Mountaintop Coal Mining Research Articles

The impacts of dam construction on elemental deposition in a reservoir receiving mountaintop coal mining materials

Waters MN, Bernhardt ES, Gerson JR. 2023. The impacts of dam construction on elemental deposition in a reservoir receiving mountaintop coal mining materials. Lake Reserv Manage. 39:246–258. Dam construction and associated reservoirs can become depositional basins capable of concentrating material inputs from human-altered landscapes. Landscape disturbances such as agriculture and urban expansion have been shown to impact erosional processes into reservoirs, whereas less is known of material originating from intense mining operations. Mountaintop mining (MTM), a prevalent form of surface coal mining in the Central Appalachian ecoregion of the United States, can impact stream ecosystems by altering flows, conductivity, and associated elements. We applied paleolimnological techniques to determine depositional impacts in the Mud River Reservoir downstream of the Hobet Mine, West Virginia, the largest surface mine complex in the United States. Paleolimnological measurements included carbon (C), selenium (Se), sulfur (S), magnesium (Mg), phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N), calcium (Ca), and photosynthetic pigments. Our study focused on 3 primary objectives: (1) determine the materials associated with MTM that are stored in the sediment, (2) calculate the storage rate of Se, a known contaminant from this area, following dam construction (1995 CE), and (3) identify physical, environmental, and biological mechanisms associated with dam construction and how they influence elemental deposition in reservoirs. Results from sediment cores show increases in the storage of inorganic carbon (IC), Se, and Ca for both core sites throughout the period of reservoir existence, with Se deposition related to physical and environmental conditions that are associated with reservoir genesis. These data show that dam construction altered environmental processes on MTM elements, which could have lasting impacts on reservoir biota and downstream environments long after reclamation efforts are applied.

Spatial distribution of selenium and other potentially toxic elements surrounding mountaintop coal mines in the Elk Valley, British Columbia, Canada

Despite the extensive use of mountaintop coal mining in the Elk Valley, British Columbia, Canada's largest metallurgical coal-producing region, little is known about the transport and deposition of fugitive dust emissions within its mountain landscape. This study aimed to assess the extent and spatial distribution of selenium and other potentially toxic elements (PTEs) near the town of Sparwood originating from fugitive dust emitted from two mountaintop coal mines. To achieve these objectives concentrations of 47 elements within moss tissues of Hylocomium splendens, Pleurozium schreberi, and Ptilium crista-castrensis were analyzed from 19 locations between May 29 to June 1, 2022. Contamination factors were then calculated to identify areas of contamination, along with generalized additive models to assess the relationship between selenium and the mines. Finally, Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated between selenium and other PTEs to determine which exhibited similar behaviour. This study found that selenium concentrations are a function of proximity to mountaintop mines, and the region's topographic features and prevailing wind patterns play a role in the transport and deposition of fugitive dust. Contamination is highest immediately surrounding mines and decreases at increasing distances, with the region's steep mountain ridges shielding the deposition of some fugitive dust when acting as a geographic barrier between adjacent valleys. Furthermore, silver, germanium, nickel, uranium, vanadium, and zirconium were identified as other PTEs of concern. The implications of this study are significant as it demonstrated the extent and spatial distribution of contaminants originating from fugitive dust emissions surrounding mountaintop mines and some of the controls to its distribution in mountain regions. As Canada and other mining jurisdictions look to expand critical mineral development, it will be important for proper risk assessment and mitigation in mountain regions to limit community and environmental exposure to contaminants within fugitive dust.

Transboundary Atmospheric Pollution from Mountaintop Coal Mining

Transboundary Atmospheric Pollution from Mountaintop Coal Mining

Alkaline mine drainage drives stream sediment microbial community structure and function

