Reducing the harms of toxic air in mining and smelting communities

how to prevent air pollution in mines

Professor of Environmental Science, Macquarie University

how to prevent air pollution in mines

QA/QC Scientist, National Ecological Observatory Network; Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Arizona

how to prevent air pollution in mines

PhD Candidate, Macquarie University

how to prevent air pollution in mines

Program Director Master of Environmental Planning, Macquarie University

Disclosure statement

Mark P. Taylor is an elected committee member and member of the Technical Advisory Board for the Lead Group Inc. He receives no payment or other financial benefit for this work. The Lead Group Inc is a not-for-profit community organisation that develops and provides information and referrals on lead poisoning and lead contamination prevention and management. See: http://www.lead.org.au .

Janae Csavina, Louise Kristensen, and Peter Davies do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Arizona provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.

Macquarie University provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

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how to prevent air pollution in mines

Children in the mining towns of Mount Isa in Queensland and Port Pirie in South Australia are exposed to harmful levels of pollutants that increase their risk of learning and developmental disorders, and a number of serious illnesses.

A study we published today in the journal Aeolian Research shows mines and smelters in these two towns have avoided any serious scrutiny over their atmospheric emissions of arsenic , cadmium (a heavy metal used in the manufacture of batteries), and sulfur dioxide .

Along with lead, these toxic substances are emitted at much higher levels than anywhere else in Australia. Port Pirie exceeded the national one-hour standard for sulfur dioxide emissions 50 times in 2012. And recent 24-hour levels for lead, arsenic and cadmium were 45-times above recommended annual air quality levels for lead, 42-times above recommended levels for arsenic and 36-times above for cadmium.

Mount Isa also exceeded the national one-hour standard for sulfur dioxide emissions 49 times in 2012. And recent 24-hour maximums were 25-times above recommended annual levels for lead, 495-times higher for arsenic and 36-times higher for cadmium.

The licencing, regulation and reporting of toxic air pollutants and related health effects in Mount Isa and Port Pirie is inconsistent, incomplete and misleading. It’s time for effective regulation to protect the health of local residents.

Health harms

So, what impact are these emissions having on the local communities?

Arsenic emissions from smelters are highly toxic; there are no safe levels of exposure. Although the effects of arsenic can take years to emerge, exposure is associated with skin lesions, damage to the peripheral nerves , gastrointestinal symptoms, diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease and cancer .

A study of children living around a Mexican smelter also showed arsenic exposure affected children’s cognitive development.

Cadmium emitted from the mining and smelting operations can have harmful effects on the kidneys, the skeletal system and the respiratory system, and is a known cause of cancer. Even at low levels cadmium has also been associated with learning difficulties in children.

Sulfur dioxide

Elevated sulfur dioxide emissions are associated with increased problematic respiratory symptoms, disease and mortality as well as hospital admissions for asthma .

The most recent data for Mount Isa shows that between 2002 and 2006 there were significant disparities in asthma rates for Mount Isa compared to the rest of Queensland. Hospitalisation rates are significantly higher (80%) compared to the rest of Queensland, and asthma mortality rates were 322% higher than the rest of the state.

Hospital admissions for respiratory illness are similarly high in Port Pirie. In 2007-08 there were 3,774 admissions per 100,000 people, compared with 2,036 per 100,000 for the remainder of South Australia.

The effects of lead exposure are greatest in unborn children and those aged under five years. This age group is most susceptible because their growing nervous and skeletal systems require high levels of calcium.

Calcium is an essential element for the proper development and function of the brain. Because lead (Pb2+) mimics calcium (Ca2+), children living in a lead-rich environment absorb larger amounts of lead in place of calcium. This can interfere with the critical development of a child’s nervous system.

how to prevent air pollution in mines

Australian guidelines recommend Australian children have blood lead levels less than ten micrograms per decilitre (10 µg/dL), though this is currently being reviewed and should be lowered to a minimum of five micrograms per decilitre, but preferably lower.

At Port Pirie in 2011, 24.2% of children under five years had blood lead values above ten micrograms per decilitre. The proportion was similar in 2012, at 24.9% and slightly lower in 2013, at 22.7% At Mount Isa, a 2008 study of 400 children aged one to five years revealed 11.3% had a blood lead level above ten micrograms per decilitre.

A smaller survey of 167 children in 2010 showed the impacted was lower, at 4.8%, but with another 4.2% recording a blood lead level of nine micrograms per decilitre.

Misleading reporting

Our study discovered two critical ways in which the public are misled about the nature and extent of pollution.

First, is the selection of more favourable figures for blood lead values reported in children.

At Port Pirie, it is common practice for the South Australian health department to use the data including maternal surrogate blood values: the mother’s blood lead values. These are used in the absence of values for a child under nine months months of age. While these may correlate to new born’s levels, they are not children’s results and, in any case, blood lead values rise rapidly after around two months .

