Hans Sprohge, Ph.D., CPAWright State University, U.S.A.

Julsuchada Sirisom, Ph.D.Mahasarakham University, Thailand

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Coal formed from massive accumulation of dead land-based plant life, mainly trees.

The most important element in the plant material is carbon, which gives coal most of its energy.

When plants die, this energy is usually released as the plants decay. The energy is locked into the coal.

Coal is classified as a nonrenewable energy source because it takes millions of years to form.

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Coal is mined using surface and underground methods depending on depth of burial

Surface mining is used for seams relatively close to the surface, at depths less than approximately 180 feet

Underground mining is used for seams that occur at depths of 180 to 300 feet

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2 principal methods: continuous (room and pillar) and longwall

Continuous mining utilizes a machine to cut 20-to 30 foot "rooms" or work areas into a coal seam and Some of the seam is retained as "pillars" to support the rock layers above the area being mined

Continuous mining can produce as much as five tons of coal a minute

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Longwall mining uses a rotating mechanical shear that moves back and forth across the coal seam tearing the coal away

The seam being mined is several hundred feet wide

Once the coal is removed, usually 75 percent of the coal in the deposit, the roof is allowed to collapse in a safe manner

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a coal seam is exposed by removing the overlying vegetation and overburden

5 principal methods of surface mining:• area mining: consists of excavating large

rectangular pits• open pit mining: the removal of

overburden to uncover the coal seam takes the shape of an inverted cone

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• contour mining: removing overburden in a pattern following the contours along a ridge or around a hillside

• auger mining: horizontally into coal seams with a mining auger

• mountaintop removal: removing entire mountaintops to reach thin layers of valuable low-sulfur coal seams lying underneath the mountains

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The oxidation of sulfur The production of sulfuric acid Elevated concentrations of dissolved

metals, such as, iron, sulfate, and other metals

Waste materials are piled at the surface, in underground mining, and rain percolating through these piles creates runoff that pollutes local streams

Acid mine drainage and acid rock drainage leave the subsoil infertile

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Mountaintop removal breaks a forest into many pieces

Limit habitat for animals, plants, and leaves

Loss of natural species biodiversity 12-million-acre area in east Kentucky,

south West Virginia and east Tennessee has been damaged

By 2012 mountaintop coal mining will have serious damaged or destroyed an area larger than the state of Delaware

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Before After

More than 300,000 acres of hard wood forests have been destroyed by mountaintop removal

Source: Source: http://www.gaia-health.com/articles/000034-photos2.shtml

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Various federal and state laws require coal mine reclamation (the rehabilitation of land after cessation of coal mining operation)• The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act

(1977)• National Historic Preservation Act (1966)• National Environmental Policy Act (1969)• Endangered Species Act (1973)• Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (1976)• Clean Water Act (1977)• Clean Air Act (1990)

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Environmental degradation continues after laws

Some of reasons:• Lax enforcement• Loopholes• Corporate gamesmanship

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The rate of coal mine reclamation occurring today is shockingly low

The destruction of all forms of habitat is complete and permanent

Reclamation of many mining sites re-vegetate using native plants but not of the “same seasonal variety”

Frequently, mining sites are re-vegetated with plants that are not native to the area.

Sometimes mining sites are re-vegetated with invasive species

It is impossible to reclaim waterways

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The mining industry has been, and continues to be, provided with economic incentives to wreak havoc on the environment

From 2002 to 2008 coal mining companies received billions of dollars in tax breaks annually

Benefits indirectly through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

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tax credits for the production of coal coal-based synthetic fuels

characterizing coal royalty payments as capital gains

exclusion from fuel excise tax expensing (rather than capitalizing and

amortizing) of the costs of surface stripping, and construction of shafts and tunnels

deductibility 10 percent of gross income from coal production

deductibility of reclamation and closing costs immediately when beginning mining

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Eliminate direct and indirect taxpayer subsidies of coal mining companies bya) not adding more tax preferences that lower

the after tax cost of producing coal and b) repealing those that are currently in effect

Shift cost of reclamation from the public to the mining companies by imposing taxes on carbon emissions, the value of lumber destroyed, lost carbon sinks, and lost plant and animal species

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Implementation of any of the above recommendations would result in higher coal prices

Higher coal prices would encourage conservation

Unsubsidized coal prices that include the cost of environmental remediation would make clean renewable technologies like wind, geothermal power and solid biomass more cost competitive with coal

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