With advances in eDNA metabarcoding, environmental microbiomes are increasingly used as cost-effective tools for monitoring ecosystem health. Stream ecosystems in Central Appalachia, heavily impacted by alkaline drainage from mountaintop coal mining, present ideal opportunities for biomonitoring using stream microbiomes, but the structural and functional responses of microbial communities in different environmental compartments are not well understood. We investigated sediment microbiomes in mining impacted streams to determine how community composition and function respond to mining and to look for potential microbial bioindicators. Using 16s rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we found that mining leads to shifts in microbial community structure, with the phylum Planctomycetes enriched by 1-6% at mined sites. We observed ~51% increase in species richness in bulk sediments. In contrast, of the 31 predicted metabolic pathways that changed significantly with mining, 23 responded negatively. Mining explained 15-18% of the variance in community structure and S, Se, %C and %N were the main drivers of community and functional pathway composition. We identified 12 microbial indicators prevalent in the ecosystem and sensitive to mining. Overall, alkaline mountaintop mining drainage causes a restructuration of the sediment microbiome, and our study identified promising microbial indicators for the long-term monitoring of these impacted streams.

Consistent declines in aquatic biodiversity across diverse domains of life in rivers impacted by surface coal mining.

The rivers of Appalachia (United States) are among the most biologically diverse freshwater ecosystems in the temperate zone and are home to numerous endemic aquatic organisms. Throughout the Central Appalachian ecoregion, extensive surface coal mines generate alkaline mine drainage that raises the pH, salinity, and trace element concentrations in downstream waters. Previous regional assessments have found significant declines in stream macroinvertebrate and fish communities after draining these mined areas. Here, we expand these assessments with a more comprehensive evaluation across a broad range of organisms (bacteria, algae, macroinvertebrates, all eukaryotes, and fish) using high-throughput amplicon sequencing of environmental DNA (eDNA). We collected water samples from 93 streams in Central Appalachia (West Virginia, United States) spanning a gradient of mountaintop coal mining intensity and legacy to assess how this land use alters downstream water chemistry and affects aquatic biodiversity. For each group of organisms, we identified the sensitive and tolerant taxa along the gradient and calculated stream specific conductivity thresholds in which large synchronous declines in diversity were observed. Streams below mining operations had steep declines in diversity (-18 to -41%) and substantial shifts in community composition that were consistent across multiple taxonomic groups. Overall, large synchronous declines in bacterial, algal, and macroinvertebrate communities occurred even at low levels of mining impact at stream specific conductivity thresholds of 150-200 µS/cm that are substantially below the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aquatic life benchmark of 300 µS/cm for Central Appalachian streams. We show that extensive coal surface mining activities led to the extirpation of 40% of biodiversity from impacted rivers throughout the region and that current water quality criteria are likely not protective for many groups of aquatic organisms.

Sulfate transport kinetics and toxicity are modulated by sodium in aquatic insects

The salinization of freshwater ecosystems is emerging as a major ecological issue. Several anthropogenic causes of salinization (e.g. surface coal mining, hydro-fracking, road de-icing, irrigation of arid lands, etc.) are associated with biodiversity losses in freshwater ecosystems. Because insects tend to dominate freshwater ecology, it is important that we develop a better understanding of how and why different species respond to salinity matrices dominated by different major ions. This study builds upon previous work demonstrating that major ion toxicity to the mayfly Neocloeon triangulifer was apparently due to the ionic composition of water rather than specific conductance. Synthetic waters with low Ca:Mg ratios and high SO4:Na ratios produced toxicity, whereas waters with higher Ca:Mg ratios and lower SO4:Na ratios were not toxic to mayflies at comparable conductivities. Here we used a radiotracer approach to show that Mg did not competitively exclude Ca uptake at environmentally realistic ratios in 4 aquatic insect species. We characterized SO4 uptake kinetics in 5 mayflies and assessed the influence of different ions on SO4 uptake. Dual label experiments show an inverse relationship between SO4 and Na transport rates as SO4 was held constant and Na was increased, suggesting that Na (and not Cl or HCO3) is antagonistic to SO4 transport. Based on this observation, we tested the hypothesis that increasing Na would protect against SO4 induced toxicity in a Na-dependent manner. Increasing Na from 0.7 to 10.9mM improved 96-h survivorship associated with 20.8mM SO4 from 44% to 73% in a concentration dependent manner. However, when Na reached 21.8mM, survivorship decreased to 16%, suggesting that other interactive effects of major ions caused toxicity under those conditions. Thus, the combination of elevated sulfate and low sodium commonly observed in streams affected by mountaintop coal mining has the potential to cause toxicity in sensitive aquatic insects. Overall, it is important that we develop a better understanding of major ion toxicity to effectively mitigate and protect freshwater biodiversity from salinization.

