I oppose the development of the Chu molybdenum mine because its negative effects extend beyond the site. This mine will affect the quality of life of the residents of Vanderhoof adversely by reducing air and water quality, food sources and revenue. Vanderhoof is a small, geographic centre that supplies food and mineral resources to neighboring cities (BCC, 2009) hence, many of its residents, tourists and neighbors will be directly affected by this project.
The project is very expensive to establish and maintain because of the infrastructure, skilled labor and facilities proposed for impact mitigation. Currently, the budget for this project is $700-1000 million, assuming there are no unexpected expenses. However, many mining projects have unanticipated adverse effects that incur additional expenses. For example, with the Brule coal mine in British Columbia, unexpected faulting in the mine’s location led to a change in mining techniques to reduce the potential for landslide (InfoMine Inc., 2009). This project is also very technical and requires 350-400 skilled professionals from other provinces, thus, most of the revenue generated will not be recycled within Vanderhoof.
For a project with such a high capital and potential to cause adverse effects to the human and biophysical environments, the lifespan of thirty-one years proposed for this project is, in my opinion, inadequate to compensate for its degradation of the environment. Also, if this project is executed, Canada’s molybdenum supply will be depleted by 313 million tonnes in only thirty-one years. This is problematic because molybdenum, a non-renewable resource required for construction of turbines, super magnet and reactor motor will be in short supply for the future.
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...Greenhouse gases are of global concern because they enhance global warming, which can alter many ecosystems such as in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic (BBC, 2009). Other gases such as carbon monoxide formed by the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons will also be emitted and the inhalation of such gases can cause death of human beings and other organisms by depleting the oxygen supply in the affected organism (USFA, 2009)
Most of the effects discussed are irreversible and negatively affect the human and biophysical environments. The most problematic effects are decrease in air and water quality, which directly affect not only human health, but health of other organisms within ecosystems in Vanderhoof, collapsing the food chain. I, therefore, hope my concerns are evaluated and appropriate mitigation methods implemented, if the government decides to approve this project.
The Alberta Oil Sands are large deposits of bitumen in north-eastern Alberta. Discovered in 1848, the first commercial operation was in 1967 with the Great Canadian Oil Sands plant opening, and today many companies have developments there. The Alberta Oil Sand development is very controversial, as there are severe environmental impacts and effects on the local Aboriginal peoples. This essay will discuss the need for changes that can be made for the maximum economic benefit for Canada, while reducing the impact on the environment and limiting expansion, as well as securing Alberta’s future. Changes need to be made to retain the maximum economic benefits of the Alberta Oil Sands while mitigating the environmental and geopolitical impact. This will be achieved by building pipelines that will increase the economic benefits, having stricter environmental regulation and expansion limitations, and improving the Alberta Heritage Fund or starting a new fund throu...
In the beginng of try to answer the ethical question of was mountaintop removal mining right or wrong for West Virginia, I decided to look at the environmental hazards first, exploring all the possible...
The Pebble mine project is a copper and gold deposit in its progressive expedition phase. The area of this project is located near the Bristol Bay region in southwest Alaska. The West side of Pebble contains approximately 4.1 billion metric tons. The East location contains 3.4 million metric tons. This range altogether contains 7.5 billion metric tons of high quality minerals. The debate of this project lies on the dangers to the surrounding environment, and the economic boost for the community.
Yes, this additional expense is necessary and mining affects the plant and animal population, hydrological cycle. And it’s necessary to maintain this for sustainable development.
Mountaintop removal mining has been around for several decades—it started to become prevalent in Appalachia in 1985. 1,2 The general overview of the process of mountaintop removal mining goes as follows: Miners select a mountain to extract coal “seams” from, and clear its surface of major obstructions, mainly trees. 3 Next, either by explosives or machinery, the surface rock and soil of the mountain is removed. As the coal begins to become visible throughout the mountain, miners scoop out the coal. Throughout the process, many tons of rock and dust are displaced into neighboring areas, most often called “valley fills”. As the title implies, valley fills are what once used to be a peaceful vegetated valley that has now been filled with rubble. The coal itself goes through a cleaning process to remove some materials which make for a cleaner burn cycle. After all of the coal is extracted, the mountain goes through a reclamation process which is intended to stabilize and re-vegetate the now-crippled peak. 3 Unfortunately, coal companies tend to s...
Initial projections show that the current schedule will take 50 weeks to finish with a final budget estimate of $3.152 million. Although the project estimate comes in under budget, the time frame for completion extends beyond the acceptable 45 weeks. Therefore, the following discussion takes a closer look at the project's conditions by developing a project priority matrix, project network, and a Gantt chart to help Bjorn Ericksen and his team reduce the project duration. The author then offers a project closure approach.
The excitement for mining and excavating for minerals was sparked in prospectors and people looking for an easy way of profit in the 60’s.This second gold rush of speaks, despite most of the minerals they were after was more on the lines of copper, nickel, iron and the like, brought high hopes of those wanting to get rich fast. Though thousands had hope in making money from mining on their own, many excavators found little gold on their own efforts. Most needed to actually find work in mines. But, they almost got something even better. The v...