In addition, unlike protocols used for Broken Hill children’s blood lead assessments , only the last blood lead measure on a child in any year is used, irrespective of whether there are higher values from earlier in the year.

Together, the data from 2006 to 2010 shows this downplays the percentage of children who actually present with a blood lead value over ten micrograms per decilitre by 5.8% and 13.6%.

Second, at Mount Isa, the Queensland government is failing to use Australian or Queensland statutory air quality values to calculate the local air quality index for lead and arsenic. The statutory values for lead and arsenic are based on yearly averages and are set a maximum of 0.5 and 0.006 micrograms per cubic metre of air, respectively.

However, the government online air quality system uses higher 24-hour concentration values for lead and arsenic of 2.0 and 0.3 micrograms per cubic metre of air, respectively, to present a more favourable picture of emissions. Indeed, in the explanation of the calculation of the air quality index the government maintains it uses the lower Australian or Queensland statutory values.

On a sample day in December 2011 , for instance, the concentrations of lead-in-air of 0.784 micrograms per cubic metre of air were published as being “good”, while arsenic-in-air were recorded as “fair”, at a concentration 202 micrograms per cubic metre of air.

But proper calculation of the index values, show they would be both poor with an index of 156.8 and 3,366 for lead and arsenic. So this means the levels are 56.8 and 3,266 percentage points above the recommended pollution goal.

Reducing the harm

Eight years ago Mount Isa Mines promised the community a Lead Pathways Study that would include the most critical aspect – air quality data. They are still waiting.

In the meantime, we already have overwhelming evidence that the communities of Mount Isa and Port Pirie are being unfairly and unreasonably subject to air pollution levels that would not be acceptable elsewhere in the country.

To achieve the objectives of the relevant state environment protection legislation and not compromise ecological sustainability and the health of the local communities, we need more frequent sampling, higher standards and shorter averaging periods for air quality.

We also need enforceable legal mechanisms that enable the environmental protection agencies (EPAs) to not only regulate more effectively but to actually stop ongoing systematic pollution by forcing closure, even if only temporarily.

This must be accompanied by a willingness within the EPAs to take such action, independent of manipulation by government or industry, as appears to be the case at present.

  • Environmental health
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how to prevent air pollution in mines

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how to prevent air pollution in mines

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Tackling air pollution from mining

Air pollution is a global environmental concern and is a leading risk factor for health. It is responsible for causing millions of death every year. Death rates from air pollution are highest in low-to middles income countries.

how to prevent air pollution in mines

We act against the global problem of pollution by monitoring the quality of air continuously at anytime and anywhere.

While mining practices have improved in recent years, mining activity can have a number of negative impacts on the environment, including:

  • Contamination of ground and surface water supplies;
  • Loss of biodiversity, and
  • Air pollution (release of microscopic dust particles that are harmful to human health).

qAIRa , a Peruvian startup is using drone and sensing technology to tackle air pollution, including that associated with the country’s mining operations. Peru one of the world’s leading producers of copper, zinc and many other minerals.

how to prevent air pollution in mines

At qAIRa we want to digitize and democratize air quality information. Our goal is to provide everyone with the tools needed to be agents of change in favor of the environment.

About the company

qAIRa was set-up in 2015 by Mónica Abarca, a research student from Peru’s Pontifical Catholic University (PUCP) and her colleagues, Carlos Saito, Francisco Cuéllar and Javier Calvo-Pérez.

  • qAIRa uses big data analytics and robotics to digitize and map air quality information on global map.
  • Its drones fly over large areas and at high altitudes to gather data on air quality allowing them to create a global contamination map so that companies, especially mining companies – can better monitor the impact of their operations and improve their environmental footprint.
  • qAIRa also uses low-cost static air quality modules to monitor pollution in urban areas.

how to prevent air pollution in mines

qAIRa filed for utility patents with Peru’s intellectual property office, INDECOPI, in 2014 and 2016.

IP rights allow us to add value to our technology and support the growth of our business.

The mining industry is showing great interest in qAIRa’s technology to monitor the impact of its operations on air quality. The technology is also relevant to other sectors in which air pollution is a challenge, such as oil, gas, agriculture, electricity and many others.

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Can we mitigate environmental impacts from mining?

PDF version

Material adapted from: Hudson, T.L, Fox, F.D., and Plumlee, G.S. 1999. Metal Mining and the Environment, p. 11,41-46. Published by the American Geosciences Institute Environmental Awareness Series.  Click here to download the full handbook.

The major potential environmental impacts associated with mining and associated mineral processing operations are related to erosion-prone landscapes, soil and water quality, and air quality. These potential impacts are recognized and addressed in current mining operations as well as in some former mining operations by reclaiming areas of physical disturbance to prevent erosion, stabilizing soils containing metals or chemicals to prevent unwanted metal releases into the environment, preventing and/or treating water contamination, and controlling air emissions.

