Introduction
Industries in West Virginia have violated the state-issued permit of pollution by releasing toxic substances such as coal ash and selenium into the local water supply. In addition to the threat toxic substances like coal ash and selenium pose to the health of the community, toxic water destroys the environment and destabilizes the local ecosystem of the areas impacted by such pollution. West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) was formed as a guidance tool to aid persons to know when it is environmentally secure to withdraw water from the stream. This judgment is built on percentages of yearly mean flow, based on the ten-year period that affords a proper flow to defend the aquatic habitat. Moreover, their mission is to protect, preserve, and improve the state’s watersheds for the safety and benefit of all the citizens through implementation of plans controlling hazardous waste, surface and groundwater pollution, and solid waste from any source.
Summary of the Current Problem
Coal combustion residuals, frequently referred to as coal ash, are formed when coal is burned by the power plants to generate electricity. In fact, ash is one of the biggest types of industrial waste that is generated in the US. In 2012, four hundred and seventy coal-fired electric utilities produced around 110 million tons of coal ash (Byers p89). The coal corporation Alpha Natural Resources violated the state-issued permit of pollution by allowing toxic amounts of selenium to ooze into the West Virginia waters. It was the latest event in the ongoing coal driven pollution saga in the state. The judges ruled that the Alpha subsidiary of Marfork Coal violated the state’s water quality law through permitting excess selenium from the Brushy Fork coal impoundment. Consequently, it was one of the prime coal waste ponds in the US that ejected in the Brush Fork Stream in 2012 (Byers 67).
Even though the stream is not the primary source of drinking water for humans, it is a source for wildlife. Highlighting the importance of the ecological impact pollution in the stream was a court victory brought by a lawsuit filed by four leading environmental groups including the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, the Sierra Club, and the Coal River Mountain Watch Incorporated.(Garay)Representatives of these environmental groups argued that Alpha dishonored the state-issued permits, regardless of the fact that the sanction did not expressly limit the pollution of selenium. The judges claimed that the sanctions existed to prohibit the water quality violations in general and established the credibility of the water samples showing the levels of selenium more than the state's official limit. (Garay)
Alpha violated West Virginia water quality standards and its permits during both December and October 2012. However, the corporation said that it would appeal the ruling because the sludge pond stayed within the bounds of the license. They further argued that the state legislation passed in 2012 referred to as Senate Bill 615 protected them from the court case. The bill states that as long as the coal firms meet the discharge limit placed in the state-issued permit, they are in compliance with the state water pollution regulations (Byers. 123).
Selenium, the mineral by-product of mountain–top elimination coal mining is a natural occurring metal, and little amounts are permitted to be present in the drinking water. Nevertheless, according to EPA, too much selenium will result in fingernail or hair loss, circulation and numbness in people.
In 2009, the Wake Forest University study on the impact of selenium revealed that the primary problem with selenium pollution is its capacity to bio-accumulate. It means that the current metal increases in living things when they go up the food chain. It is an issue which begins with waterborne contamination. In fish, the high concentration may cause scoliosis and spinal deformity which eventually leads to death (Dincer, Can and Fethi, Causes, Impacts, and Solutions to Global Warming. 98).
Once the aquatic habitat is polluted with selenium, a timely cleanup is intricate if not impossible. When the concentration of selenium is not reduced, the reproductive toxicity may spiral out of control, and the fish population might collapse. Alpha has tried to dismiss the complaint though arguing that they do not realize the excess amount of selenium. They noted that the experts used by the plaintiff used to take water sample were confused about the tributary she was supposed to test and used the flawed information to make conclusions. The attorneys of Alpha contradicted the findings with their samples that found significant less pollution in the samples taken. However, the judge dismissed their argument claiming that it was an attack on the specialist credibility and precision as a sampler. After the court had reviewed all the evidence presented by the plaintiff, it found that the data from Little Marsh Fork and Brushy Fork samples were accurate.
Consequently, water pollution in West Virginia is an issue that is primarily driven by state's coal industry, and it is nothing new. It was brought to the public eye when ten thousand gallons of fuel produced mixture is known as Crude MCHM leaked in Elk River and contaminated the water supply for over three hundred thousand people. As a result, the consequences of the Crude MCHM spill are continuing, and lawsuits have already sprung. Lastly, the court case against Alpha over the selenium pollution occurred in 2012, and the tribunal rulings have started to come. However, the decision of the damages that Alpha has to incur has yet to arrive.
Solutions
Coalmines have offered a significant employment and tax revenues for many decades. In the middle Appalachian region, defined by the US Energy Information Administration to include parts of four states, coal generation last peaked in 1997 at 300 million tons. In 2008, the production declined to 235 million tons. As production decreases, the rate of employment has also dropped (Dincer, Can et al. 73) Most of the present the US debate over the green jobs centers in the development of renewable energy sources, which may offer tax revenue and employment. In middle Appalachia, the renewable energy jobs may benefit local communities through diversifying the area's energy mix and providing new skilled jobs, which are less subject to bust-and-boom cycles.