When it comes to the PolyMet mine in MN, there are pros and cons for each side so either way the outcome won’t be perfect. My opinion is unsure and I don't favor a side. To support this issue Dr. Fairhurst, a professor at the U of M, stated, “Mining is very important. The main material in technology is copper. If PolyMet achieves their goal of 72 million pounds of copper in 20 years, our technology could keep advancing and make these types of projects improve. “There could be self driven mining trucks which improves safety for miners.” On the other side, the Boundary Waters are at risk of being polluted. This is very risky because if something goes wrong with the mine, the water may flow up to the site and pollute it. Paul Danicic, Executive
The oil sands in Canada have been proven to have adverse economic effects to the people of Canada and Alberta. It is the most unsympathetic economic activity killing birds, insects, and other creatures. This is because mining, r...
The tar creek mining site originally was owned by a Native American tribe, the Quapaw. The Quapaw wanted to keep these lands, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs deemed members opposing a transaction to mining companies “incompetent” (1). In such a case the business could continue and the Bureau of Indian Affairs sold the lands to mining companies. In essence these lands were stolen from the Quapaw because they were ripe for mining. These mines were then used from approximately 1891 to 1970. In the 79 years the mines were open 1.7 million metric tons (~3.75 billion pounds) of lead and 8.8 million metric tons (~19.4 billion pounds) of zinc were withdrawn from the mine (2). The entire area around Tar Creek is known as the tri-state mining area. This tri-state area was a massive source of metals. This area accounted for 35% of the all worldwide metal for a decade. It also provided the majority of metals the United States used in World wars I and II (3).
Greenhouse gasses have a big impact on our atmosphere. These gasses include water vapor, methane, ozone, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide. Each greenhouse gas molecule has three or more atoms that are loosely held together and that eventually release the heat energy and it is absorbed by another greenhouse molecule. Many people talk about greenhouse gasses as if they are a bad idea, but they are not a bad thing. Without these gasses the earth would be zero degrees on the surface. However, too many greenhouse gasses can cause higher temperatures in the atmosphere, cause oceans to warm beyond what they should be normally and weather that is unpredictable. The same with fossil fuels that produce a variety of emissions that pollute our planet 's air and water. These pollutants threaten the environment and its
In conclusion, even though mining is an important aspect in the Canadian economy; are all the health risks and environmental risks worth it? Some who sees the immediate rewards of mining, such as money and status may say ‘yes.” However if we continue to over mine, one day we will not have things we use every day such as electricity. This might not happen in our lifetime but the future generations will be affected. Isn’t it ironic that the Earth has given us livelihood and sustains us; we in turn abundantly and viciously take from the Earth? The effects of taking too much will kill us. As my mother says “if you take, you need to give” My way of giving will be educating my generation and my peers who are the future.
The most destructive human contribution to climate change is fossil fuels combustion, which results in the release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Increased carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and halocarbons levels in the atmosphere cause an imbalance in the earth’s energy. This is because the gases alter solar radiation and thermal radiation which regulate the earth’s energy. Research indicates that anthropogenic climate change is the cause of the increased global warming over the last fifty years. 57 % of the carbon dioxide emitted is absorbed into the atmosphere while the rest is absorbed into the oceans. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the most central greenhouse gas that is associated with global warming (Eby, Zickfield, Montenegro, Archer, Meissner, & Weaver,
Global warming and the greenhouse effect are issues discussed by scientists all the time. A natural process that keeps earths temperature at a livable rate is called the greenhouse effect. The energy from the sun warms up the earth when the rays from the sun are absorbed by greenhouse gasses. The gasses then become trapped in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane and nitrous oxide are the most common greenhouse gasses. Greenhouse gases cause the radiant heat of the sun to be trapped in the Earths lower atmosphere which causes global warming. If there weren’t any greenhouse gasses, the earth would be really cold due to very little sun rays being absorbed on the earth. Global warming can and will lead to several problems that affect the environment in which we humans live in. These problems can lead to warmer temperatures all around the world, it can endanger animals and the wildlife, and it can lead to widespread flooding from the glaciers melting. Here are a few more future effects that I will discuss in more detail about. Damage to human health, Severe stress on forests, wetlands, and other natural habitats, how fish will be affected. Global warming is a serious problem that will affect our generation when we are older.
Air pollution and greenhouse gases are the reason for the planet as it is today; the reason why we see campaigns flooding the media informing us to ‘switch off’, ‘save the planet’ and ‘turn down the heat’ and the reason why the government is trying to develop a successful scheme, such as the carbon tax scheme, to reduce air pollution caused by major industries. Air pollution and greenhouse gases are the two immediate causes of global warming and climate change. Air pollution occurs when chemicals or particulate matter enter the atmosphere. They can cause damage to living organisms on the planet, as well as destruction to the natural and synthetic environment (Energy Environment.net 2008). Greenhouse gases are gases in the atmosphere that absorb infrared radiation emitted from the earth. They trap infrared radiation in the form of heat, and hence contribute to global warming. Anthropogenic greenhouse gases are a direct result of air pollution. They are the physical gases emitted that cause air pollution. Naturally occurring greenhouse gases also have an influence on the earth’s atmosphere, though it is not as conspicuous as anthropogenic causes. Together, air pollution and greenhouse gases are intensifying climate change and global warming on a world-wide basis.