The impacts of fracking on the environment: A total environmental study paradigm.

Fracking has become a hot topic in the media and public discourse not only because of its economic benefit but also its environmental impacts. Recently, scientists have investigated the environmental impacts of fracking, and most studies focus on its air and ground water pollution. A systematic research structure and an overall evaluation of fracking's impacts on the environment are needed, because fracking does not only influence ground water but most environmental elements including but not limited to air, water, soil, rock, vegetation, wildlife, human, and many other ecosystem components. From the standpoint of the total environment, this communication assesses the overall impacts of fracking on the environment and then designs a total environmental study paradigm that effectively examines the complicated relationship among the total environment. Fracking dramatically changes the anthroposphere, which in turn significantly impacts the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere through the significant input or output of water, air, liquid or solid waste disposals, and the complex chemical components in fracking fluids. The proposed total environment study paradigm of fracking can be applied to other significant human activities that have dramatic impacts on the environment, such as mountain top coal mining or oil sands for environmental studies.

Local papers use community way of life frames more often in coal mining stories

This study examines how the competing concerns of environmental effects and economic development were used to frame the news coverage of mountaintop coal mining in community and metro papers in Kentucky and West Virginia, regions heavily dependent on the coal-mining industry.

Benefit transfer with limited data: An application to recreational fishing losses from surface mining

The challenges of applying benefit transfer models to policy sites are often underestimated. Analysts commonly need to estimate site-specific effects for areas that lack data on the number of people who use the resource, intensity of use, and other relevant variables. Here, we address issues of applying transfer functions to sites that have sparse or missing data. We present options for estimating data to apply meta-regression models (MRMs) in ways that are scale-appropriate and sensitive to local conditions. Using a case study of the potential lost welfare to freshwater anglers as a result of mountain top coal mining within West Virginia, we integrate: 1) an empirical ecological model of fish community changes; 2) an MRM that relates changes in catch rates to changes in anglers' utility; and 3) a spatial participation analysis that maps trip distribution using multiple survey datasets. We evaluate two scenarios: partial (20%) and full use of existing mine permits. Our conservative estimates of annual welfare loss are $120,500 for the partial scenario and $627,800 for the full scenario, due to changes in recreational fishing catches. These results are sensitive to catch rate assumptions and socio-demographic characteristics that varied widely depending on the spatial scale of measurement.

Resource Wars: An On the Ground Understanding of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining in Appalachia, West Virginia

This article sketches student responses and subsequent political action to directly witnessing the tragedy of Mountaintop Coal Mining (MTR) on Kayford Mountain in West Virginia. I have created an "engaged anthropological curriculum" as part of my Resource Wars of 21st Century (an upper level elective course) where students spend four days on an active battlefield in order to a) expose students first-hand to the stories and testimonials of social, economic, physical degradation caused by MTR.

A GIS-based methodology for identifying sustainability conflict areas in mine design – a case study from a surface coal mine in the USA

Through proper design, coal mining operations can contribute to the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainable development. The regulatory and permitting programmes for coal mining in the United States, which often focus on several largely environmental parameters, are barriers to holistic consideration of these three sustainability pillars. Some changes in the current US regulatory framework may be necessary to allow for systematic consideration of economic, environmental and social factors in order to achieve more sustainable development of mineral and energy resources. In the quest towards more sustainable mining activities, it has been suggested that mine design may be optimised in the context of sustainability using a systems engineering approach that simultaneously considers economic, environmental and social factors. The use of geographic information system (GIS) tools may aid in this approach by allowing for spatial analyses of various resources (e.g. mineral values, water resources, community infrastructure) and identification of potential areas of conflict between these factors. By GIS analysis of the on-the-ground issues related to sustainability, the key parameters to be considered in decision-making were identified. This type of analysis is crucial not only for regulatory compliance, but also to ensure that the operation has obtained the ‘social licence’ to mine. To demonstrate this approach, a case study was conducted on a mountaintop coal mining operation in central Appalachia. High-conflict areas were found to be primarily concentrated near streams and residential developments through the use of GIS. The case study suggests that use of this approach could have allowed for better communications and planning. The controversies surrounding permitting at the site, including litigation, could have also been avoided. Adoption of such a process could assist in the transition to a new regulatory framework that promotes and is based on sustainable development principles.

