Gundy Coal Case Study

On December 3, 2014, I conducted a Health and Safety Inspection (EO1) at Warrior Coal LLC, Cardinal underground mine. I went to the mine to monitor the operators dust sampling; however, they were not sampling. Due to the operator not sampling I decided to travel to the # 2 Unit 002-0 and 004-0 Mechanized Mining Unit (MMU) to check the dust Parameters.

The process to mine the coal is quite complex. First, surveyors are called on site to document the layout of the land so that in can be restored to

In its early days Sedro Woolley was a popular railroad and logging area. Ideally located to serve as a hub for railway shipping and travel, the communities that evolved into Sedro Woolley as we know it thrived in part due to coal mining, as well. Deep roots in the logging industry make it no surprise

Tens of business closed up, which directly affected a large number of households. The coal mining operations companies also left environmental contaminants in the environment. Pollutions from coal mining have a direct effect on water, land air. Some of the pollutants contaminate ground water, surface water and impact on other land-uses. Besides the slope failure and explosion, environmental impact from coal mining causes erosion; leachates production, which seeping into ground water, and dust pollution. Heavy metals compound like lead, cadmium and arsenic dominates coal mining sites (Bhuiyan, Parvez, Islam, & Dampare, 2010). These metals are toxic to plant and animal. Some absorb some of these dissolved metals and introduce them into the food circle. When rainwater mixes with coal waste, the runoffs becomes acidic, which reduce PH of surface waters. (Komitas, 2001) Population inhaling coal dust suffers black lung disease and other complication like lung cancer, and heart failure (Finkelman & Orem, 2002). Coal mining in uranium mines is another source of radioactive exposure. Another environmental impact from coal mined lands includes emission of greenhouse gasses. Future land redevelopment in grand Cache, must deal with this issues before development could take

After a considerably large renovation, the coal mine now has the Rahall Company Store, visitor center, a coal museum, a fudgery, and gift shop. Many features include mining artifacts and tools, photographs, and various artifacts from the coal town of southern West Virginia. The main attraction of the Exhibition Coal Mine is a tour that takes visitors 1500 underground. The tour shows visitors the history of coal mining from the early hand-loading days to modern-day mining. Visitors can also take a tour throughout the coal camp. Here they can explore the Coal Company House, Superintendent's Home, Pemberton Coal Camp Church, and the Helen Coal Camp School. The Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine is a great way to discover how life in the area was in the early 20th

Rock dusting machines are helpful at clearing the extra dust in the air after the miners have blown up the coal. If there is too much dust in the air, the dust can ignite if there is a flame present.

Huntley and Avondale Collieries are existing underground mines in the Illawarra coal fields of New South Wales. Both mines are on care and maintenance at present but with an improved financial outlook, the existing infrastructure and the location of the mines in relation existing coal mining infrastructure, an opportunity to reopen the mines is available. A financial model for the reopening of the mines based on provided economic conditions, historical

Over the course of the mine being open, they advanced their technology to increase production and keep up with the competition. The Christmas Coal Mine originally used small ponies to do the back-breaking work of pulling out loads of coal from within the mine (Luecke 1). No electric was used at the mine until they purchased a generator. The generator didn’t light up the whole tunnel; instead, it ran a piece of equipment known as the , “iron mule,” or, “electric mule.” Bob Harpenau, Jacobs son, stated, “I can still remember one time sitting down there and here comes the iron mule. I thought that damn thing was going to hit me, so I jumped back. It hit the curve and turned down the mine.” (Harpenau 2) The electric mule eased the burden placed

The west was swept by enormous change after the civil war. There was a lot of mining that was started because gold and silver was discovered and when people heard about it, many people poured into an area that was ill prepared for their arrival.

“Blasting itself produced immense quantities of mineral particles. The common practice of returning to the work face soon after the detonation of charges meant entering an area filled with particulate matter. (Derickson 3)” Also, as labors transported, unloaded, and cleaned the extracted material dust was inhaled even though they were away from the mine. So no matter what technique used the coal dust still made it in the air and into the miners’ lungs. There were no safety regulations in place about how long to wait after blowing up coal, no regulations about how many particulates in the air were safe, no mask or safety precautions and no mandatory venting. Although some of these things were easily usable to the safety the company felt it was too costly. “An elaborate system of fans and blowers was ‘too costly’, so the miner had to pay for the bad ventilating by ‘miners’ asthma’ and other ailments caused by bad air. (Derickson 4)” Basically the coal operators did not care enough about the miners safety to provide vents and things that could have helped the air quality.

Coal power is the cheapest fuel to power the ever growing population with Australian mining industry still putting in billions of dollars into a vast amount of coal projects never the less coal power is a fossil fuel, a fuel which takes hundreds of year to form so the future of coal is undetermined. Coal is a reliable power source but one of the many concern with coal is the mining process used to remove it from the ground. Ecological effects are developing worries for the industry, with the carbon emissions possibly contributing to global warming.

When coal is being transported by rail it should be placed in dead storage in order to minimize air pollution due to dust, this involved compacted and sealed pile not susceptible during wind activity. when transporting coal, the unit/agency should ensure that trains is showered with water with adequate system before leaving the storage yard, the coal should be covered with tarpaulin or any other effective measure/device. Another safety precaution that one should adhere to when transporting coal via rails is to ensure that trains are not overload because it will cause spillage during transportation

Throughout the century British coal had become increasingly costly and difficult to mine. Nationalization in 1948 had not altered this. Indeed, there was a case for saying that lack of government investment since that date had added to the problem. For some time Britain had been importing coal from abroad. With the exception of few pits producing particular types of coal, British mines by the 1970s were running at loss.

With the introduction of mechanical coal cutters, production tripled. Acting like a chain saw, coal cutters sheared, undercut and overcut the seam of coal. Holes were then drilled into the coal and filled with explosives. Once blown down, miners loaded the coal into coal cars. There were several inherent risks with mechanisation. Sparks created explosions, machinery caused gruesome accidents, and the coal dust (or “devil’s dust” as the miners called it) caused black lung

The mining industry has seen an explosive growth from the past few decades. It has played an important role in economic growth, infrastructure development and a raise in the living standard of the whole world. According to the Australian National Accounting System, the mining sector has made contributions of 9.8% GDP growth to the Australian economy between 2008 to 2009 (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2012). However, the mining industry has caused many environmental issues such as adverse effect to air, land and water quality and continues to affect global environment as a whole. According to the World Health Organization, it evaluated that 25% of worldwide death are directly associated with environmental pollution (Blacksmith Institute, n.d). This essay will outline the environmental issue raised by the mining industry with pinpoint focus on the effects to air, water and land. It will also provide strategies for mining companies to improve the environmental conditions.