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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.
The environmental factors of the coal industry are not only impacting air pollution, water management and land use but also is causing severe health effects by the burning of the coal. Air pollution is increasing in numbers of toxins such as mercury, lead, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other heavy metals. [93]
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) is the primary federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the United States. SMCRA created two programs: one for regulating active coal mines and a second for reclaiming abandoned mine lands.
The coal mining industry has a long history of significant negative environmental impacts on local ecosystems, health impacts on local communities and workers, and contributes heavily to the global environmental crises, such as poor air quality and climate change.
The same study highlights strong correlations between heavy coal mining counties and a greater risk of depression and severe psychological distress. [9] Areas in the Appalachia with coal surface mining exhibit greater rates of adverse health effects and reduced self-rated health in comparison to the national average. [1]
This can affect the flows of rivers, and has consequential impacts on other land uses. In areas of water scarcity, such as the Thar Desert in Pakistan, coal mining and coal power plants contribute to the depletion of water resources. [146] One of the earliest known impacts of coal on the water cycle was acid rain.
Coal ash contains many toxic substances that may affect human health, if people are exposed to them above a certain concentration in the form of particulate matter.So it is necessary to avoid situations in which employees working in coal-fired power plants or public members living close to coal ash landfills will be exposed to high coal ash dust concentrations. [4]
Coal refuse, also known as coal waste, rock, slag, coal tailings, waste material, rock bank, culm, boney, or gob, is the material left over from coal mining, usually as tailings piles or spoil tips. For every tonne of hard coal generated by mining, 400 kg (880 lb) of waste material remains, which includes some lost coal that is partially ...