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1.7 million metric tons (~3.75 billion pounds) of lead and 8.8 million metric tons (~19.4 billion pounds) of zinc were withdrawn from the mine (2).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). Throughout this mining process a byproduct is created called chat. The chat is leftover rock and waste from mining that did not contained the desired materials. The chat was left on the site because the Bureau of Indian Affairs thought it could be of value to the Quapaw tribe (1). This chat contained high levels of toxic lead and other harmful chemicals. It is estimated that there are 75 Million tons (150 billion pounds) of chat piles remaining exposed to the environment as well as numerous flotation ponds that haven’t been taken into account (4). The chat wasn’t the only lasting result of the mining; left in this corner of Oklahoma was also 300 miles of mining tunnels (5). These tunnels were created by a method known as room-and-pillar (1). Large rooms were mined to get access to ... ... middle of paper ... ...fund Site. EPA Cooperative Agreement #V-006449-01-N. U Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 2006. 13. Fourth Five Year Review Tar Creek Superfund Site Ottawa County, Oklahoma; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 6: Dallas, TX, 2010. 14. "Lead." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18 Mar. 2004. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/ 15. Saulny, Susan. Welcome to Our Town. Wish We Weren't Here. The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 Sept. 2009. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/us/14kansas.html?hp 16. Wright, Matthew C. A Tainted Mining Town Dies as Residents Are Paid to Leave. Washington Post. The Washington Post, 18 Jan. 2007. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/12/AR2007011201692.html
... tragedy. Governor Green was a great deal of letters from the miners and union asking in this quote “ plea to you, to please save our lives, to please make the department of mines and minerals enforce the laws at the No.5. “ The miners felt if there was no action taken there might be a disaster in the future.
In 1857, Governor Douglas made a prediction. He saw that the Couteau mines in the Thompson-Fraser River area were exciting the population of the United States of Washington and Oregon. He knew that ...
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.
On January 24, 1848, James Wilson Marshall made the discovery of gold in the foothills of Sierra Nevada Mountains near Coloma, California. The discovery by the American carpenter lead to the “greatest mass migration in the history of the United States, . . . (98).” Despite the efforts of keeping the news from leaking out to the public, the news rapidly spread out, and by mid-March a newspaper reported with obvious lack of credibility that gold was found at Sutter’s Mill. At first the people from town didn’t quite found credible such discovery for the lack of evidence, but on May 12, Samuel Brannan proved the scarcity of the resource wrong by show casting a bottle full of gold dust, from there on the beginning of the
Currently, there are numerous species who are threatened in the area where PolyMet wants to construct the mine. Both the Canada lynx and the Gray wolf are threatened species, as well as the long-eared bat (U.S. Fish and Wildlife, 2016). The construction of the mine would disturb these endangered species and the habitats in which they live in. Another factor in the detrimental effects of the PolyMet mine construction is that by building the mine, relationships among Native Americans will be interrupted. A treaty that dates all the way back to 1854 would be compromised with the building of the mine (BC Hydro, 2013, p. X). This treaty, which was agreed upon by both the government and the Chippewa tribe, gave the Chippewa legal entitlement to the land in which PolyMet wants to build the mine (BC Hydro, 2013, p. X). The production alone will disturb animals and wildlife, which will leave the Chippewa with less resources on the land that they preserved for nearly two centuries. For these reasons and more, I believe that the PolyMet mine will ultimately cause more harm than
The greenhouse gas emissions from the Alberta oil sands are up to 15 per cent higher than the crude oil processed in the United States because oil is too deep within the ground to be removed using conventional ways. The Athabasca Delta, where the oil sands are located, is a nesting ground for hundreds of species of birds. For the production of oil the land is cleared which destroys the breeding grounds. In the next twenty years over thirty millions birds will be lost. Large amounts of water are required for the production of the oil. To make one barrel of oil it takes three barrels of water. There is not enough water available to meet the needs of all planned oil sands projects while maintaining the stream flows. The flow of the Athabasca River from the town of Fort McMurray has declined by one third. A level-drop of a few centimeters of the river can prevent spring flooding. This