Appalachian mountaintop mining particulate matter induces neoplastic transformation of human bronchial epithelial cells and promotes tumor formation.

Epidemiological studies suggest that living near mountaintop coal mining (MTM) activities is one of the contributing factors for high lung cancer incidence. The purpose of this study was to investigate the long-term carcinogenic potential of MTM particulate matter (PMMTM) exposure on human bronchial epithelial cells. Our results show that chronic exposure (3 months) to noncytotoxic, physiological relevant concentration (1 μg/mL) of PMMTM, but not control particle PMCON, induced neoplastic transformation, accelerated cell proliferation, and enhanced cell migration of the exposed lung cells. Xenograft transplantation of the PMMTM-exposed cells in mice caused no apparent tumor formation, but promoted tumor growth of human lung carcinoma H460 cells, suggesting the tumor-promoting effect of PMMTM. Chronic exposure to the main inorganic chemical constituent of PMMTM, molybdenum but not silica, similarly induced cell transformation and tumor promotion, suggesting the contribution of molybdenum, at least in part, in the PMMTM effects. These results provide new evidence for the carcinogenic potential of PMMTM and support further risk assessment and implementation of exposure control for PMMTM.

Abstract 276: Appalachian mountaintop mining particulate matter induces malignant transformation and tumorigenesis of human lung epithelial cells

Abstract Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, and after smoking, environmental and occupational exposure is the major cause. West Virginia (WV), the biggest coal mining state in Appalachia, ranks the third highest rate of lung cancer incidence in the United States. Our epidemiological studies suggest that living near WV mountaintop coal mining (MTM) activities is a contributing factor of the high lung cancer risk. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of MTM particle exposure on cell transformation and tumorigenesis of human lung epithelial cells. Air particulate matter (PM) collected within one mile of active MTM site in Edwight, WV (PMMTM), consisting of silica (Si, 48%) and molybdenum (Mo, 29%) as major constituents, was used for cell exposure studies. As control, PM collected from the neighboring areas that do not have coal mining in Green Bank, WV (PMCON) was used. Chronic exposure (3 months) of non-tumorigenic human lung epithelial BEAS-2B cells to sub-cytotoxic concentration (1 μg/mL) of PMMTM, but not PMCON, was found to induce malignant transformation of the cells, as indicated by loss of contact inhibition and anchorage-independent cell growth. The PMMTM-transformed cells also induced tumor formation in vivo using a xenograft mouse model. Exposure to Mo (1 μg/mL), but not Si, similarly induced malignant transformation and tumorigenesis of the lung epithelial cells, suggesting that Mo may be a key contributing factor of PMMTM pathologic effects. Citation Format: Sudjit Luanpitpong, Juhua Luo, Travis Kneuckles, Michael Hendryx, Yon Rojanasakul. Appalachian mountaintop mining particulate matter induces malignant transformation and tumorigenesis of human lung epithelial cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 276. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-276

Long-term impacts on macroinvertebrates downstream of reclaimed mountaintop mining valley fills in Central Appalachia.

Recent studies have documented adverse effects to biological communities downstream of mountaintop coal mining and valley fills (VF), but few data exist on the longevity of these impacts. We sampled 15 headwater streams with VFs reclaimed 11-33 years prior to 2011 and sampled seven local reference sites that had no VFs. We collected chemical, habitat, and benthic macroinvertebrate data in April 2011; additional chemical samples were collected in September 2011. To assess ecological condition, we compared VF and reference abiotic and biotic data using: (1) ordination to detect multivariate differences, (2) benthic indices (a multimetric index and an observed/expected predictive model) calibrated to state reference conditions to detect impairment, and (3) correlation and regression analysis to detect relationships between biotic and abiotic data. Although VF sites had good instream habitat, nearly 90 % of these streams exhibited biological impairment. VF sites with higher index scores were co-located near unaffected tributaries; we suggest that these tributaries were sources of sensitive taxa as drifting colonists. There were clear losses of expected taxa across most VF sites and two functional feeding groups (% scrapers and %shredders) were significantly altered. Percent VF and forested area were related to biological quality but varied more than individual ions and specific conductance. Within the subset of VF sites, other descriptors (e.g., VF age, site distance from VF, the presence of impoundments, % forest) had no detectable relationships with biological condition. Although these VFs were constructed pursuant to permits and regulatory programs that have as their stated goals that (1) mined land be reclaimed and restored to its original use or a use of higher value, and (2) mining does not cause or contribute to violations of water quality standards, we found sustained ecological damage in headwaters streams draining VFs long after reclamation was completed.

