Assessment of Impacts of Coal Mining in the Region of Sydney, Australia on the Aquatic Environment Using Macroinvertebrates and Chlorophyll as Indicators.

Aal-E Ali,Vladimir Strezov,Daniel Sloane

doi:10.3390/ijerph15071556

Abstract

Coal and coal seam gas mining have impacts on the water and sediment quality in the proximity of the mining areas, increasing the concentrations of heavy metals downstream of the mine discharge points. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of coal mining on the environment in the Sydney region, by investigating macroinvertebrates and chlorophyll as indicators of industrial pollution and environmental impairment. The study revealed changes in abundance, taxonomic richness, and pollution sensitive macroinvertebrate groups. A statistical evaluation of the aquatic life was performed and a correlation of the contaminants with the presence of a community in the ecosystem were studied. The environmental sustainability of the investigated rivers and streams with water chemistry affecting the biological system was assessed. A non-uniformity in the changes were observed, indicating a difference in the tolerance level of different invertebrates.

Highlights

Rapid development with growing energy consumption has resulted in an exponential production of resources for energy generation, such as coal and natural gas
The aim of this work is to investigate the changes in the ecology of rivers by the analysis of chlorophyll and invertebrates in the area affected by the produced industrial discharge from coal mining activities, and in the less affected areas before the discharge points
Chlorophyll-A showed a significant change with the change in site location (p = 0.026, F = 580.5, and df = 1, 1), which means that the change in the chlorophyll-A content in West Cliff was significantly different from the chlorophyll-A

Summary

Introduction

Rapid development with growing energy consumption has resulted in an exponential production of resources for energy generation, such as coal and natural gas. A variety of materials are consumed, processed, and washed away as a discharge, in the form of the produced water. Coal washing and groundwater seepage into underground mines generate contaminated wastewater. Sulphur containing material in mine comes in contact with water, which naturally generates sulphuric acid, termed as acid mine drainage (AMD), which can dissolve harmful metals and metalloids from the surrounding rocks and increase the water contamination level [3]. Alkaline dozers are used to reduce the acidity and dissolved metals from the acid mine drainage, but the improvements were shown as non-linear [4]

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