Noise from opencast coal mining sites

Balochistan is a semi-arid region. The assessment of water quality is very important, as the majority of people depend on groundwater for drinking purposes. The present study involves the quality assessment and mapping of drinking water in the five selected major coal mining sites in the four districts of Balochistan. A total of 50 samples were collected from these five coal mining sites in two seasons: i.e., summer and winter. A physicochemical analysis was carried out for groundwater samples: i.e., pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solid (TDS), CO3, HCO3-, Cl-, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mn, Hg, Ni, and Zn. Thematic maps were used to depict the spatial distribution of significant variables and were compared with WHO standards (2011) during both seasons. The majority of parameters crossed the safe permissible limit of WHO standards. The water quality index (WQI) was calculated for the whole monitoring data obtained from both seasons from the perspective of drinking water in each of the selected sites. Moreover, a principle component analysis (PCA) and correlation matrix was carried out for the data analysis in order to identify the source of pollution and correlation among the variables. The results suggested that the overall quality of water from the selected coal mining sites deteriorated due to the overexploitation of coal mines and mining activity. The current investigation provides a comprehensive picture of the current status of water quality in and around the selected coal mines of Balochistan.

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Prevalence of asthma and other respiratory symptoms in children living near and away from opencast coal mining sites

International Journal of Epidemiology ◽

10.1093/ije/30.3.556 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 556-563 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Tanja Pless-Mulloli ◽

Denise Howel ◽

Helen Prince

Keyword(s):

Coal Mining ◽

Respiratory Symptoms ◽

Mining Sites

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PM10 levels in communities close to and away from opencast coal mining sites in Northeast England

Atmospheric Environment ◽

10.1016/s1352-2310(99)00474-4 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 34 (19) ◽

pp. 3091-3101 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Tanja Pless-Mulloli ◽

Andrew King ◽

Denise Howel ◽

Ian Stone ◽

John Merefield

Keyword(s):

Coal Mining ◽

Mining Sites

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Carbon Sequestration by Reforesting Legacy Grasslands on Coal Mining Sites

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13236340 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (23) ◽

pp. 6340

Author(s):

James F. Fox ◽

John Elliott Campbell ◽

Peter M. Acton

Keyword(s):

Carbon Sequestration ◽

Coal Mining ◽

Plant Root ◽

Surface Mining ◽

The United States ◽

Tree Planting ◽

Carbon Gain ◽

Study Region ◽

Mining Sites ◽

Sequestration Potential

Future carbon management during energy production will rely on carbon capture and sequestration technology and carbon sequestration methods for offsetting non-capturable losses. The present study quantifies carbon sequestration via reforestation using measurements and modeling for recent and legacy surface coal mining grasslands that are re-restored through tree planting. This paper focuses on a case study of legacy coal mining sites in the southern Appalachia the United States. This five million-hectare region has a surface mining footprint of approximately 12% of the land area, and the reclamation method was primarily grassland. The results of the soil carbon sequestration rates for restored forest soils approach 2.0 MgC ha−1 y−1 initially and average 1.0 MgC ha−1 y−1 for the first fifty years after reclamation. Plant, coarse root and litter carbon sequestration rates were 2.8 MgC ha−1 y−1 with plant carbon estimated to equilibrate to 110 MgC ha−1 after forty years. Plant, root and litter carbon stocks are projected to equilibrate at an order of magnitude greater carbon storage than the existing conditions, highlighting the net carbon gain. Reforestation of legacy mine sites shows carbon sequestration potential several orders of magnitude greater than typical land sequestration strategies for carbon offsets. Projections of future scenarios provide results that show the study region could be carbon neutral or a small sink if widespread reforesting during reclamation was implemented, which is contrary to the business-as-usual projections that result in a large amount of carbon being released to the atmosphere in this region.