Use of reconstituted waters to evaluate effects of elevated major ions associated with mountaintop coal mining on freshwater invertebrates

In previous laboratory chronic 7-d toxicity tests conducted with the cladoceran Ceriodaphnia dubia, surface waters collected from Appalachian sites impacted by coal mining have shown toxic effects associated with elevated total dissolved solids (TDS). The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of elevated major ions in chronic laboratory tests with C. dubia (7-d exposure), a unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea; 28-d exposure), an amphipod (Hyalella azteca; 28-d exposure), and a mayfly (Centroptilum triangulifer; 35-d exposure) in 3 reconstituted waters designed to be representative of 3 Appalachian sites impacted by coal mining. Two of the reconstituted waters had ionic compositions representative of alkaline mine drainage associated with mountaintop removal and valley fill-impacted streams (Winding Shoals and Boardtree, with elevated Mg, Ca, K, SO₄, HCO₃), and a third reconstituted water had an ionic composition representative of neutralized mine drainage (Upper Dempsey, with elevated Na, K, SO₄, and HCO₃). The waters with similar conductivities but, with different ionic compositions had different effects on the test organisms. The Winding Shoals and Boardtree reconstituted waters were consistently toxic to the mussel, the amphipod, and the mayfly. In contrast, the Upper Dempsey reconstituted water was toxic to the mussel, the amphipod, and the cladoceran but was not toxic to the mayfly. These results indicate that, although elevated TDS can be correlated with toxicity, the specific major ion composition of the water is important. Moreover, the choice of test organism is critical, particularly if a test species is to be used as a surrogate for a range of faunal groups.

Personal and Family Health in Rural Areas of Kentucky With and Without Mountaintop Coal Mining

This study investigates health disparities for adults residing in a mountaintop coal mining area of Appalachian Kentucky. Mountaintop mining areas are characterized by severe economic disadvantage and by mining-related environmental hazards. A community-based participatory research study was implemented to collect information from residents on health conditions and symptoms for themselves and other household members in a rural mountaintop mining area compared to a rural nonmining area of eastern Kentucky. A door-to-door health interview collected data from 952 adults. Data were analyzed using prevalence rate ratio models. Adjusting for covariates, significantly poorer health conditions were observed in the mountaintop mining community on: self-rated health status, illness symptoms across multiple organ systems, lifetime and current asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hypertension. Respondents in mountaintop mining communities were also significantly more likely to report that household members had experienced serious illness, or had died from cancer in the past 5 years. Significant differences were not observed for self-reported cancer, angina, or stroke, although differences in cardiovascular symptoms and household cancer were reported. Efforts to reduce longstanding health problems in Appalachia must focus on mountaintop mining portions of the region, and should seek to eliminate socioeconomic and environmental disparities.

Terrestrial carbon losses from mountaintop coal mining offset regional forest carbon sequestration in the 21st century

