Ecological Effects of Mining

Adam Gould-Graves
12-7-99

More than any other animal, humans are able to harness and change the environment that surrounds us. As we advanced in technology and our population grew, we came up with new ways to exploit resources and new resources to exploit. Now, with the use of our technology, we can level mountains, alter the course of rivers, travel farther than any other animal, instantly communicate with people across the globe, and even fly. All of this, however, has not come without cost, most of it from the environment. We drill for fuels, dig for coal and precious metals, the factories that produce the products that make the afore mentioned things possible spout harmful chemicals into the air and water. One of the most singularly devastating harvesting of resources is mining, strip-mining in particular. Strip mining destroys large areas of habitat and depletes soil and resources, destroys plants, and can even change ecosystems or wipe out local populations. It is impossible for us to give this up, however. We need what can only be gathered in this way, harmful or not, to continue living as we do. Fortunately, there are ways to lessen the impact.

In the past, mining companies would strip away the land to get the mineral they were after, caring nothing for what they destroyed. It was not then really understood how much of an impact this would have on all the other species that lived in the area before the mine. They also did not see the long-term consequences of what would be left once the mine was finished. Today, we know: an abandoned mine that is not reclaimed is like an infected sore on the earth. Nothing can live well there, and much that comes out of it can pollute the surroundings as well. It was not until the latter half of this century that we began to do anything to correct this mistake.

In 1977, the federal government passed the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. This was the strictest mining law to date, and required that all mining operations, when finished mining in an area, were to return the land to approximately the same contour (except for mountain top operations), make the land as useful, if not more useful than it had been before mining, and to undergo regular inspections to insure that reclamation was taking place. Since then (and on rare occasion, before then), individual states crafted their own mining and reclamation laws, usually with higher parameters than the federal law. In Kentucky alone, more than $660 million has gone into the reclamation of old and abandoned mining sites. This is in addition to the actions of companies in current mines that use a partial reclamation technique where parts of a mine are excavated and then, as the dig expands, the old parts are reclaimed as they go.

Another problem with mining operations has arisen, though. Acid mine drainage (AMD) has become a major problem in areas of heavy mining, such as in Pennsylvania. Past coal mining (before 1965) has left a legacy of environmental degradation. Over 2400 miles of Pennsylvania's 54,000 miles of streams are polluted by acid mine drainage. There are over 252 miles of unreclaimed and dangerous highwalls, over 1200 open portals and vertical shafts, 38 underground mine fires, and 200,000 acres of subsidence prone land. Currently, we are looking into ways of controlling this problem. The leading method of reclamation in this aspect is the creation of artificial wetlands that can survive in the acidic conditions and support microbes that can actually convert the acid into less toxic compounds.

I have mentioned reclamation numerous times in this paper, but have yet to define it, which I will correct now. Reclamation is the process by which formerly uninhabitable land (caused by mining) is restored to its former (and in some cases surpasses) productivity. The process by which a mine is reclaimed is really not that complex, so it is a wonder someone did not come up with this concept before. They begin by taking all of the "waste" soil and rock, called overburden, and form it into roughly what the landscape used to look like. Next, new topsoil is imported and laid over the overburden. This is then sprayed with a mixture of grass seed, water, fertilizer, and a binding material to prevent erosion until the plants can take hold. In some cases, the land is converted to farms instead of being allowed to go back to being wild. In this case, seeds of the appropriate crop can be substituted for grass seed. Once grass has taken hold, trees are sometimes transplanted to give the ecosystem a boost forward and help it become viable habitat again. This process takes about two years to complete when working with a new mine. Old or abandoned mines that are reclaimed can often take upwards of 6 years to be reclaimed, due to the additional cleanup necessary to bring the soil back to normal levels.

As I have said, it is impossible for us to live the way we do without drawing resources from our environment. To do this, we will have an impact, no matter what. What we must work to do is limit this impact and attempt to undo as much damage as we can, through processes such as reclamation.