Coal mining
Coal Mining in Appalachia
Introduction
Impact of Surface and Underground Mining
Both surface mining and underground mining share several negative impacts on the human health and the environment, including the health and stability of ecosystems and wildlife. These negative impacts include degraded groundwater and surface water and loss of aquatic life in local waterways, caused by acid mine drainage from both active and abandoned mines. Other negative impacts shared by surface and underground mining include the human health affects of contaminated water, a drop in local property values, mine fires, the cost of water treatment, and reclamation.
Acid Mine Drainage
Acid mine drainage (AMD) refers to the water with high concentrations of sulfuric acid draining out of surface and subsurface coal mines, as well as coal refuse piles. The water, containing pyrite, and iron sulfide from mine tailings, reacts with air and water to form sulfuric acid and dissolved iron, with the iron giving stream sediments a red, orange, or yellow color. The high acidity causes heavy metals such as copper, lead, and mercury to leach into groundwater or surface water. In addition to contaminating drinking water supplies, acid mine drainage disrupts the growth and reproduction of aquatic plants and animals, degrades the quality of recreational fishing and tourism, and can cause corrosion of water pipes. The pH of these acidic waters can be as low as 2.3, more acidic than battery acid. (PADEP 2006).
Acid mine drainage is the number one cause of water pollution in Pennsylvania and all other Appalachian coal mining states (PADEP 2006). Over 95% of the acid mine drainage problem is located in western Pennsylvania, almost all of West Virginia, southwestern Virginia, and far western Maryland (EPA 2008).
In the case of PA, the majority of these acid discharges come from abandoned mines, since PADEP no longer allows coal mining in areas likely to generate acid discharges. Acid mine drainage has affected PA’s four major river basins; it has specifically made 2500 miles of rivers and streams uninhabitable to fish and unsuitable for drinking, with an addition 500 miles of waterways designated as “impaired” (PADEP 2006). This total of 3000 miles of contaminated streams has had a severe negative impact on local tourism and sport fishing revenue; PA loses an estimated $67 million annually it would otherwise gain if sport fishing were restored in the affected streams. The estimated cost of restoring those damaged watersheds ranges from $5 -$15 billion (USGS 2008).
Water Treatment
To treat acid mine drainage, DEP uses a combination of active and passive treatment methods. Active treatments methods involve water treatment facilities, while passive treatment methods use natural features such as wetlands that raise the pH of the water. Passive treatment methods, although less expensive, however, are not as effective on a large scale as water treatment plants (PADEP 1996b). As of 2006, PADEP has constructed five water treatment plants and hundreds of passive treatment systems for the sole purpose of treating waters impacted by acid mine drainage (PADEP 2006), spending over $90 million as of 1996 (PADEP 1996b). One project alone – the restoration of the Northern Swatara Creek – cost over $731,026, with $300,000 coming from the PADEP Abandoned Mine Reclamation Funds (USGS 2008). PADEP has also spent over $2.1 million to replace residential water supplies caused by contaminations and by abandoned mine shafts filling with water and lowering the water table (PADEP 1996b).
Mine Fires
Coal mine fires, or coal seam fires, can occur in both surface and subsurface mines. They can be caused by lightening, forest fires, mine subsidence, the burning of trash, and electrical sparks from equipment. These fires have serious social, ecological, and economic impacts (PADEP 2008); they can spread throughout a surface coal deposit or along an entire coal seam, which makes extinguishing the fire extremely expensive and nearly impossible (PADEP 1996), and can ultimately require relocation of entire towns, as in the case of Centralia, PA. The infamous Centralia fire, one of the worst underground mine fires in the U.S., has been burning since May 1963, when the Centralia Borough Council ignited trash to control rodent populations in an abandoned strip mine used as a dump at the edge of town. The burning trash ignited the Buck anthracite coal seam, which continues to burn and spread, emitting toxic chemicals such as mercury into the atmosphere. Most of the residents were forced to relocate; of the 1,100 residents of Centralia in 1962, only 20 residents remained as of 2008 (PADEP 2008). The cost of the Centralia, PA mine fire alone totaled over $30 million, with most of the costs going toward relocation of residents (PADEP 1996a). To date, PADEP has spent more than $53 million fighting mine fires (PADEP 1996b).
