The Effects Of Coal Mining In The State Of Alabama

The environmental pollution problem has become a nightmare for the world population during the current century. The problem has transformed into a real crisis and the very survival of living species is at stake at certain places. Most of the crisis is self-created and self-escalated. The more mankind has fascinated towards convenience, the more it has created side-problems for itself. All the amenities of a modern and so-called convenient lifestyle have brought along numerous side effects that have proved fatal with the passage of time. The monster of environmental pollution now seems to be beyond control. In my paper I need to focus on the environmental effects of coal mining in the state of Alabama and a comparison of it with similar problems
Mining is thus considered to be the backbone of the state’s economy. Large deposits of limestone, iron ore, bituminous coal, natural gas, lignite and petroleum are found in different parts of the state. The coal is extracted from underground mines that are considered to be the deepest in the United States.

‘Alabama's mining industry is vital to the state's economy. It ranked sixteenth nationally in total nonfuel mineral production value and thirteenth in the production of coal in 1999. The value of nonfuel minerals in 1999 was $993 million. The State produced 19,504 thousand short tons of coal in 1999. The industry employs 9,700 workers, with an average annual income of $48,968. Alabama's combined direct and indirect economic gain from the mining industry is $8,061,602,000’.

Coal mining is done in two ways, i.e., surface or strip mining and underground mining. Surface mining is possible for coal deposits situated near to the surface while underground mining method is applied to deep earth deposits. In Alabama both methods are used. The main problems in underground mining are of ventilation and roof support. Sufficient ventilation is essential because of the emission of toxic gases like carbon dioxide and methane. Other harmful effects are caused by coal dust. Underground coal mining is generally considered as the most harmful of all other
Internally it poses a threat to the life and health safety of the workers and outside the mine the safety of the surrounding ecosystem is at stake. Previously the natural gas release from the coalmines was thought to be a major risk and a main waste product. The coalbed gas is now considered more hazardous and has been named as "miner's curse," because it escapes from coal seams and can ignite explosively. The toxic gases released are responsible for acid rain and greenhouse effects in the environment. It is an undeniable fact that the unregulated or irresponsible surface mining of coal may cause soil erosion, damage from rolling stones, land slides, and stream pollution, increases the likelihood of floods, reduces the value of land for agricultural purposes, can be detrimental to the conservation of soil, and may create hazards to life and property’.

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