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Air Pollution Emissions 2008–2018 from Australian Coal Mining: Implications for Public and Occupational Health

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17051570 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (5) ◽

pp. 1570 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Michael Hendryx ◽

Mohammad Saidul Islam ◽

Guang-Hui Dong ◽

Gunther Paul

Keyword(s):

Particulate Matter ◽

Nitrogen Oxides ◽

Coal Mining ◽

Coal Dust ◽

Coal Mines ◽

Working Hours ◽

Exposure Limits ◽

Mining Operations ◽

Community Based ◽

Mining Sites

Occupational exposure limits for respirable coal dust are based on exposure during working hours, but coal miners may experience additional community-based exposures during nonworking hours. We analyzed Australia National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) data for the years 2008–2018 to estimate air pollutants (metals, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter ≤ 10 micrometers (PM10) and ≤2.5 micrometers (PM2.5)) originating from coal mines. PM10 levels from community-based air monitors in Queensland and New South Wales were also compared between mining and nonmining communities. Results indicated that tons of coal mined increased over the study period, and that levels of particulate matter, metals, and nitrogen oxides increased significantly over time as well. Coal mines accounted for 42.1% of national PM10 air emissions from NPI sites. PM2.5 from coal mines accounted for 19.5% of the national total, metals for 12.1%, and nitrogen oxides for 10.1%. Coal mining occurred in 57 different post codes; the 20 coal-mining post codes with the highest PM10 emissions were home to 160,037 people. Emissions of all studied pollutants were significantly higher from coal mining sites than from other types of NPI sites. Results from community-based air monitoring stations indicated significantly higher population PM10 exposure in coal mining communities than in nonmining communities. The health of the public at large is impacted by coal mining, but to the extent that miners also live near coal mining operations, their total exposure is underestimated by consideration of exposure only during working hours.

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PM10 levels in communities close to and away from opencast coal mining sites in Northeast England

Fuel and Energy Abstracts ◽

10.1016/s0140-6701(02)85441-8 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 43 (2) ◽

pp. 144

Keyword(s):

Coal Mining ◽

Mining Sites

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Utilizing coal remaining resources and post-mining land use planning based on GIS-based optimization method : study case at PT Adaro coal mine in South Kalimantan

Journal of Geoscience Engineering Environment and Technology ◽

10.24273/jgeet.2017.2.2.307 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 141

Author(s):

Mohamad Anis ◽

Arifudin Idrus ◽

Hendra Amijaya ◽

Subagyo Subagyo

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Coal Mining ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Mining Industry ◽

Optimization Method ◽

Mining Area ◽

Rubber Plantation ◽

Mining Sites ◽

Geological Conditions

Coal mining activities may cause a series of environmental and socio-economic issues in communities around the mining area. Mining can become an obstacle to environmental sustainability and a major hidden danger to the security of the local ecology. Therefore, the coal mining industry should follow some specific principles and factors in achieving sustainable development. These factors include geological conditions, land use, mining technology, environmental sustainability policies and government regulations, socio-economic factors, as well as sustainability optimization for post-mining land use. Resources of the remains of the coal which is defined as the last remaining condition of the resources and reserves of coal when the coal companies have already completed the life of the mine or the expiration of the licensing contract (in accordance with government permission). This research uses approch of knowledge-driven GIS based methods mainly Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy logic for utilizing coal remaining resources and post-mining land use planning. The mining area selected for this study belongs to a PKP2B (Work Agreement for Coal Mining) company named Adaro Indonesia (PT Adaro). The result shows that geologically the existing formation is dominated by Coal Bearing Formation (Warukin Formation) which allows the presence of remains coal resource potential after the lifetime of mine, and the suitability of rubber plantation for the optimization of land use in all mining sites and also in some disposal places in conservation areas and protected forests.

