Environmental impact of the coal industry

A coal surface mining site in Bihar, India

A mountaintop removal mining operation in the United States The environmental impact of the coal industry includes the consideration of issues such as land use, waste management, and water and air pollution caused by the coal mining, processing and the use of its products. In addition to atmospheric pollution, coal burning produces hundreds of millions of tons of solid waste products annually, including fly ash, bottom ash, and flue-gas desulfurization sludge, that contain mercury, uranium, thorium, arsenic, and other heavy metals.
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There are severe health effects caused by burning coal. According to the reports issued by the World Health Organization in 2008 and by environmental groups and 2004, coal particulates pollution are estimated to shorten approximately 1,000,000 lives annually worldwide, including nearly 24,000 lives a year in the United States.Coal mining generates significant additional independent adverse environmental health impacts, among them the polluted water flowing from mountaintop removal mining

Contents

1 Water management 2 Land use management o 2.1 Impact to land o 2.2 Waste management o 2.3 Wildlife 3 Air pollution

3.1 Air emissions 3.2 Mercury emissions 3.3 Annual excess deaths 4 Greenhouse gases emissions 5 Radiation exposure 6 See also 7 References
o o o

8 External links

Water management
Open-pit mining requires large amounts of water for coal preparation plants and dust suppression. To meet this requirement mines acquire (and remove) surface or groundwater supplies from nearby agricultural or domestic users, which reduces the productivity of these operations or halts them. These water resources (once separated from their original environment) are rarely returned after mining, creating a permanent degradation in agricultural productivity. Underground mining has a similar (but lesser) effect, due to a lower need for dust-suppression water; however, it still requires sufficient water for coal-washing. Groundwater supplies may be adversely affected by surface mining. These impacts include drainage of usable water from shallow aquifers; lowering of water levels in adjacent areas and changes in flow direction within aquifers; contamination of usable aquifers below mining operations due to infiltration (percolation) of poor-quality mine water; and increased infiltration of precipitation on spoil piles. Where coal (or carbonaceous shale) is present, increased infiltration may result in:

Increased runoff of poor-quality water and erosion from spoil piles Recharge of poor-quality water to shallow groundwater aquifers Poor-quality water flow to nearby streams. This may contaminate both groundwater and nearby streams for long periods. Deterioration of stream quality results from acid mine drainage, toxic trace elements, high content of dissolved solids in mine drainage water, and increased sediment loads discharged to streams.

When coal surfaces are exposed, pyrite comes in contact with water and air and forms sulfuric acid. As water drains from the mine, the acid moves into the waterways; as long as rain falls on the mine tailings the sulfuric-acid production continues, whether the mine is still operating or not. This process is known as acid rock drainage or acid mine drainage. If the coal is strip mined, the entire exposed seam leaches sulfuric acid; this leaves the subsoil infertile on the surface and begins to pollute streams. Also waste piles and coal storage piles can yield sediment to streams. Leached water from these piles can be acid and contain toxic trace elements. Surface waters may be rendered unfit for agriculture, human consumption, bathing, or other household uses. Lakes formed in abandoned surface-mining operations are more likely to be acid if there is coal or carbonaceous shale present in spoil piles, especially if these materials are near the surface and contain pyrites. Sulfuric acid is

formed when minerals containing sulphide are oxidised through air contact; this causes acid rain. Leftover chemical deposits from explosives are toxic and increase the salt content of mine water, contaminating it.] By the late 1930s, it was estimated that American coal mines produced about 2.3 million tons of sulfuric acid annually. In the Ohio River basin, 1,200 operating coal mines drained an estimated annual 1.4 million tonnes of sulfuric acid into the drainage basin during the 1960s; thousands of abandoned coal mines leached acid as well. In Pennsylvania alone, mine drainage had blighted 2,000 stream miles by 1967. To mitigate these problems, water is monitored at coal mines. The five principal technologies used to control water flow at mine sites are:

Diversion systems Containment ponds Groundwater pumping systems Subsurface drainage systems Subsurface barriers

In the case of acid mine drainage, contaminated water is generally pumped to a treatment facility which neutralizes its contaminants.

