). “We are tied to the groundwater 100 percent," a farmer said, "so ultimately it will have an effect on consumer prices. There's just no getting around that" (Source 1). “The crippling drought is expected to cost the state $2.2 billion in 2014 and put more than 17,000 farm workers out of a job, according to a July study partly funded by the state’s department of food and agriculture” (Source 2). If aquifer is regulated, the economy is going to crash, prices of food will go up, if prices of food go up, prices of everything will go up, farmers will go out of business, people who work for farmers will lose their jobs, people who sell farmers equipment won’t sell enough hardware and make less money, and the government will lose billions of dollars. Also, ⅓ of the world is fed by farmers in California and if aquifer is regulated, ⅓ of the world will not have enough food and there might be a possibility of hunger. Californians aren’t realizing this. "City folks just don't understand that they're biting the hand that feeds them” (Source 1). We need groundwater for the sake of our

one and only way to get materials out of earths surface, however it has a major affect on the environment, which then affect the people. The impacts can vary depends on what type of mine it is, for example if it a uranium mines, then it is guaranteed that the surrounded area, water, soil and vegetables will be turned it to radioactive materials. Uranium will decay by emitting alpha particles accompanied by weak gamma radiation, which travels at the speed of light (3*108). Since alpha particle travels at the speed of light, it can penetrate human’s organs and could kill people (Radiation protection, 2015). A Half life of uranium-238 is 4.47 billion years, which means even after the mine is shout down the place will be radio active for billions of years. This can result in children being born with disabilities. Scientists have found that uranium can bind to human DNA (research, 2006).

One of the biggest consumers of groundwater in our state are farmers. During a drought the farmers have to use wells to water their crops. The water from these wells use garoundwater from Aquifers. Water in Aquifers provide 60% of California's groundwater in drought years. Because California has been in a drought for the last 5 years, farmers have used and over used groundwater from wells. Over-pumping can compress soil and rocks making them compact

Since I live in the Texoma area the majority of our drinking water comes from Lake Texoma. I think the three sources of groundwater contamination that might affect groundwater in my area would be human-made materials that are littered into the lake, agricultural activities, and human/animal wastes. There are a lot of people in the area who like to go fishing near the lake and drinking alcoholic beverages. These people throw their beer cans and all of their trash into the lake. They also urinate and defecate into the lake as well. There are many nearby farms and ranches to the lake and with all of the flooding water has run-off from these areas back into the lake.

On reviewing the state, federal documents and federal database for the Ely Copper mines representing 87% of currently operating copper Ely mines, and responsible for 89% of U.S. copper production in 2010. The Ely Copper mines were chosen based on an operating record of more than five years. These mines provide a representative view of the types of environmental impacts resulting from the development of copper porphyry deposits, focusing on pipeline spills, tailings failures and water collection and treatment failures. It was found that all of the mines (100%) experienced pipeline spills or other accidental releases. The most frequent spills were reported at the Ray Mine in Arizona, where over fifty pipelines Spills occurred from 1988 to 2012. Data shows that among 13 of the 14 mines (92%), water collection and treatment systems have failed to control contaminated mine seepage, resulting in significant water quality impacts. The development of acid mine drainage was associated with the most severe and lasting impacts.

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