Studies that quantify the spatial and temporal variability of carbon sources and sinks provide process-level information for the prediction of future levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide as well as verification of current emission agreements. Assessments of carbon sources and sinks for North America that compare top-down atmospheric constraints with bottom-up inventories find particularly large carbon sinks in the southeastern US. However, this southeastern US sink may be impacted by extreme land-use disturbance events due to mountaintop coal mining (MCM). Here we apply ecosystem modeling and field experiment data to quantify the potential impact of future mountaintop coal mining on the carbon budget of the southern Appalachian forest region. For projections based on historical mining rates, grassland reclamation, and the continued regrowth of un-mined forests, we find that the southern Appalachian forests switch from a net carbon sink to a net carbon source by year 2025–33 with a 30%–35% loss in terrestrial carbon stocks relative to a scenario with no future mining by the year 2100. Alternatively, scenarios of forest sequestration due to the effect of CO2 fertilization result in a 15%–24% loss in terrestrial carbon stocks by the year 2100 for mining scenarios relative to scenarios with no future mining. These results suggest that while power plant stack emissions are the dominant life-cycle stage in coal-fired electricity, accounting for mountaintop coal mining in bottom-up inventories may be a critical component of regional carbon budgets.

Public Drinking Water Violations in Mountaintop Coal Mining Areas of West Virginia, USA

Mountaintop coal mining (MTM) has adverse impacts on surface and ground water quality. Instances of domestic well water contamination from mining activities have been documented, but possible mining impacts on public water treatment systems are unknown. We analyzed the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Information System to examine the number and type of public water treatment violations in West Virginia for the years 2001–2009. Violations were compared between three groups of water treatment facilities: those in counties with mountaintop coal mining (n=161 facilities), coal mining other than mountaintop mining (n=184 facilities), and with no coal mining (n=137 facilities). Adjusting statistically for system size and water source, there were 73.0 violations per system in MTM areas, 16.7 violations per system in other mining areas, and 10.2 violations per system in non-mining areas (F=7.21, df=7,475, p<0.0001). Excess violations in MTM counties were most often related to failure to conduct required sampling for organic compounds. Complete sampling and reporting of public drinking water quality in MTM areas is needed.

Cancer Mortality Rates in Appalachian Mountaintop Coal Mining Areas

Background. We examine the association between cancer mortality rates in three types of counties in central Appalachia: those with mountaintop coal mining (MTM), those with other surface or underground mining, or those with no coal mining. Mountaintop mining is associated with greater levels of water and air disturbance compared to other mining types. In addition, studies have found significant health disparities in coal mining counties in Appalachia. Methods. Linear regression analyses were used to conduct county-level analyses to determine the association between age-adjusted cancer mortality rates and MTM mining for two periods of time: 1999-2002 and 2003-2007. County-level covariates include smoking, health care access, adult obesity, poverty, and education. Results. Mortality rates for lung, colon, and bladder cancer and leukemia in MTM counties were significantly greater than those in non-mining areas in 2003-2007 (lung cancer mortality rates were also significantly greater than non-mining areas in 1999-2002). Kidney cancer mortality rates in MTM areas were marginally significantly greater (p < .06) than those in non-mining counties in 2003-2007. Conclusions. Mortality rates from lung, colon, bladder, and kidney cancer and leukemia are significantly associated with MTM mining areas (vs. non-mining counties) in 2003-2007. Results may indicate either that water and air exposures from MTM activity in earlier years have accumulated, or that contamination in MTM counties may have worsened in more recent years.

Role of Soil Health in Maintaining Environmental Sustainability of Surface Coal Mining

Mountaintop coal mining (MCM) in the Southern Appalachian forest region greatly impacts both soil and aquatic ecosystems. Policy and practice currently in place emphasize water quality and soil stability but do not consider upland soil health. Here we report soil organic carbon (SOC) measurements and other soil quality indicators for reclaimed soils in the Southern Appalachian forest region to quantify the health of the soil ecosystem. The SOC sequestration rate of the MCM soils was 1.3 MgC ha(-1) yr(-1) and stocks ranged from 1.3 ± 0.9 to 20.9 ± 5.9 Mg ha(-1) and contained only 11% of the SOC of surrounding forest soils. Comparable reclaimed mining soils reported in the literature that are supportive of soil ecosystem health had SOC stocks 2.5-5 times greater than the MCM soils and sequestration rates were also 1.6-3 times greater. The high compaction associated with reclamation in this region greatly reduces both the vegetative rooting depth and infiltration of the soil and increases surface runoff, thus bypassing the ability of soil to naturally filter groundwater. In the context of environmental sustainability of MCM, it is proposed that the entire watershed ecosystem be assessed and that a revision of current policy be conducted to reflect the health of both water and soil.