Land use management

Impact to land
Strip mining severely alters the landscape, which reduces the value of the natural environment in the surrounding land. The land surface is dedicated to mining activities until it can be reshaped and reclaimed. If mining is allowed, resident human populations must be resettled off the mine site; economic activities, such as agriculture or hunting and gathering food and medicinal plants are interrupted. What becomes of the land surface after mining is determined by the manner in which the mining is conducted. Usually reclamation of disturbed lands to a land use condition is not equal to the original use. Existing land uses (such as livestock grazing, crop and timber production) are temporarily eliminated from the mining area. High-value, intensive-land-use areas like urban and transportation systems are not usually affected by mining operations. If mineral values are sufficient, these improvements may be removed to an adjacent area. Strip mining eliminates existing vegetation, destroys the genetic soil profile, displaces or destroys wildlife and habitat, alters current land uses, and to some extent permanently changes the general topography of the area mined. Adverse impacts on geological features of human interest may occur in a coal strip mine. Geomorphic and geophysical features and outstanding scenic resources may be sacrificed by indiscriminate mining. Paleontological, cultural, and other historic values may be endangered due to the disruptive activities of blasting, ripping, and excavating coal. Stripping of overburden eliminates and destroys archeological and historic features, unless they are removed beforehand.

The removal of vegetative cover and activities associated with the construction of haul roads, stockpiling of topsoil, displacement of overburden and hauling of soil and coal increase the quantity of dust around mining operations. Dust degrades air quality in the immediate area, has an adverse impact on vegetative life, and constitutes health and safety hazards for mine workers and nearby residents. Surface mining disrupts virtually all aesthetic elements of the landscape. Alteration of landforms often imposes unfamiliar and discontinuous configurations. New linear patterns appear as material is extracted and waste piles are developed. Different colors and textures are exposed as vegetative cover is removed and overburden dumped to the side. Dust, vibration, and diesel exhaust odors are created (affecting sight, sound, and smell). Residents of local communities often find such impacts disturbing or unpleasant. In case of mountaintop removal, tops are removed from mountains or hills to expose thick coal seams underneath. The soil and rock removed is deposited in nearby valleys, hollows and depressions, resulting in blocked (and contaminated) waterways. Removal of soil and rock overburden covering the coal resource may cause burial and loss of topsoil, exposes parent material, and creates large infertile wastelands. Soil disturbance and associated compaction result in conditions conducive to erosion. Soil removal from the area to be surface-mined alters or destroys many natural soil characteristics, and reduces its biodiversity and productivity for agriculture. Soil structure may be disturbed by pulverization or aggregate breakdown. Mine collapses (or mine subsidences) have the potential to produce major effects above ground, which are especially devastating in developed areas. German underground coal-mining (especially in North Rhine-Westphalia) has damaged thousands of houses, and the coal-mining industries have set aside large sums in funding for future subsidence damages as part of their insurance and statesubsidy schemes.[citation needed] In a particularly spectacular case in the German Saar region (another historical coal-mining area), a suspected mine collapse in 2008 created an earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter magnitude scale, causing some damage to houses. Previously, smaller earthquakes had become increasingly common and coal mining was temporarily suspended in the area. In response to negative land effects of coal mining and the abundance of abandoned mines in the US the federal government enacted the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, which requires reclamation plans for future coal mining sites. These plans must be approved by federal or state authorities before mining begins.] As of 2003, over 2 million acres (8,000 km2) of previously-mined lands have been reclaimed in the United States.

Waste management

Aerial photograph of Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill site taken the day after the event (December 23, 2008) The burning of coal leads to substantial fly ash sludge-storage ponds.[citation needed] In the low-coalcontent areas waste forms spoil tip. The Environmental Protection Agency classified the 44 sites as potential hazards to communities (which means the waste sites could cause death and significant property damage if an event such as a storm, a terrorist attack or a structural failure caused a spill). They estimate that about 300 dry landfills and wet storage ponds are used around the country to store ash from coal-fired power plants. The storage facilities hold the noncombustible ingredients of coal and the ash trapped by equipment designed to reduce air pollution.