Mitigating impacts

At many sites, the key reclamation, soil treatment, and water quality concerns owe their origin to the same process — the oxidation of sulfide minerals, especially the iron sulfide, pyrite. Oxidation of sulfide minerals can produce acidic conditions that release metals in both waste materials and water.

Mining in the early days took place at a time when environmental impacts were not as well understood and, most importantly, not a matter of significant concern. As a result, historical mine sites may still have areas that are not reclaimed, remnants of facilities, and untreated water. This inherited legacy of environmental damage from mining is not indicative of the mining cycle today.

Now, mine closure and a number of activities to mitigate the impacts of mining are an integral part of all metal mine planning and mineral development from the discovery phase through to closure:

Reclamation

  • Soil treatment
  • Water treatment
  • Preventing acid rock drainage
  • Controlling gas emissions

Reclamation entails the re-establishing of viable soils and vegetation at a mine site. Although regulatory agencies may require complex reclamation designs, simple approaches can be very effective. One simple approach depends on adding lime or other materials that will neutralize acidity plus a cover of top soil or suitable growth medium to promote vegetation growth. Modifying slopes and other surfaces and planting vegetation as part of the process stabilizes the soil material and prevents erosion and surface water infiltration. Even this simple approach is likely to cost a few thousand dollars per acre to implement. Where soils have a sustained high acidity, the costs of using this approach can increase, sometimes to tens of thousands of dollars per acre. The challenge to find cost-effective reclamation approaches continues.

Promising reclamation options in the future may include using sludge,  “biosolids,” from municipal waste water treatment processes as an organic soil amendment, and growing plant species that are more tolerant of acidic conditions.

Soil Treatment

High levels of metals in soils, not just acidity, can be harmful to plants, animals, and, in some cases, people. A common approach used in dealing with contaminated soil is to move it to specially designed repositories. This approach can be very expensive and controversial, but it is sometimes required. With this approach, the volume and toxicity of the soil is not reduced, the soil is just relocated. Effective soil treatment approaches in the future depend upon better understanding of the risks associated with metals in mine wastes. These “natural” metals in minerals may not be as readily available in the biosphere, and therefore, they may not be as toxic as the metals in processed forms, such as lead in gasoline.

Future approaches may include:

  • Using chemical methods to stabilize metals in soils, making them less mobile and biologically available.
  • Using bacteriacides that stop the bacterial growth that promotes the oxidation of pyrite and the accompanying formation of sulfuric acid.
  • Using bioliners, such as low permeability and compacted manure, as barriers at the base of waste piles.
  • Permanently flooding waste materials containing pyrite to cut off the source of oxygen, stop the development of acidic conditions, and prevent mobilization of metals.

Water Treatment

The most common treatment for acidic and metal-bearing waters is the addition of a neutralizing material, such as lime, to reduce the acidity. This “active” treatment process, which causes the dissolved metals to precipitate from the water, usually requires the construction of a treatment facility. The ongoing maintenance that such a plant requires makes this treatment technique very expensive.

Aside from the expense, some active treatment plants generate large amounts of sludge. Disposal of the sludge is a major problem. Because of the cost and the physical challenges of dealing with sludge, alternatives to active treatment facilities are needed. Some possible alternatives include:

  • Using “passive” wetland systems to treat metal-bearing water. This approach has been successfully used where the volumes and acidity of the water are not too great. Passive wetland systems have the added advantage of creating desirable wildlife habitat.
  • Using in-situ treatment zones where reactive materials or electric currents are placed in the subsurface so that water passing through them would be treated.
  • Combining treatment with the recovery of useful materials from contaminated water.

Preventing Acid Rock Drainage

Although the discharge of acidic drainage presents several challenges to protecting water quality, the significance and widespread occurrence of acid rock drainage warrant special efforts to prevent or minimize its occurrence. Prevention must be addressed during exploration activities, before the beginning of newly-planned mining operations. In some cases, it may even be possible to prevent or reduce acid rock drainage in old or abandoned mining areas. Current and potential treatment approaches for acid rock drainage are similar to those already described. Possible measures to prevent or significantly reduce acid rock drainage include:

  • Flooding of old underground mine workings to cut off the oxygen supply necessary to the sustained generation of acidic waters.
  • Sealing exposed surfaces in underground workings with a coating of material that is non-reactive or impermeable to inhibit the oxidation process.
  • Backfilling mine workings with reactive materials that can neutralize and treat waters that pass through them.
  • Adding chemicals to the water in flooded surface and underground mine workings that can inhibit acid-generating chemical reactions and precipitate coatings that will seal off groundwater migration routes.
  • Isolating contaminated waters at depth by stratification, allowing viable habitat to develop near the surface in the water that fills large open pits.

