Coal mining

Coal mining is the extraction of coal from the Earth for use during combustion.

Environmental impacts

Coal mining frequently causes significant adverse environmental impacts. Strip mining typically destroys most environmental value in the land through which it passes. All forms of mining are likely to generate areas where coal is stacked and where the coal has significant sulfur content, such coal heaps generate highly acidic metal rich drainage when exposed to normal rainfall. These liquors can cause severe environmental damage to receiving water-courses. In addition, the waste heaps are subject to slipping, as in the Aberfan disaster which killed 144 people in 1966.

Related Topics:
Environmental - Sulfur - Aberfan disaster

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