EGEE 101
Energy and the Environment

Mining & The Environment

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Fires

Mine fires are a familiar and common hazard, and also an environmental concern. The movie here shows a particularly unique occurrence, which is a fire that simply won't go out. The people of Centralia have had the unique problem of dealing with this fire for some 40 years now.

Here is an interesting YouTube video on the Centralia Coal Mine fire. The highway there has now been covered with overburden and it is dangerous, so don't go. Watch up to the 3:20 mark.

Centralia Burning Ghost Town - Pennsylvania USA
Click here for a transcript of the video.

There's a small town in America by the name of Centralia in Pennsylvania that looks like it has been hit by the apocalypse. The town was left abandoned after a coal mine fire began to burn more than 56 years ago.

Underground mine fires are common across the globe. There are thousands that have been burning uncontrollably for many years. Australia's Burning Mountain is believed to have been burning for 6,000 years.

Centralia's fire started in 1962, when residents turned an old strip mine into a dump and set the rubbish alight. The fire spread through an unsealed opening to the underground coal mines, igniting a seam of coal. And the fire has been burning to this day.

The fire stretches 12 kilometers and burns underneath an area of 15 square kilometers, 300 feet below ground. Authorities say the fire could burn for another 250 years.

The fire continued to rage unchecked into the 1980s. Giant plumes of smoke and deadly carbon monoxide gases billowed from fissures in the ground.

The local highway cracked and collapsed. Trees were bleached white and petrified. And people complained about breathing problems.

After estimating the cost of extinguishing the fire at over half a billion dollars, the government opted to raze the town and relocate its residents. Centralia used to have a thousand people living in the town. About five residents still live there today despite there being nothing there.

All real estate in the town was claimed under eminent domain in 1992 and condemned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The remaining residents were being forced to move. But in 1993, they started to fight for the right to stay.

After a lengthy legal battle, state and local officials reached an agreement with the seven remaining residents in 2013, allowing them to live out their lives, after which the rights of their houses will be taken through eminent domain. There is very little left in the town of Centralia, except for roads that lead nowhere and a few scattered buildings for the remaining residents.

Pennsylvania Route 61 used to stretch through Centralia. But it was destroyed by the underground fire. And cracks tearing through the tar would make you think a severe earthquake struck the area.

The town now mostly attracts tourists who visit an abandoned highway where many profanities and obscene pictures are sprayed onto it. Over time, the highway has earned the nickname Graffiti Highway, It sort of reminds me of the Cadillac Ranch, where there are 10 Cadillac cars facedown in the dirt. And people visit the cars to spray paint onto them.

When you see before and after images of the town when there was a thousand people who lived in it and now 5, it is very similar to the before and after images of Hiroshima. One picture had a whole city full of buildings. And the next is just an expansive parking lot. You'd be forgiven for thinking the town was nuked and wiped off the face of the Earth.

I asked a local YouTuber by the name of Joey Underground who let me use his footage for this video, does the ground still smoke, as I did not see any smoke in recent videos. He replied, it's smoking in certain parts of the woods. But the streets are no longer smoking. And you can only see the smoke on freezing cold days. I was there in March 2018 and couldn't see any smoke anywhere.

I'm not sure if it's love for the town and the house they live in or stubbornness, but when you think of what the remaining residents have to live with-- dangerous gases, cracks forming in the earth and roads, a raging fire below the ground they live and walk on, and an ever-present threat of sinkholes forming under their feet-- you have to ask yourself, would you stay? Anyway, that's the end of this video. Thanks for watching. And we'll see you next time. Bye, bye.

Credit: Wonder World

Acid Mine Drainage

Acid mine drainage is an issue in both the Bituminous and Anthracite regions of Pennsylvania. Pyrite in the exposed coal (underground or on the reject (Culm/Gob) piles) acidify the water.

More on this in Lesson 10: Acid Deposition.

Acid Mine Drainage
Click Here for a transcript of Acid Mine Drainage Video

[Video opens panning down a discolored stream.] Dr. Mathews: This is a beautiful area of the anthracite region. This is one of the many sulfur creeks. It gets that name from its yellow or orange color in nature. This is due to acid mine drainage. What happens is the iron discolors the bed, the stream bed, with this yellow coloration, it is called a yellow boy, and it is actually iron hydroxide. Unfortunately, it means that the stream is in very poor health and it is not a good spot to go fishing. It is very sad to see the beautiful areas of this anthracite region devastated in this manner. [Video ends panning the stream.]

Credit: JPM

There is a correlation between coal mining locations and the occurrence of acid mine drainage.

Map showing streams impacted by mine drainage in Pennsylvania. Map of streams and also shows where the coal beds are located.
Click on the images to see a larger version.

We know that coal contributes a great deal to our production of electricity. The challenge is how to do it cheaply and in an environmentally responsible manner. Carbon dioxide emissions are a new challenge that we now have to face. More on this later in the course.

Here is how I think the lesson materials tie together the coal combustion materials in lesson 02 and the environmental challenge of acid mine drainage that we cover in lesson 10. This coverage map does not have interactive text so give some thought to what are the important concepts.

Graph the shows the diiferent polutants that come from coal.
Pollution from Coal Coverage Map
Credit: JPM

Abandoned Coal Mines

There are several other challenges that our historic (abandoned) coal mines contribute to.

High walls

You have to be careful when walking in the coal mining regions. The photograph below shows a high wall left when the mine was abandoned. This was illegal after 1977 but many abandoned coal mines still remain. High walls such as this are a danger for wildlife, off-road drivers, bikers, and hikers.

An abandoned coal mine in Virginia showing the dangerous high wall (fall risk)
An abandoned coal mine in Virginia.
Credit: Adam Wells

Acidic Pools

Does anyone fancy a dip? On a hot day, the old pits that have become flooded are a tempting swimming hole. However, they are sites with high drowning fatalities both due to the very cold deep water and the fact that the pools can be very acidic and lead to acid-shock deaths. Stay away.

large mine filled with water
A dangerous swimming hole!

Subsidence

Worried you may live in a mining area? See the Pennsylvania Mine Map Atlas, and perhaps consider subsidence insurance. Subsidence is the gradual caving in or sinking of an area of land. Mining subsidence occurs when the hallowed out earth from the mines begin to cause the ground to shift or sink. If you live in a subsidence-prone area you can expect the cracking of walls etc. as the houses settle. In some cases, the house will become uninhabitable and will need to be demolished.

Graphic showing houses above an old coal mine tunnel. If the tunnel collapses there will be subsidence.
In this graphic, the houses were constructed above an unknown room and pillar mining location. The center has collapsed and the ground above has subsided.
Credit: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Large crack in a concrete wall of a basement. The crack extends into the yard.
A large crack in the ground and the wall of a house due to subsidence, related to coal mining activity.
Credit: Eric Schmadel