Controlling Smelter Emissions

Smelter emissions, especially sulfur dioxide and particulate materials, have historically presented significant environmental problems. Modern smelting technology has met this challenge by drastically reducing the amount of emissions. An example is the modernized smelter built by Kennecott Utah Copper that processes ore concentrates from the Bingham Canyon Mine near Salt Lake City. Using technology developed by the Finnish company Outokumpu, this smelter has reduced sulfur dioxide emissions to 95 percent of previous permitted levels. This smelter, which came online in 1995, is the cleanest in the world. It captures 99.9 percent of the emitted sulfur.

  • Metal Mining and the Environment  (Booklet),  American Geosciences Institute Provides basic information about the mining cycle, from exploration for economic mineral deposits to mine closure. The booklet discusses the environmental aspects of metal mining and illustrates the ways science and technology assist in preventing or reducing environmental impacts.
  • No Silver Bullet, But a Silver Lining (Webpage),  U.S. Geological Survey Short description of how USGS mineral science shows promise for reducing mining impacts
  • Regulatory Information by Sector: Mining (Except Oil and Gas)  (Webpage),  Environmental Protection Agency Links to information on laws and regulations that regulate mining activities related to air quality, asbestos, waste, and water.  
  • Contact your state mining agency:  Links to State Mining Agencies ,  Mine Safety and Health Administration

Related Frequently Asked Questions

Image of chalcopyrite, a common copper iron sulfide mineral

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5 Ways to Make Mining More Sustainable

5 Ways to Make Mining More Sustainable Tom Fish from pexels.com

Author: Megan R. Nichols

Despite technological advancements that have made the industry more green, mining still uses significant amounts of resources — water, land, carbon and energy — and often causes severe harm to the environment. This damage, if not correctly handled, can last for decades after mining operations have shut down, make the land more vulnerable to natural processes like soil erosion and can worsen after the equipment is out.

Now, as industries and governments around the world look for ways to reduce carbon output and environmental impact, experts and individuals from in and out of mining are pushing the industry to take a serious look at how it can reduce its footprint.

Discover five ways the mining industry can reduce environmental impact and make its practices more sustainable.

1. Lower-Impact Mining Techniques

Traditional mining techniques can have a severe impact on the environment, and some popular methods — like open pit and underground mining — present some of the most significant  environmental risks.

By instead using new, alternative low-impact mining techniques — like in-situ leaching — mining companies can reduce their environmental impact.

With many of these techniques, companies can significantly reduce surface disturbance at mining sites, lower soil erosion and move less material that would need backfilled. Lowering interference in this way can both reduce environmental impact and result in less work when preparing a site for quicker revegetation or rehabilitation.

2. Reusing Mining Waste

Mining naturally produces significant amounts of waste  — such as tailings, rocks and wastewater. In many cases, businesses leave waste behind when mining operations cease — or, in the case of tailings, stored in large structures like tailings dams, which are prone to failure and, as a result, cause severe environmental damage.

Luckily, for almost every category of mining waste, there are  at least one or two ways to reuse that waste on- or off-site.

Companies can use waste rocks in simple on-site construction, like backfilling voids and reconstructing mined terrain in a way that prevents soil erosion.

When adequately treated, mine water can be reused in just about any fashion — for agriculture, as coolant, in on-site dust suppression and for drinking water.

Even tailings, often toxic and left behind in mine sites or stored in large-scale tailings dams, can find eco-friendly use. Depending on the mineral and chemical composition of the tailings, businesses can use them in the production of bricks, as paint extenders or in agroforestry.

Some new technologies even make it possible to further mine from these tailings, reducing the overall amount of minerals that get left behind in mining sites while also reducing the volume of waste stored in tailings dams.

However, not all of the applications are economic right now. The mining industry will likely need to invest in further research and development in the areas of mine waste reuse to make some of the methods workable at scale.

3. Eco-Friendly Equipment

Mining companies wanting to reduce their environmental impact can switch to more eco-friendly equipment.

Battery-driven mining equipment is often powerful enough to replace diesel-driven options. Replacing diesel engines with electric engines where possible can significantly reduce the amount of CO 2 produced by mining operations.

In general, the mining industry is already moving in the direction of electric equipment, with more and more mining manufacturers offering eco-friendly alternatives. Some are making more significant commitments — like Swedish mining equipment manufacturer Epiroc, which plans to be 100 percent electric within the next few years.

A push towards exclusively using electric mining equipment could easily result in massive carbon savings for mining companies.

Businesses wanting to become more sustainable could also upgrade to more advanced, durable equipment that lasts longer, reducing the turnover of machinery and decreasing the resources needed. Improved durability can also reduce the environmental costs of damaged equipment — like rubber or plastic shed as a piece of equipment breaks down.

Simple switches, for example — like adopting tires that provide better longevity and higher ROI in rock-strewn environments  — can cut down on equipment costs over time while also reducing how much rubber and plastic a mining operation outputs.