Wildlife
Surface mining of coal causes direct and indirect damage to wildlife. The impact on wildlife stems primarily from disturbing, removing and redistributing the land surface. Some impacts are shortterm, and confined to the mine site; others have far-reaching, long-term effects. The most direct effect on wildlife is destruction or displacement of species in areas of excavation and spoil piling. Pit and spoil areas are not capable of providing food and cover for most species of wildlife. Mobile wildlife species like game animals, birds, and predators leave these areas. More sedentary animals like invertebrates, reptiles, burrowing rodents and small mammals may be

destroyed.[citation needed] The community of microorganisms and nutrient-cycling processes are upset by movement, storage, and redistribution of soil. Without rehabilitation, these areas must undergo a weathering period (which may take a few years to many decades) before vegetation is established and they become suitable habitat. With rehabilitation, impacts on some species are less severe. Humans cannot immediately restore natural biotic communities; they can, however, assist nature through reclamation of land and rehabilitation efforts geared to wildlife needs. Rehabilitation not geared to the needs of wildlife species (or improper management of other land uses after reclamation) can preclude reestablishment of the original fauna. Many wildlife species are highly dependent on vegetation growing in natural drainage areas. This vegetation provides essential food, nesting sites and cover from predators. Activity destroying this vegetation near ponds, reservoirs, marshes and wetlands reduces the quality and quantity of habitat essential for waterfowl, shorebirds and terrestrial species. The commonly-used head-of-hollow fill method for disposing of excess overburden is of particular significance to wildlife habitat. Narrow, steep-sided, V-shaped hollows near ridge tops are frequently inhabited by rare or endangered animal and plant species. Extensive placement of spoil in these narrow valleys eliminates habitat for a wide variety of species, some of which may be driven to extinction.] Broad and long-lasting impacts on wildlife are caused by habitat impairment. The habitat requirements of many animal species do not permit them to adjust to changes created by land disturbance. These changes reduce living space, and some species can tolerate very little disturbance. In instances where a particularly critical habitat is restricted (such as a lake, pond, or primary breeding area), a species could be eliminated. The range of damage possible is wide. Large mammals and other animals displaced from their home ranges may be forced to use adjacent areas, already stocked to their carrying capacity. This overcrowding results in degradation of remaining habitat, lowered carrying capacity, reduced reproductive success, increased inter- and intra-species competition, and potentially greater losses to wildlife populations than the number of originally-displaced animals. Degradation of aquatic habitats is a major impact by surface mining, and may be apparent many miles from a mining site. Sediment contamination of surface water is common with surface mining. Sediment yields may increase a thousand times times their former level as a result of strip mining. If streams, lakes, ponds or marshes are filled or drained, fish, aquatic invertebrates and amphibians are destroyed. Food supplies for predators are reduced by destruction of these land and water species. Animal populations displaced or destroyed can eventually be replaced from populations in surrounding ranges, provided the habitat is eventually restored; an exception would be the extinction of a resident endangered species. Preferred food and cover plants can be established in these openings to benefit a variety of wildlife. Under certain conditions, creation of small lakes in the mined area may also be beneficial. These lakes and ponds may become important water sources for a variety of wildlife inhabiting adjacent areas. Many lakes formed in mine pits are of poor quality as aquatic habitat after mining due to

lack of structure, aquatic vegetation, and food species. They may require habitat enhancement and management to be of significant wildlife value. The effects of sediment on aquatic wildlife vary with the species and the amount of contamination. High sediment levels can kill fish directly, bury spawning beds, reduce light transmission, alter temperature gradients, fill in pools, spread streamflows over wider, shallower areas, and reduce production of aquatic organisms used as food by other species. These changes destroy the habitat of valued species, and may enhance habitat for less-desirable species. Existing conditions are already marginal for some freshwater fish in the United States, and the sedimentation of their habitat may result in their extinction. The heaviest sediment pollution of a drainage normally comes within 5 to 25 years after mining. In some areas, unvegetated spoil piles continue to erode even 50 to 65 years after mining. The presence of acid-forming materials exposed as a result of surface mining can affect wildlife by eliminating habitat and by causing direct destruction of some species. Lesser concentrations can suppress productivity, growth rate and reproduction of many aquatic species. Acids, dilute concentrations of heavy metals, and high alkalinity can cause severe damage to wildlife in some areas. The duration of acidic-waste pollution can be long; estimates of the time required to leach exposed acidic materials in the Eastern United States range from 800 to 3,000 years.

