Archive for January, 2009

Despite negative publicity, mining plays an essential role in our lives and may have positive impact

January 30, 2009

Mining receives a great deal of negative publicity due to concerns over the impacts on the environment and worker health and safety. However, mining provides us with minerals that are essential to our everyday activities. Many materials that are used in our lives originate from plants or are naturally occurring minerals found in the earth. Agriculture provides cotton, food, lumber and many more necessities. However, agriculture cannot meet all our needs.  The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 10 tons of minerals must be mined annually for every person. Minerals are a vital component in nearly every activity we do.  Turning on a light switch, walking on sidewalks, brushing our teeth, the change in our pocket, and using cosmetics, computers, fertilizers and many others involve using minerals that have been mined.

Talc, a mineral mined in the U.S., is used in baby powder, cosmetics, rubber, ceramics, paint and paper, just to name a few everyday items.  Gold can be found in many areas in the U.S., but is primarily mined in Nevada. Gold has many uses, including jewelry, computers, glass production, and even in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Copper is also used in our daily activities. Millions of miles of copper wire are used to transfer electricity to our technology-driven lives. Copper is mined in the Western U.S., where one of the largest copper mines in the world can be found: Bingham Canyon Mine near Salt Lake City, Utah.<more/>Many mining activities occur all across the state, even here in Lexington. Think about the stone in our sidewalks and roadways. The stone that is used to make concrete and pavement must be mined in quarries. Even fly ash from coal combustion is used in many road materials. Rock quarries can be easily found here in Central Kentucky, even downtown Lexington. Did you know an active underground rock quarry lies beneath the city of Lexington?

The most common mineral that is mined in Kentucky is coal. In 2006, Kentucky produced 120.8 million tons of coal, which ranked third in the nation behind Wyoming and West Virginia. About 89.3 percent of this coal was used for electricity generation, while the rest was used for other industries, such as steel manufacturing. In a booming technology age, electricity demands are soaring. About 92 percent of Kentucky’s electricity is produced from coal, and, as a result, Kentucky citizens enjoy one of the lowest electric costs in the nation. About 68 percent of steel production worldwide comes from iron, which is made of iron ore, coke (carbonized coal), and small quantities of limestone. Anthracite coal is used for water filtration purposes in water treatment facilities and even in your fish tank filters.

How does mining influence the environment? Although some mining activities in the past were harmful to the environment, mining companies have significantly reduced their impact on the environment and improved their reclamation efforts. After the mining activities are over, many responsible companies reclaim the land to better condition than when the mining began. While many laws govern how the land is reclaimed, mining companies often go above and beyond by working with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and other agencies to improve the wildlife habitat. Elk in Eastern Kentucky have thrived in the habitats created by reclaimed coal mines. In 2008, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife estimated that the Elk population had risen to 6,500, making it the largest Elk herd east of the Mississippi River. The Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) has partnered with many coal mining companies to help plant millions of trees in Appalachia. One in particular, the American Chestnut, was destroyed in the early 1900′s by the chestnut blight and is now being reintroduced to Eastern Kentucky by ARRI and the collaborative efforts of mining companies.

As you can see, mining is essential to our everyday lives, and it is possible for the mining activities to have a positive impact on the environment. Remember, if it isn’t grown, it has to be mined.

Nate Waters is a mining engineering senior at the University of Kentucky. This appeared as an OpEd in the KY Kernel on 1/29/09

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One view: Mining facts and myths

January 20, 2009

Bill Carman’s commentary on Dec. 27 tells the facts of surface mining reclamation. Richard Dawahare’s commentary contains exaggerations and misstatements. I am a native Appalachian, having lived and worked in the mountains much of my career. I believe my University of Kentucky education in biosystems, agricultural, and mining engineering and environmental systems, plus 33 years experience working on practical solutions to environmental problems gives me knowledge of the subject.<more/>Myth: Mining explodes tops off mountains with toxic explosives, creates moonscapes, smothers streams.

Fact: Mining uses ammonia nitrate explosives, the same as fertilizer on farms and lawns. Best engineering practices are used to design fills with stream mitigation and reconstruction.

Myth: Sludge, waste from cleaning coal is another pollutant.

Fact: Opponents often say they are not against coal mining, just mountaintop removal and slurry impoundments. That is a contradiction. Some coal from MTM operations may be washed, generating refuse. Virtually all underground-mined coal is cleaned. Proposed legislation would adversely impact underground mining in Appalachia.

Myth: Reclaiming mountains always involves planting non-native grasses.

Fact: This is what was required in the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). Government, industry and academia mistakenly thought that compacted grassland was the way to go. New reclamation techniques developed largely by UK researchers show properly reclaimed land grows trees faster than natural ground.

Myth: Two percent of mountaintop sites are used (for development).

Facts: Not all sites have been developed but hundreds have been and there is potential for more. Opponents don’t consider alternative uses like wildlife habitats, agriculture and managed forests to be developed.

Fact: Owners must grant permission for their land to be surface mined. Owners convert many former mine sites to alternative uses after permits are released by regulators. Some of the most valuable land in East Kentucky is reclaimed mine sites.

Myth: Change perverted the Clean Water Act, redefining coal waste as permissible fill for valleys.

Facts: Waste as used here is an engineering term for excess rock and dirt from earth-moving operations. Fills have always been allowed legally. The recent Stream Buffer Zone rule was a clarification of policy since SMCRA. Roads and urban development have filled and rerouted thousands of miles of streams with a greater environmental impact than mining.

Myth: Mining destroys land forever.

Fact: Thousands of people now live, work and play on reclaimed mine sites. Mining creates opportunities for the future, new sculpted landscapes that are true examples of sustainable development. Studies have shown that only 6.8 percent of the Appalachian region where coal can be mined by mountaintop methods will potentially be affected.

Fact: Our way of life is made possible by coal. Great strides have been made in improving our environment in spite of increased energy demand. Alternatives must be found for the future but for now coal is the only alternative to maintain our lifestyles. New legislative initiatives being proposed will greatly increase the costs of providing energy, impacting the poor, elderly and disenfranchised.

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