4. Rehabilitating Mining Sites

Many modern mining techniques cause significant disruption to the environment — like stripping the topsoil layer necessary for plant growth and raising soil and water acidity, making the area inhospitable to new vegetation and leaving it prone to soil erosion.

Worse, this erosion can often continue for years after a mining company has packed up and moved out.

As a result, many former mine sites are left unproductive, unusable by landowners and, in some cases, almost entirely inhospitable to plant and animal life. However, this damage isn’t guaranteed to be permanent. Companies can use many land rehabilitation techniques to make mined land productive again or speed up the land’s natural recovery process.

For example, it’s possible to use  biosolids to replenish depleted topsoil. Soil with biosolids, if seeded and watered, can produce vegetation capable of preventing further soil erosion within as few as 12 weeks. Combined with other rehabilitative techniques — like the use of waste rocks to fill in excavated areas — it’s possible to significantly reduce the disruption caused by mining.

Some mining companies — like Alcoa in Australia — have gone further and implemented large-scale reforestation schemes that look to restore every local species present at a mine site before operations began. 

5. Shutting Down Illegal Mining

Illegal mining remains a significant issue for the industry — for example, experts estimate that around 14,000 people are currently involved in illegal mining in South Africa. There, illegal mining often takes place on properties not suited for large-scale mining and without regard to regulations that reduce the environmental impact.

Preventing illegal or unregulated mining operations can help ensure that all mining is bound by the same environmental standards and ensure accountability.

Improving Mining Sustainability

Despite recent strides and new technology, the mining industry remains unsustainable in many areas. Fortunately, there are a variety of technologies and techniques — both in-use and in development — that the sector can use to reduce its environmental impact.

Advanced land rehabilitation techniques, coupled with low-impact mining methods and reuse of mine waste, can cut back on the impact that mining operations have on their immediate environment. companies can also use new equipment powered by electric engines to reduce their carbon footprint and become more eco-friendly.

Not all of these technologies are economical yet. However, the mining industry as a whole does seem to be moving in the direction of sustainability. Over the next few years, these technologies should become more practical. As a result, it may be easier for companies to make themselves more eco-friendly.

Megan Ray Nichols is a STEM writer and the editor of Schooled By Science. She regularly writes for IMPO Magazine and American Machinist. For more from Megan, follow her on Twitter, @nicholsrmegan, or subscribe to her  blog .

Read more about mining!

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13 responses to “5 Ways to Make Mining More Sustainable”

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This was very useful for my ENV home work

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This was helpful for my type of mining homework

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This was helpful and also listed some safe and innovative ways to dispose of mining waste and how it could lower the impact of contaminants disposed into the sea.

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A low-cost air sensor was deployed at a mining site to collect air pollution data and help inform those at and around the site of their exposure levels.

Monitoring air quality in mining: Importance and best practices

Image above provided courtesy of Envirosuite . 

TL;DR — Mining operations can contribute to air pollution at every stage of the process, and have significant impacts on the health of both those working at the sites and those living in surrounding communities. Fortunately, a number of best practices exist that can help alleviate mining’s impacts on the environment, including using dust suppression techniques, increasing vehicle efficiency, addressing occupational health and safety concerns at mining sites, promoting sustainable mining practices, and establishing real-time air quality monitoring networks at the sites — all of which aid in the work for cleaner air.

Understanding the impact of mining on air quality

Mining operations contribute significantly to poor air quality across the globe.

Every stage of the mining process, including the ore extraction, generation of solid waste, and ore refining and processing, creates air pollution that has environmental and public health impacts.” — Earthworks

Both above-ground and underground mining processes produce air pollution and can generate harmful aerosols, including particulate matter, arsenic, and diesel.

One primary source of mining air pollution comes from mineral extraction , including the processes of excavation, blasting, transportation of materials, and wind erosion. Vehicles and heavy equipment used during mining also produce exhaust emissions that contribute to these pollution levels.

With metal mining, very high temperatures are used as part of the smelting process. Though the technology has improved significantly over the past 50 years, smelting can still contribute to a variety of toxins , including:

  • Nitrogen and sulfur
  • Sulfur dioxide
  • Zinc, cadmium, and uranium

Sulfur dioxide can lead to acid rain , which can wreak havoc on environmental health.

Smelting also releases large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which has severe and long-lasting impacts.

Aluminum smelters, for example, release two tons of carbon dioxide and 1.4 kilos of perfluorocarbons (PFCs) for every ton of aluminum produced. PFCs have up to 9,200 times the heat-trapping potential of carbon and will linger in the atmosphere for tens of thousands of years.” — Earthworks

The significance of air quality monitoring in mining

Not only is air quality monitoring often required to ensure that air pollution levels from mines abide by regulatory guidelines, but it is also extremely important to understand pollution exposure levels and protect workers, surrounding community members, and the environment. 