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Birds observed during the monitoring period of 2013-2017 in the revegetation area of ex-coal mining sites in South Kalimantan, Indonesia

Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity ◽

10.13057/biodiv/d190144 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 323-329 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

MOCHAMAD ARIEF SOENDJOTO ◽

MAULANA KHALID RIEFANI ◽

DIDIK TRIWIBOWO ◽

DEWI METASARI

Keyword(s):

Coal Mining ◽

Bird Species ◽

Mine Site ◽

Monitoring Period ◽

Mining Sites ◽

Additional Site ◽

House Martin ◽

The Given ◽

Resident Bird ◽

Observation Path

Soendjoto MA, Riefani MK, Triwibowo D, Metasari D. 2018. Birds observed during the monitoring period of 2013-2017 in the revegetation area of ex-coal mining sites in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 19: 323-329. The number of bird species in the reclaimed and revegetated ex-mine site increases as the vegetation age increases. To test the hypotheses, the number of bird species was recorded at 08.00-12.00 and 14.00-17.00, 6-8 days for eight consecutive semiannual monitorings of 2013-2017 in four revegetation sites. Since the second half of 2015, another revegetation site, namely BP was added. Bird species were recorded in 25 m right side and 25 m left side of the observation path and within a radius of 25 m of observation points. To show an increase in the number of bird species, the number of newly discovered bird species in the given semiannual monitoring was added to the number of bird species in the previous semiannual monitoring. The number of bird species in the early semiannual monitoring was used as the baseline value. A bird species was categorized as a resident if the species was observed in each monitoring in the four vegetated sites. Up to the last monitoring, 53 bird species were recorded in the first four sites and 70 bird species in five sites (four reclamation and revegetation sites and one additional site, BP), while in the early semiannual monitoring (second half of 2013) birds recorded were only 30 species. This result shows that the older the vegetation age in the vegetated site, the greater the number of bird species utilizing the site. Seventeen species of birds were categorized as residents. These resident bird species includes White-breasted Woodswallow, Pied Triller, Scalybreasted Munia, Asian House-martin, Pacific Swallow, Long-tailed Shrike, Blue-throated Bee-eater, Olive-backed Sunbird, Sootyheaded Bulbul, Yellow-vented Bulbul, White-breasted Waterhen, Ashy Tailorbird, Yellow-bellied Prinia.

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Environmental soil quality index and indicators for a coal mining soil

Solid Earth Discussions ◽

10.5194/sed-7-617-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 617-638 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

R. E. Masto ◽

S. Sheik ◽

G. Nehru ◽

V. A. Selvi ◽

J. George ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Coal Mining ◽

Soil Quality ◽

Quality Index ◽

Underground Mining ◽

Principal Component ◽

Soil Parameters ◽

Soil Quality Index ◽

Mining Sites ◽

Opencast Mine

Abstract. Assessment of soil quality is one of the key parameters for evaluation of environmental contamination in the mining ecosystem. To investigate the effect of coal mining on soil quality, opencast and underground mining sites were selected in the Raniganj Coafield area, India. The physical, chemical, biological parameters, heavy metals, and PAHs contents of the soils were evaluated. Soil dehydrogenase (+79%) and fluorescein (+32%) activities were significantly higher in underground mine (UGM) soil, whereas peroxidase activity (+57%) was higher in opencast mine (OCM) soil. Content of As, Be, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, and Pb was significantly higher in OCM soil, whereas, Cd was higher in UGM. In general, the PAHs contents were higher in UGM soils probably due to the natural coal burning in these sites. The observed values for the above properties were converted into a unit less score (0–1.00) and the scores were integrated into environmental soil quality index (ESQI). In the unscreened index (ESQI-1) all the soil parameters were included and the results showed that the quality of the soil was better for UGM (0.539) than the OCM (0.511) soils. Principal component analysis was employed to derive ESQI-2 and accordingly, total PAHs, loss on ignition, bulk density, Be, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb, and microbial quotient (respiration: microbial biomass ratio) were found to be the most critical properties. The ESQI-2 was also higher for soils near UGM (+10.1%). The proposed ESQI may be employed to monitor soil quality changes due to anthropogenic interventions.

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