is very important to fill nearby streams and wetlands. Also it can have an effect on the 31 species of fish and other marine life due to the drying up spawning and nursery sites. It is expected that the company will withdraw 529 million cubic meters of water from the Athabasca annually. There are over seven hundred and twenty billion liters of poisonous materials on the landscape in the Athabasca oil sands area. These toxic ponds cover an area of over 130 square kilometers. It is estimated that by 2040 these toxic ponds will cover over 310 square kilometers, an area the size of Vancouver. Tar sands mining operations are considered a threat to the Peace-Athabasca Delta because of the volumes of water that is drawn from the Athabasca River. The water cannot be sent back to the rivers because it has become toxic in the withdrawal process. Oil sands development causes large-scale disturbances to Alberta’s northern boreal forest which is an important carbon sink because it holds 22 per cent of the total carbon stored on the earth’s
The Cadron Creek watershed covers approximately 775 square miles and is composed mostly of forests (48%) and grassland (37%). However, a pending permit, AR0052086C, would allow a centralized waste treatment facility to discharge, recycled fracking fluid waste waters into an unnamed tributary located within the Cadron Creek watershed. This unnamed tributary flows directly into Linn Creek, which would then feed into the north fork of the Cadron and eventually into the Arkansas river (ADEQ 2013). The Cadron Creek, located within the Arkansas river basin, is listed by the US Army Corps of Engineers as an extraordinary resource water body or ERWB (USACE 2013). ERWBs are important, because they satisfy a broad range of socio-economic, cultural, and environmental values which benefit both humans and the environment. ERWBs can help facilitate re-entry into nature, because of their scenic beauty, recreation potential, and their ecological and scientific values which can provide educational opportunities for the public. For this project, a suite of water quality metrics were collected from confluences and bridge crossings of headwater streams located within the Cadron Creek watershed. These water quality metrics included dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature and specific conductivity.
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...
Taconite mining has become more popular ever since the rock has become rare. Taconite was once considered “waste rock,” but is currently really valuable. Since the Gogebic Iron Range has about three-fourths of all the taconite in the nation people from all over the country want to take over and start mining. Although taconite mining would do some good for the community, such as creating tons of jobs and boosting the economy for awhile, there are too many risks. Taconite mining has a negative effect on the environment and health.
On a midsummer day in 1896, a man named Robert Henderson tested gravel at a remote creek that had no name (Cooper 1). Expecting to see nothing, he grew excited when he looked in his pan and found a few flakes of gold (1). While digging for gold, Henderson was confronted by three moose hunters named George, Jim, and Charlie and told them about his discovery (McGill). These three hunters showed no interest in finding gold until they found a thumb-sized nugget and found gravel worth four dollars a pan in Rabbit Creek (Klondike Kraze). George Carmack had his brothers watch the land while he went and staked four 500 feet claims for him and his brothers (Blackwood).
Back in the early 1900s and modern-day, in mines the tunnels, shafts and caves weren't always safe to work in. Miners would often be trapped in collapsed shafts resulting in minor and major injuries, maybe even causing fatalities. For example, in the autobiography, Rocket Boys, the coal mine suffers a cave in, killing one along with Homer's dad nearly loosing an
Mining played a crucial role in the settlement of Socorro County. In the late 1860’s a man by the name of Colonel J.S. Hutchason discovered three sizeable limestone croppings near Magdalena Peak (pdf thing). Hutchason at first only worked the Juanita and Graphic claims; having a partner, Andy Kelly, work on the third claim. Kelly named the mine after himself; however, Hutchason later repossessed the claim when Kelly failed to do work to preserve it. News of Huchason’s success brought many new prospectors to the area. In 1870, Kelly, a small boom town, was created; named after the successful mine. In 1876 Huchason leased out the Juanita mine and sold both the Graphic and Kelly mines (Harris, 97).
Warren, M. (2010, Oct 13). Mine rescue 69 days after collapse, trapped chileans pulled to surface. Journal - Gazette. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/759282710?accountid=458
Terminski, B. (2013, June 07). MINING-INDUCED DISPLACEMENT AND RESETTLEMENT. Retrieved May 12, 2014, from MINING-INDUCED DISPSOCIAL PROBLEM AND HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE (A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE): www.refugeeresearch.net