For more information on the benefits of air quality monitoring services for industrial and mining operations, read our blog here .

The best practices for air quality control in mining

Air quality is commonly monitored around mining operations to determine the level of air pollution present at the site — this helps set a baseline for any further air quality improvement initiatives which we have included here. Read our case study with First Quantum here to learn more about their important work to improve air quality in their mining operations.

One useful practice that can be employed is dust suppression, which helps in reducing pollution levels as well as improving visibility. 

A variety of technologies and practices exist to aid in dust suppression, including surface miners, mist sprayers, and wet drilling . These systems may be installed at loading, transfer, and unloading points within the mine to address dust generation at a variety of sites. 

Wind screens can also be used to limit the movement of dust in particular areas.

Regular vehicle maintenance is highly important in addressing mining air pollution.

With coal mining specifically, dust generation and propagation are controlled at the source by a variety of technologies, including fixed sprinklers at coal handling plants and along roads used for transportation . 

Mobile water sprinklers can also be used along haul roads and other major roads used for transport to reduce dust being stirred up.

Another best practice is to cover coal-transporting trucks with tarps to prevent coal from spilling out during transit.

The air quality in these large opening nonmetal mines can be significantly improved by using diesel particulate matter (DPM) controls along with sufficient ventilation quantities to remove contaminants. Practical methods of ventilating these underground stone mines can be accomplished by using mine layouts that course and separate ventilation air through the use of stoppings” — U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

For more information about minimizing air pollution production at industrial sites, read our blog focusing on construction and air quality here .

Another vital part of controlling air pollution at mining sites is to establish real-time air quality monitoring. Many countries have established such networks at their mining sites, helping to inform construction managers of air pollution levels at the site and notify workers should air pollution spike . 

Occupational health and safety in air quality control

There has been a widespread recognition that mining air pollution poses a significant risk to the health of mining workers, and regulations have developed accordingly.

Workplace regulations in the United States are overseen by The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and similarly the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) in Europe.

On a global level, the International Labour Standards on Occupational Safety and Health (ILO) work to protect workers from sickness, disease, and injury . 

The ILO has a number of labor standards involving health and safety in mines, including the “Guide to the prevention and suppression of dust in mining, tunneling and quarrying” code of practice, which can be viewed here .

Promoting sustainable mining practices

By working to implement more sustainable mining practices that reduce air pollution generation, we can enjoy the benefits of cleaner air.

Ventilation is one key component of achieving less polluted air from mining — both because it reduces air pollution concentrations, but also because having a more effective ventilation system is more energy efficient.

Approximately 50% of energy consumed by mining operations is used by ventilation systems. An automated mine ventilation system ensures a safe and cost-efficient way of controlling the supply of fresh air underground. Optimizing the ventilation system lowers workers' exposure to noxious gases and reduces their risk of injury. Monitoring gas concentrations is also vital for workers' safety.” — Canadian Mining Journal

Green mining practices, such as methane capturing techniques can help to keep methane gas — a byproduct of coal mining — to a minimum. For example, fans can be used to pull methane out of the mine, oxidize it, and turn it into carbon dioxide and water vapor to be released into the atmosphere. While CO 2 still poses a threat to the climate, it is less potent than methane and does not pose the same risk of triggering explosions in the mine if left unchecked .

Using more energy-efficient vehicles in mining operations also helps to make mining more environmentally friendly. Clean diesel fuel or alternative energy sources can be used, in addition to hybrid power sources such as diesel-rechargeable and hydrogen fuel cell-rechargeable batteries , to power vehicles.

Managing air pollution in mining: Environmental regulations and compliance

Air pollution from mining is generally regulated by governmental agencies that also monitor the air quality with reference to other pollution sources — such as the US EPA and UNEP.

Most countries around the world have some sort of regulation in reference to mining as well as industrial activities.

For example, mining workers in Canada must either water the area as a dust suppression technique, shut down the site, or implement an emergency response plan when air pollution levels at a site exceed the country’s guidelines for a 15-minute period.

In the United States, the mining regulations work to both govern current regulations and improve old ones.

The framework for mining regulation [in the United States] is primarily based on federal laws dating back to the late 1960s. In many cases, these regulatory responsibilities have been delegated to state agencies, which have in turn developed their own sets of environmental laws, regulations, and standards. Regulatory standards established at state levels are commonly equal to or more stringent than federal standards.” — American Geosciences Institute

Community impact and engagement

Air pollution from mining has very real impacts on the everyday lives of those at the site as well as those living in surrounding communities.

One role model in addressing these impacts of mining air pollution is Kansanshi Mine in Zambia, a subsidiary of First Quantum Minerals , which established a real-time air quality monitoring network around their mining operations to understand true air pollution levels and address community concerns.