Air pollution
[edit] Air emissions
See also: Coal seam fire Coal and coal waste products (including fly ash, bottom ash and boiler slag) releases approximately 20 toxic-release chemicals, including arsenic, lead, mercury, nickel, vanadium, beryllium, cadmium, barium, chromium, copper, molybdenum, zinc, selenium and radium), which are dangerous if released into the environment.[citation needed] While these substances are trace impurities, enough coal is burned that significant amounts of these substances are released.[14] During combustion, the reaction between coal and the air produces oxides of carbon, including carbon dioxide (CO2 (an important greenhouse gas)), oxides of sulfur (mainly sulfur dioxide) (SO2), and various oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Because of the hydrogenous and nitrogenous components of coal, hydrides and nitrides of carbon and sulfur are also produced during the combustion of coal in air. These include hydrogen cyanide (HCN), sulfur nitrate (SNO3) and other toxic substances. Further, acid rain may occur when sulfur dioxide produced by the combustion of coal reacts with oxygen to form sulfur trioxide (SO3); this reacts with water molecules in the atmosphere to form sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid (H2SO4) returns to earth as acid rain. Flue-gas desulfurization scrubbing systems, which use lime to remove sulfur dioxide, can reduce the likelihood of acid rain.
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However, another form of acid rain is due to carbon dioxide emissions of a coal plant. When released into the atmosphere, the carbon dioxide molecules react with water molecules, to slowly produce carbonic acid (H2CO3). This, in turn, returns to the earth as a corrosive substance. This cannot be prevented as easily as sulfur-dioxide emissions.[citation needed] Fires sometimes occur in coal beds underground. When coal beds are exposed, the fire risk is increased. Weathered coal can also increase ground temperatures if it is left on the surface. Almost all fires in solid coal are ignited by surface fires caused by people or lightning. Spontaneous combustion is caused when coal oxidizes and airflow is insufficient to dissipate heat; this more commonly occurs in stockpiles and waste piles, rarely in bedded coal underground. Where coal fires occur, there is attendant air pollution from emission of smoke and noxious fumes into the atmosphere. Coal seam fires may burn underground for decades, threatening destruction of forests, homes, roadways and other valuable infrastructure. The best-known coal-seam fire may be the one which led to the permanent evacuation of Centralia, Pennsylvania, United States.[15]

[edit] Mercury emissions

Mercury emission from coal burning are concentrated as they work their way up the food chain and are converted into methylmercury, a toxic compound which harms both wildlife and people who consume freshwater fish.[16][17][18][19][18] Coal burning is a key source of methylmercury in the environment.[20] "Power plants... are responsible for half of... the mercury emissions in the United States."[21] In New York State winds bring mercury from the coal-fired power plants of the Midwest, contaminating the waters of the Catskill Mountains. The mercury is consumed by worms, which are eaten by fish, which are eaten by birds (including bald eagles). As of 2008, mercury levels in bald eagles in the Catskills had reached new heights.[22] "People are exposed to methylmercury almost entirely by eating contaminated fish and wildlife that are at the top of aquatic foodchains."[23] Ocean fish account for the majority of human exposure to methylmercury; the full range of sources of methylmercury in ocean fish are not well understood.[24] The United States Environmental Protection Agency has propose the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) regulations,[25] which require all coal plants use the technology which is available to substantially reduce mercury emissions.[26] "Today, more than half of all coal-fired power plants already deploy pollution control technologies that will help them meet these achievable standards. Once final, these standards will level the playing field by ensuring the remaining plants about 40 percent of all coal fired power plants - take similar steps to decrease dangerous pollutants."[21] This technology is expected to save many thousands of lives every year, and to protect Americans from severe permanent health effects such as those suffered by children exposed to mercury in the womb.[citation needed]

[edit] Annual excess deaths

In 2008 the World Health Organization (WHO) and other organizations calculated that coal particulates pollution cause approximately one million deaths annually across the world,[4] which is approximately one third of all premature deaths related to all air pollution sources.[27]

