“Only when the last tree had died and the last river has been poisoned…will we realize that we cannot eat money”. This is an old Cree saying that is very applicable today. Is the mining of the Alberta tar sands worthwhile‚ knowing its devastating effects on the environment? There are very valid points for both arguments‚ being them economical‚ political‚ environmental‚ or moral. The mining of bitumen is not something that is sustainable for the environment‚ or the companies involved. Although these
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Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis Report Elizabeth Mine South Strafford‚ Vermont Final Report Final Report Prepared for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District Concord‚ Massachusetts 12 March 2002 Arthur D. Little‚ Inc. Acorn Park Cambridge‚ Massachusetts 02140-2390 Contract No. DACW33-00-D-0002 Delivery Order 0002 Arthur D. Little Reference 76071 Table of Contents Page List of Acronyms ............................................................................................
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be placed in a waste dump‚ often an area close to the pit’s edge that is alsostepped in structure. C. What is Left Behind by Open-Pit Mines? Tailings are a telltale sign of a former mining operation. Tailings are the leftovers of ore that was processed and‚ if fresh‚ it is often found in slurry form in a settling pond or what is called a tailings dam. The water eventually evaporates and‚
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on the bodies of American citizens and doing irreversible damage to the earth. The once the picturesque boreal forests of Canada’s Alberta province now has a vastly different landscape. Today this area is filled with filthy strip mines and tailing ponds so large they are visible from space. For here lies the world’s largest reserve of tar sands‚ a mixture of clay‚ sand‚ water and bitumen. Heavy black viscous oil‚ bitumen can be harvested and refined to yield a high amount of fossil fuel. However
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which create no pollution. One of the major concerns with the process of extracting the oil from the oil sands is the need for holding ponds or tailing ponds. These are used to waste water. They can’t dump it in the Athabasca River because it would cause major pollution problems. It would take centuries to dry out the toxic chemicals contained in these ponds. Such as naphthenic acid and polycrylic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). They are required to reclaim it somehow‚ but have been missing their
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How organizations organize to respond to the environment Human beings for millennia have used energy‚ initially it was with the use of fire for light‚ heat‚ cooking and for safety‚ and its use can be traced back at least 1.9 million years (Bowman‚ 2009). However‚ most of these resources are limited. According to P. E. Hodgson‚ a Senior Research Fellow Emeritus in Physics at Corpus Christi College‚ Oxford‚ expects the world energy use is doubling every fourteen years and the need is increasing faster
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has lain unexposed for geological eras. When crushed‚ these rocks expose radioactive elements‚ asbestos-like minerals‚ and metallic dust. During separation‚ residual rock slurries‚ which are mixtures of pulverized rock and liquid‚ are produced as tailings‚ toxic and radioactive elements from these liquids can leak into bedrock if not properly contained. Underground Mining Underground mining has the potential for tunnel collapses and land subsidence (Betournay‚ 2011). It involves large-scale movements
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Geography Debate Given the carbon costs the Athabasca Tar sands should not be allowed to continue production. Not only will the cost rise when there is little oil left but the tar sands also create a lot of pollution. If they are not careful the cost is going to get outrageously high because they will eventually have to pay for some of the damage they cause with all the pollution they make. If they continue it will ruin the environment around the oil sands and they will hurt the environment in
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required to follow environmental and rehabilitation codes‚ ensuring the area mined is returned to close to its original state. Some mining methods may have significant environmental and public health effects. Erosion of exposed hillsides‚ mine dumps‚ tailings dams and resultant siltation of drainages‚ creeks and rivers can significantly impact the surrounding areas‚ a prime example being the giant Ok Tedi Minein Papua New Guinea. In areas of wilderness mining may cause destruction and disturbance of ecosystems and
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PFII/2007/WS.3/7 Original: English UNITED NATIONS NATIONS UNIES DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS Division for Social Policy and Development Co-organizers Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Government of Khabarovsk Krai and the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) INTERNATIONAL EXPERT GROUP MEETING ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT
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