A future of cleaner mining

While mining activities can have significant negative impacts on air quality, many practices and technologies can be employed to mitigate these harms. This work helps to protect employees at the site and those in surrounding communities that may suffer from exposure to air pollution produced by mining.

Interested in learning more? Check out our Air Quality Monitoring for Mining & Industrial Facilities page here to learn more about enhancing industrial air quality monitoring to better understand pollution levels at your mining site and protect industry workers and surrounding communities.

Sienna Bishop

More air quality articles, clarity movement co. raises us$9.6m series a+ co-led by amasia and active fund, navigating wildfire season during a global pandemic, stay informed.

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Monitoring Air Quality in Mining: Importance and Best Practices

Monitoring Air Quality in Mining: Importance and Best Practices

Courtesy of Clarity Movement Co.

TL;DR - Mining operations can contribute to air pollution at every stage of the process, and have significant impacts on the health of both those working at the sites and those living in surrounding communities. Fortunately, a number of best practices exist that can help alleviate mining’s impacts on the environment, including using dust suppression techniques, increasing vehicle efficiency, addressing occupational health and safety concerns at mining sites, promoting sustainable mining practices, and establishing real-time air quality monitoring networks at the sites - all of which aid in the work for cleaner air.

Understanding the impact of mining on air quality

Mining operations contribute significantly to poor air quality across the globe.

Both   above-ground and underground mining processes produce air pollution   and can generate harmful aerosols, including particulate matter, arsenic, and diesel.

One primary source of mining air pollution comes from   mineral extraction , including the processes of excavation, blasting, transportation of materials, and wind erosion. Vehicles and heavy equipment used during mining also produce   exhaust emissions   that contribute to these pollution levels.

With metal mining, very high temperatures are used as part of the smelting process. Though the technology has improved significantly over the past 50 years,   smelting can still contribute to a variety of toxins , including:

  • Nitrogen and sulfur
  • Sulfur dioxide
  • Zinc, cadmium, and uranium

Sulfur dioxide can lead to acid rain , which can wreak havoc on environmental health.

Smelting also releases large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which has severe and long-lasting impacts.

The significance of air quality monitoring in mining

Not only is air quality monitoring often required to ensure that air pollution levels from mines abide by regulatory guidelines, but it is also extremely important to understand pollution exposure levels and protect workers, surrounding community members, and the environment.

The best practices for air quality control in mining

Air quality is commonly monitored around mining operations to determine the level of air pollution present at the site — this helps set a baseline for any further air quality improvement initiatives which we have included here.   Read our case study with First Quantum here to learn more about their important work to improve air quality in their mining operations.

One useful practice that can be employed is dust suppression, which helps in reducing pollution levels as well as improving visibility. 

A variety of technologies and practices exist to aid in   dust suppression, including surface miners, mist sprayers, and wet drilling . These systems may be installed at   loading, transfer, and unloading points   within the mine to address dust generation at a variety of sites. 

Wind screens   can also be used to limit the movement of dust in particular areas.

Regular vehicle maintenance   is highly important in addressing mining air pollution.

With coal mining specifically, dust generation and propagation are controlled at the source by a variety of technologies, including   fixed sprinklers at coal handling plants and along roads used for transportation . 

Mobile water sprinklers   can also be used along haul roads and other major roads used for transport to reduce dust being stirred up.

Another best practice is to   cover coal-transporting trucks with tarps   to prevent coal from spilling out during transit.

For more information about   minimizing air pollution production at industrial sites, read our blog focusing on construction and air quality here .

Another vital part of controlling air pollution at mining sites is to establish real-time air quality monitoring. Many countries have established such networks at their mining sites, helping to   inform construction managers of air pollution levels at the site and notify workers should air pollution spike .

Occupational health and safety in air quality control

There has been a widespread recognition that mining air pollution poses a significant risk to the health of mining workers, and regulations have developed accordingly.

Workplace regulations in the United States are overseen by   The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)   and similarly the   European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA)   in Europe.

On a global level, the   International Labour Standards on Occupational Safety and Health (ILO) work to protect workers from sickness, disease, and injury . 

The ILO has a number of labor standards involving health and safety in mines, including the   “Guide to the prevention and suppression of dust in mining, tunneling and quarrying” code of practice, which can be viewed here .

Promoting sustainable mining practices

By working to implement more sustainable mining practices that reduce air pollution generation, we can enjoy the benefits of cleaner air.

Ventilation   is one key component of achieving less polluted air from mining - both because it reduces air pollution concentrations, but also because having a more effective ventilation system is more energy efficient.

Green mining practices, such as   methane capturing techniques   can help to keep methane gas — a byproduct of coal mining — to a minimum. For example, fans can be used to pull methane out of the mine, oxidize it, and turn it into carbon dioxide and water vapor to be released into the atmosphere. While CO 2   still poses a threat to the climate, it is   less potent than methane   and   does not pose the same risk of triggering explosions in the mine if left unchecked .