A second group of green jobs may also be developed in middle Appalachia. The ones associated with cleaning up streams and rivers that, decades after mining has ended, are still severely polluted. Reclaiming the old mine sites may create thousands of employment opportunities for engineers who design the projects, contractors who construct them, and the water quality technicians who observe them. More importantly, when reclamation is finished, the now-polluted streams may be converted from liabilities to economic assets, which will aid diversify economies and motivate the introduction of the key services in regional communities across the area. Therefore, the short-term costs associated with green mining programs and other forms of renewable energy initiatives will undoubtedly provide long-term economic benefits to the local communities and surround areas in which such programs are implemented.
The potential merits are enormous, as the environment impacts all aspects of the Appalachian life. In middle Appalachian’s numerous scenic headwaters regions, trout fishermen wade waist high in the clean, clear rushing creeks and tributary that bisect the area’s forested valleys and the church-steeple towns. In most large rivers and the flood-control reservoirs, bass fishing has gained popularity. Dozens of tournaments continue to be held each year in the four-state area, and they help to draw tourist and visitors dollars to the local community. For instance, sixty teams have participated in West Virginia Bass Federation Championship on Monongahela River in the Morgantown in 2009 (Dincer, Can and Fethi, Causes, Impacts, and Solutions to Global Warming. 173). The occasion was held in conjunction with the Mountain Fest motorcycle that attracted seventy thousand visitors, a significant improvement in the local economy.
Some of the area’s cities are situated on the large rivers. West Virginia, Charleston sit on the Kanawha River, the major tributary of River Ohio. Here, the barge operators steer their loads of coal and other products through dams and locks downstream to River Ohio, on the path to Mississippi. The rivers and streams supply water to the public drinking water systems and the industrial facilities such as electric and chemical power plants. When the water source is contaminated, drinking-water treatment costs may increase, and the industrial processes might be fouled. For instance, the high levels of dissolved solids in River Monongahela in 2008 from the coal abandoned and other sources not only made the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection propose that citizens take bottled water if water from their tap tasted bad. It prompted the power plant to spend over two hundred dollars treating the water that could otherwise have spoiled the machinery.
Even though waterways are significant community resources, contaminated rivers and streams may be liabilities. Money is required to restore them, and unless they are restored, they will deplete the local economies on a yearly basis. Moreover, they hold back the development of local communities since individuals will avoid streams which are visually polluted, smell and do not offer a suitable environment for recreation. On the other hand, clean streams will draw tourists who search for healthy fisheries or fresh water for wading or boating. They will facilitate the development by offering clean drinking water and may become unique community assets, thus attracting businesses interested in giving a high-quality life to staff.
When President Obama talks about creating green jobs, it is a better way to clean up the abandoned mines in Appalachia. There are numerous potential benefits to the local economy such as the evident in the quantified jobs generated, by remediating contaminated coalmine effluent of the West Branch Susquehanna River watershed, which is in Pennsylvania. (Garay) In addition, the outcome of the project assists in estimating the number of green jobs, which may be produced by remediating, abandoned mines across middle Appalachia (Garay.).
In relation to the jobs created by maintaining, building and designing treatment systems, and the resultant clean streams could aid diversify the local economies resulting to more benefits and employment for local communities. The businesses might be attracted to the towns, which offer a high-quality life to the staff or to rivers that give clean water for industrial process and drinking. The people seeking homes close to the outdoor amenities could discover communities with clean water striking. Boating and fishing opportunities could improve.
A different constituency could be formed that relies on the fundamental link between clean water and jobs. A private sector which depends and relies on clean water supply may be the political force ensuring that it stays clean. The rivers are a central point of economic development in few communities in Appalachia. For instance, Chattanooga made the deliberate effort to center the development around the regional waterway making it the emblem of community's vitality and spirit. In Fayetteville, West Virginia, the waterway is naturally drawn for the recreational boaters with rafts, canoes, and kayaks.
The federal government should try to eliminate the two biggest tax credits, the Virginia Coal Employment and the Production Incentive Tax Credit and the Coalfield Employment Enhancement Tax Credit. They have been discovered to be inefficient and represent a significant loss for the state. Moreover, a permanent mineral trust fund has to be created, which would effectively generate funding for economic diversification programs from currently existing investment in nonrenewable natural resources. (Garay) Nearly fifteen percent of the redeemed tax credit is taken to the (VCEDA) Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority for economic diversification. As the VCEDA has formed 18,000 employment opportunities since the start of 1988, unemployment is still high. (Garay)When the savings from eradicating the credits were issued to VCEDA, the administration’s funding would more than double to a standard of twenty-seven million through 2035. The reports state requiring that a part VCEDA’s task focus in developing programs such as education, early childhood, infrastructure, and workforce training. (Garay)
Most important, adjustments like the resurrection of concrete regulatory measures should be made to the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, since it was the most important spring for revenue for remediating the coal mines abandoned before 1977. These adjustments should include revising the objective of the fund to explicitly address the remediation of each abandoned mine, particularly regarding those with issues associated to water pollution. In addition, the fund must work with state and federal regulatory agencies, such as the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection to further seek to meet the water quality standards in now-polluted waterways.
