toxic materials in appalachian coal mining
EPA official blew off scheduled meeting with toxic ...
EPA official blew off scheduled meeting with toxic Appalachian coal town On Thursday night, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt's point person for the EPA's Superfund program failed to show up at a scheduled meeting with residents of a West Virginia town contaminated by toxic chemicals.
Mine reclamation Wikipedia
Mine reclamation is the process of restoring land that has been mined to a natural or economically usable state. Although the process of mine reclamation occurs once mining is completed, the planning of mine reclamation activities occurs prior to a mine being permitted or started.
Coal Mining Debris Rule Is Approved The New York Times
Dec 03, 2008· Coal Mining Debris Rule Is Approved. The rules deal with air pollution, auto safety, abortion and workers' exposure to toxic chemicals, among other issues. The National Mining Association, a trade group, welcomed the rule, saying it could end years of uncertainty that had put jobs and coal production in jeopardy.
West Virginia To Treat Water Pollution at Forfeited Coal ...
May 11, 2017· When mine operators in West Virginia go out of business, before they complete all of the reclamation required by law, the state becomes responsible for finishing the cleanup, including managing any water pollution coming from the site. However, coal mines continue to generate harmful water pollution long after the mines are shut down.
The Hidden Costs of Fossil Fuels | Union of Concerned ...
And depending on the chemical makeup of the coal deposit, mines can pollute local drinking water sources with toxic chemicals like selenium, arsenic, manganese, lead, iron, and hydrogen sulfide .
Coal Mining Is A Dying Industry. So Why Does It Play An ...
Aug 22, 2018· In the mountains of Appalachia, coal mining is infused in folklore and tradition. As much a heritage as it is an occupation, it has provided work .
Minden, West Virginia: A Brief History of "The Most Toxic ...
Many citizens theorize that such widespread diagnoses of cancer stems from not only the toxic remnants of chemicals used during the coal mining and washing process, but also from PCBs. The Mindenbased Shaffer Equipment Company produced electrical equipment for the coal industry from, including transformers containing PCB oil.
Mountaintop Removal Mining: Digging Into Community Health ...
The practice of mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining has been carried out on at least 500 Appalachian MTR mining is controversial for its environmental impacts: "Spoil"—the earth and rock dislodged by mining—is deposited in the valleys of this hilly and steep terrain,2 by some ...
Opinion: Fossil Fools, The Environmental Dangers of Coal ...
Coal impoundments also hold contaminated sludge filled with toxic chemicals created by coal washing, a process done to produce "clean coal." Clean coal is a widely advertised concept that coal companies use to market their product. An extreme instance of coal company negligence occurred in Buffalo Creek, West Virginia in 1972.
Removing mountaintops yields coal, controversy
Aug 12, 2011· (CNN) In the Appalachian Mountains, there is a method of mining that is as much a source of controversy as it is a source of energy: mountaintop removal. It's a surface mining method where large explosions and equipment are used to remove coal. In the United States, coal provides half the country's electricity production.
Mountaintop coal mining causes Appalachian rivers to run ...
Jul 13, 2017· Mountaintopremoval coal mining causes many streams and rivers in Appalachia to run consistently saltier for up to 80 percent of the year, a new study by .
Mountaintop Removal | Learning to Give
Furthermore, coalfield communities must deal with toxic sludge impoundments. Coal sludge or slurry contains many toxic chemicals including arsenic, mercury, and lead to name just a few (Appalachian Voices). The coal sludge is put in impoundments, which are prone to failure. When these impoundments fail the impacts are staggering.
A once thriving coal town has turned toxic, and citizens ...
Mar 27, 2018· The rate of cancer cases in a former Appalachian coal town is staggering. During his first year as EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt has vowed on multiple occasions to make the federal government's cleanup of hazardous waste sites across the .
Mining – SkyTruth
Advances in technology and growing demand for energy has allowed mining companies operating in the Appalachian Mountains to extract coal through a devastating practice known as mountaintop removal (MTR). Coal companies engaging in MTR mining blast away ridge tops with explosives to expose the coal seams underneath.
— The Human Cost – Study Summaries ...
Hendryx found that chronic heart, respiratory, and kidney disease were significantly higher in coal mining areas of Appalachia than in nonmining areas. He states that coal mining activities expose residents to environmental contaminants like particulate matter and toxic chemicals, agents known to cause chronic disease.
Plundering Appalachia The Tragedy of MountaintopRemoval ...
Appalachia, a region of extraordinary beauty and natural diversity, is under attack. Mountaintop removal is strip mining on steroids—a radically destructive form of surface mining whereby coal companies bulldoze the forest, decapitate the peaks with explosives, push the shattered rubble into adjacent valleys, and destroy the ecologically crucial headwater streams that had been there before.
Mining Waste an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
Introduction. The total amount of hard coal and ore mining and processing waste laying in dumps at the end of 2000 was Mt that was % of total amount of all wastes disposed throughout the country. Of that, hard coal mining waste comprised % and metal ore (copper) mining and processing, %.
Acid mine drainage / toxic seam mining – SOCM
Sep 20, 2009· Acid mine drainage can turn beautiful Appalachian streams orange. Acid mine drainage or AMD is the result of the chemical reaction that occurs when minerals containing iron and sulfur found in certain shales and coal seams combine with the oxygen in the air and water. Acidic water contains dissolved metals in toxic concentrations.
How Does Mining Affect the Environment | LoveToKnow
Deforestation, downstream silt accumulation, and contamination by toxic chemicals are some of the important causes, and the effect depends on the type of mining and materials mined. Forests Loss The 2014 University of Minnesota report illustrates how mining can affect habitats due to forest loss and degradation.
Mountaintopremoval mining is devastating Appalachia, but ...
Feb 17, 2006· Yet it is the people of Appalachia who pay the highest price for the rest of the country's cheap energy — through contaminated water, flooding, cracked foundations and wells, bronchial ...
Beyond Coal: A Resilient New Economy for Appalachia The ...
In Brief. Coal mining has dominated the economy of Appalachia for more than a century and has drastically altered much of the regional ecology. Among the primary impacts of coal mining are degraded soils, slurry impoundments, contaminated streams, polluted air, human health effects, and a reduction in biodiversity.
Chapter H The National Coal Resource Assessment .
Production and Depletion of Appalachian . and Illinois Basin Coal Resources. By Robert C. Milici and Kristin O. Dennen. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625–F. This report, although in the USGS Professional Paper series, is available only on CD–ROM. Department of the Interior. Geological Survey. Chapter H of