Reclamation Costs
In 1977, Congress passed the Federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). Title IV of SMCRA established the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Reclamation Program under the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE), within the U.S. Department of the Interior. The program was developed to reclaim land and water resourced negatively impacted by past coal mining, as well as abandoned or inadequately restored mines (NAALMP 2009). Under this law, active coal operators pay a 35-cent fee for each ton of surface-mined coal and a 15-cent fee for each ton of deep mined coal. These fees go into the Abandoned Mine Land (AML) Trust Fund, which is distributed to the states and the Office of Surface Mining (OSM) (PADEP 1996).
Most of Pennsylvania’s coal mining operations took place before reclamation requirements were put in place. Because of this, PA has over 2,500 miles of streams polluted by acid mine drainage; 250,000 acres of abandoned mines in 45 of its 67 counties (PADEP 1997); 100 million cubic feet of burning coal refuse (PA Township News 1996); 9,000 abandoned mines, 5,600 of which have been designated as human health and safety hazards (PADEP 2006); with $635,477,480 invested by PA and the federal government since 1967 to address abandoned mine problems, and an estimated $15 billion worth of reclamation still remaining. These reclamation projects in PA include closing and backfilling mine openings and open pits, eliminating dangerous highwalls, extinguishing or stopping the advancement of underground mine fires, treating acid mine drainage, re-vegetating abandoned mine sites, and controlling mine subsidence (PADEP 2009).
Property Values
Specific Impact of Surface Mining
Surface mining, such as strip mining and mountaintop removal, has other health and environmental costs associated with it, in addition to those shared with underground mining. These include direct damage to streams buried with the overburden dumped into valleys from the mountaintop mining sites. Another important cost is that of site remediation.
Valley Fills
Reclamation Costs
Specific Impact of Underground Mining
Underground mining, such as longwall mining, room and deep pillar mining, has other health and environmental costs associated with it, in addition to those shared with surface mining. These include issues of mine subsidence and insurance for property owners, dealing with underground mine fires, and the health impact of dangerous mine gases and other safety hazards that both mine workers and community members can be exposed to.
Mine Subsidence
Mine subsidence occurs when underground mine tunnels collapse below towns and homes, cause the ground surface to shift, building foundations to crumble, roads to collapse, and holes to open up in the ground. In extreme cases, these gaping holes can swallow entire streams (PADEP 2006). In order to cover the cost of potential damages, residents in areas of abandoned underground mines have to pay for mine subsidence insurance. As of 1996, PADEP has spent more then $114 million to correct subsidence problems (PADEP 1996).
Dangerous Mine Gases
Other Safety Hazards
Social Activism
Coal mining has certainly been opposed by many grassroots organizations and government agencies. Given the environmental and social injustice carried out by coal producers, which target low income communities, with low education rates and negative social stereotypes. The term most commonly used when referring to these individuals is “white trash”. The need for diligent groups to defend communities has not gone unnoticed. One specific group is the Coal River Mountain Watch in West Virginia which strives to educate Americans about the clean water act and where electricity is generated from, and how that affects people of coal communities (Coal River Mountain Watch, 2009). Most notably, the Coal River Mountain Watch group’s mission is to end mountaintop removal, which debilitates the surrounding area. One approach the group advocates for is conservation. Through reducing the energy use in homes, coal producers will lessen their demand to completely dissolve the land covering small layers of coal mines. This will dramatically reduce the need for surface mined coal, and mountain top removal.
References
National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs (NAAMLP). 2009. “Overview.” [1]
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP). 1996a. “Centralia Mine Fire.” Abandoned Mine Reclamation. [2]
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP). 1996b. “Paying the Price: Pennsylvania’s Rich Legacy of Coal Leaves Problems for Today.” Harrisburg, PA: Pennsylvania Township News. pp. 9-21.
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP). 1997. Abandoned Mines: Pennsylvania's Single Biggest Water Pollution Problem.” Abandoned Mine Reclamation. [3]
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP). 2006. “Dredged Material in Abandoned Mine Reclamation: The Bark Camp Demonstration Project (Report). New York/New Jersey Clean Ocean and Shore Trust. pp. 1-95/88. [4]
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP). 2008. “Centralia Mine Fire Mercury Study Final Report.” Bureau of Air Quality. pp. 1-21.
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP). 2009. “Status Report: The Environmental Legacy of Coal Mining in Pennsylvania.” Abandoned Mine Reclamation. [5]
U.S. Geological Survey. 2008. “Coal-Mine-Drainage Projects in Pennsylvania.” New Cumberland, PA: USGS. [6]
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2008. “Abandoned Mines’ Role in Nonpoint Source Pollution.” Washington, D.C. EPA: [7]