Adjustment
The first amendment necessary to achieve the objectives is to eliminate the fund's sunset provision. In the 2006 reauthorization, the fund may sunset in 2022. Nevertheless, the years which remain may not allow the sufficient funding to concentrate on the remaining abandoned mines. Therefore, the Congress must either remove sunset provision or tie sunset date to finishing the task.
Second, the regulation classifies abandoned mines which pollute waterways as priority sites, and it is intricate for the state agencies to reclaim the sites of priority one and two locations. They present threats to human safety and health. The state can be improved to address the polluted mine effluent fully and can more efficiently allocate the funds when the priority system is tranquil.
In addition, Obama’s recent budget proposal involves a change that could stop sending fund distribution to the regions which have already cleaned up their abandoned mines. The change must be adopted, and the funds should be reallocated to the area such as those in central Appalachia with the backlogs of unclaimed mines. In the state level, the active leadership and involvement of the watershed associations are crucial in focusing the general local community support, agency efforts, cost-effective building, designing and sustain treatment systems. Since most watershed associations are built on volunteer labor, the most efficient and largest active organizations have paid staff and required funding to develop their programs. Fundamental funding for most of the firms could permit them to continue and even expand their work remediating the abandoned coal mines. Nonetheless, in West Virginia, grants of up to five thousand dollars are awarded by the state government for watershed associations on a yearly basis. Consequently, in Kentucky, the (KRA) Kentucky Revenue Authority distribute dam and lock fees to projects all through the basin, but it only totals twenty thousand dollars annually.
At the local level, the river focused development is successfully pursued in different towns and cities across the country. Fayatteville and Chattanooga are two Appalachian instances where rivers produce continuing local benefits. Thus, integrating the local streams and rivers into the community's development plans may create different types of jobs that might aid expand the local economy. While the local economy is explicitly associated with water quality, the new constituencies may have an interest which aligns economic development and clean water.
The focus of my water environment investigation is based on the conservation of aquifers throughout mining, making full use of the mine water and remediation of polluted mine water. The protection of aquifers is a crucial element of green mining. The various effects of mining in aquifers and diverse remediation ways for several mines have unique geological conditions. In West Virginia, the coal mines are deep underground where there is the presence of abundant water in the aquifer. The mine-water invasion in the mine is one big catastrophe. Researchers have developed few mining techniques which exercise water leaking from the fractured aquifers which preserve the aquifers. Therefore, for the coal mines in West Virginia, constructing the concrete wall along mined lanes and cavities that channel water from mining in the underground reservoir has proved useful.
The coalmines produce a lot of waste, and it is the biggest source of solid waste in the US (Garay, U.S. Steel and Gary 65). The waste comprises of materials which must be detached to acquire access to coal resources such as waste rock or overburden, top soil, and wastes from coal preparation. A series of accidents in the past years have highlighted the importance of reuse of the mining and the imperative need for better waste management procedures. Therefore, the management of mining wastes includes the recycle, reuse, and reduction. The method goes by many names such as clean technology, pollution prevention, resource utilization and total project development.
As a result, innovative mining techniques are the primary way to reduce production of mining wastes. The refuse accounts an average of fifteen percent of the substance removed from traditional long-wall mining ways in the US. The precise ratio depends on the specific geological state. Research has verified that the generation of coal mining wastes would be reduced by ten percent using new techniques (Rasheed.). Besides, the mining wastes are widely used as fuel for the power plants, infrastructure materials such as subsided landfill or dam, and raw materials for producing bricks. The reuse of mining waste is the process to acquire the objective of sustainable development. Achieving the target of zero wastes is intricate. For instance, burning coal-bearing wastes to produce electricity but after that eighty percent of the coal-bearing refuse ends up in the combustion remains as fly ash, boiler slag or bottom ash that should be used for other functions (Rasheed, Introduction to Energy: Sources, Uses, Impact, and Solutions. 156).
Conclusion
Coal is one of the globe’s most abundant energy resources. It is at the moment and will be in future the most significant global source of electricity. Coal utilization and mining will inevitably result in adverse environmental effects including land subsidence, coal mine accidents, pollution of water environmental and air pollution. Mined land reclamation is a significant task associated with environmental concern. In West Virginia, reclaiming land plays a vital function in restoring the earth fit for cultivation. Recent research has revealed that environmental problems from coal mining would be eliminated from taking appropriate measures during the process of mining, but some issues must be remediated after mining is over. Reclaiming mined land, creating green jobs, and reconstructing the rural communities influenced by coal mining must be done past mining.
References
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