Pollutants emitted by burning coal include fine particulates (PM2.5) and ground level ozone. Every year, the burning of coal without the use of available pollution control technology causes thousands of preventable deaths in the United States. A study commissioned by the Maryland nurses association in 2006 found that emissions from just six of Maryland's coal-burning plants caused 700 deaths per year nationwide, including 100 in Maryland.[28] Since installation of pollution abatement equipment on one of these six, the Brandon Shores plant, now "produces 90 percent less nitrogen oxide, an ingredient of smog; 95 percent less sulfur, which causes acid rain; and vastly lower fractions of other pollutants."[28] According to the environmentalists report published in 2004, coal-fired power plants shorten nearly 24,000 lives a year in the United States (2,800 from lung cancer).[3] In the United States alone, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that a range of 13,000 to 34,000 preventable premature deaths will be avoided by the reductions in PM2.5 and ozone expected by the end of the several-years time needed to complete implementation of the coal plant cleanup provisions of the Final Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR).[29] The EPA promulgated these legally enforceable requirements to install available lifesaving pollution control equipment in 2011 under a court order mandating that it protect Americans' health, a duty mandated by Congress in the Clean Air Act.[citation needed] In addition to preventing avoidable premature deaths, the Final Cross-State rule is estimated to prevent 15,000 additional (non-fatal) heart attacks, 19,000 attacks of acute bronchitis; 420,000 upper and lower respiratory symptoms, 400,000 aggravated asthma attacks; and 19,000 hospital and ER trips (e.g., for asthma attacks triggered by soot from coal burning). By reducing the health detriments that arise from burning coal without using available pollution controls, implementation of the Final Cross-State Air Pollution Rule is expected to reduce days when people must miss work or school by 1.8 million.[30][31] The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule requires significant reductions in sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NO) emissions that cross state lines. These pollutants react in the atmosphere to form fine particles and ground-level ozone and are transported long distances, making it difficult for other states to achieve healthy levels of pollution control.[citation needed] The benefits of the emission reductions expected from EPA's recently-proposed Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) are not included in the above estimated emission reductions from the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule; once the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards[26] are implemented, death and disease from coal burning are likely to be reduced even further, both directly by reducing mercury poisoning, and by reducing sulfur dioxide emissions.[citation needed]

[edit] Greenhouse gases emissions

The combustion of coal is the largest contributor to the human-made increase of CO2 in the atmosphere.[32] Electric generation using coal burning produces approximately twice the greenhouse gasses per kilowatt compared to generation using natural gas.[33] About one fourth of the carbon dioxide emitted is absorbed by the oceans, causing a steadily increasing ocean acidification.[citation needed]

Coal mining produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Methane is the naturally-occurring product of the decay of organic matter as coal deposits are formed with increasing depths of burial, rising temperatures, and rising pressure over geological time. A portion of the methane produced is absorbed by the coal and later released from the coal seam (and surrounding disturbed strata) during the mining process.[34] Methane accounts for 10.5 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions created through human activity.[35] According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, methane has a global warming potential 21 times greater than that of carbon dioxide over a 100year timeline. The process of mining can release pockets of methane. These gases may pose a threat to coal miners, as well as a source of air pollution. This is due to the relaxation of pressure and fracturing of the strata during mining activity, which gives rise to safety concerns for the coal miners if not managed properly. The buildup of pressure in the strata can lead to explosions during (or after) the mining process if prevention methods, such as "methane draining", are not taken.[34] In 2008 James E. Hansen and Pushker Kharecha published a peer-reviewed scientific study analyzing the effect of a coal phase-out on atmospheric CO2 levels.Their baseline mitigation scenario was a phaseout of global coal emissions by 2050. Under the Business as Usual scenario, atmospheric CO2 peaks at 563 parts per million (ppm) in the year 2100. Under the four coal phaseout scenarios, atmospheric CO2 peaks at 422446 ppm between 2045 and 2060 and declines thereafter.[36]

[edit] Radiation exposure

Coal also contains low levels of uranium, thorium, and other naturally-occurring radioactive isotopes whose release into the environment may lead to radioactive contamination.[14][37] The radioactive trace impurities mentioned above expose plant operators to radiation levels above background levels but below that experienced by nuclear power plant workers. John Gofman, M.D., Ph.D, (Professor Emeritus of Medical Physics at the University of California, Berkeley, and the co-discoverer of uranium-233) compared the radiation dose per megawatt-year from operation of a nuclear generating unit to the radiation dose from operation of a coal-fired unit and found that the dose from natural nucleides associated with nuclear power would be 35-81 times higher than the dose from coal.[38] When comparing the radiation impact of coal and nuclear plants on the surrounding environment, however, coal-plant wastes are more radioactive than the waste generated by nuclear plants producing the same amount of energy. Plant-emitted radiation carried by coal-derived fly ash delivers 100 times more radiation to the surrounding environment than does the normal operation of a similarly-productive nuclear plant.[39]