Using more energy-efficient vehicles in mining operations also helps to make mining more environmentally friendly.   Clean diesel fuel or alternative energy sources   can be used, in addition to   hybrid power sources such as diesel-rechargeable and hydrogen fuel cell-rechargeable batteries , to power vehicles.

Managing air pollution in mining: Environmental regulations and compliance

Air pollution from mining is generally regulated by governmental agencies that also monitor the air quality with reference to other pollution sources — such as the US EPA and UNEP.

Most countries around the world have some sort of regulation in reference to mining as well as industrial activities.

For example, mining workers in Canada must either water the area as a   dust suppression technique, shut down the site, or implement an emergency response plan   when air pollution levels at a site exceed the country’s guidelines for a 15-minute period.

In the United States, the mining regulations work to both govern current regulations and improve old ones.

Community impact and engagement

Air pollution from mining has very real impacts on the everyday lives of those at the site as well as those living in surrounding communities.

One role model in addressing these impacts of mining air pollution is Kansanshi Mine in Zambia, a subsidiary of   First Quantum Minerals , which established a real-time air quality monitoring network around their mining operations to understand true air pollution levels and address community concerns.

A future of cleaner mining

While mining activities can have significant negative impacts on air quality, many practices and technologies can be employed to mitigate these harms. This work helps to protect employees at the site and those in surrounding communities that may suffer from exposure to air pollution produced by mining.

Interested in learning more? Check out our   Air Quality Monitoring for Mining & Industrial Facilities page here   to learn more about enhancing industrial air quality monitoring to better understand pollution levels at your mining site and protect industry workers and surrounding communities.

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Top 10 Ways to Make Mines More Environmentally Friendly

how to prevent air pollution in mines

1.  Closing illegal and unregulated mines

In context with enforcing regulations and maintaining steadfast legislation regarding a mine’s behavior and processes, the strict and swift closing of illegal or unregulated mining activity will set an environmental precedent within the industry. For example, before 2010, most mines in China were completely unregulated when it came to the environment and the shortcomings it was bringing to surrounding Chinese areas. After years of lax regulation and undisciplined treatment of illegal, unpermitted mines, China's government responded to a wave of public protest and partly in its own self-interest enacted new policy measures for greener mining. These were codified in the Rare Earth Industrial Development Policy. The following regulations are the most important out of those now in practice, and they are being enforced to discourage illegal and environmentally careless mining. These measures are not yet all fully implemented in China, but the legal productivity and environmental impact are set to increase by two-fold thanks to the closure of the illegal activity, and the cultivation of the existing legal mines.

2.  Scrap mining and recycling

On a global scale, mining corporations around the world are discovering efficient ways to capitalize fully on materials in order to provide the goods and services people want using much less wood, metal, stone, plastic and other materials. By reducing the amount of wasteful use on a public and private level, and by steering production towards the sole use of durable goods that can be easily reusable, re-manufactured, or recycled, the mining industry can begin to reduce its impact on an international scale. This creative trend of scrap mining, or utilizing ever-reusable resource for other mining initiatives, stems from the recognition of the environmental costs of excessive materials use. Mining exacts a severe and sometimes irreversible toll on public health, water and air quality, fish and wildlife habitat, and community interests. “Recognizing that "business-as-usual" practices are unsustainable, some nations, international organizations, and environmental groups are calling for major reductions in materials use-often by as much as 90 percent,” reports the Canary Institute in Canada.  

3.  Better legislation and regulations

Standard legislation concerning the efficiency of mining is a long way off from being the most productive and most strict government mandates that exists today. Obviously these regulations differ between nations, with some countries more advanced in terms of their legislation than others, however the need for improvement is always there in this industry, which inevitably causes some environmental damage. In Canada for example, mines like the Island Copper Mine on Vancouver Island stands as a highly regulated mine site that operated from 1971 until 1995 when it was closed for resource depletion. It was due to the regulation and control of the government that a detailed mine closure plan was developed to comfortably close the mine in order to protect the few resources which remained, and the B.C. enacted the contaminated sites regulation process which was awarded the Certificate of Conditional Compliance.  It is this kind of federal regulation that will not only protect environmental and public health, but that will improve the lifespan of the mining industry.

4.  Improving environmental performance

Mining impacts the environment in unnatural ways, which not only disrupts its natural decaying process, but also does more damage long-term than natural erosion processes. With exorbitant numbers of materials excavated and used daily, it is important to see that this destruction is actually going towards productive use. By systematically examining environmental impacts and adopting measures to mitigate these impacts, it is possible to make mining less destructive of the environment. Incremental efficiency gains will not do the job. Instead, an imaginative remaking of the industrial world-one that aligns economies with the natural environment that supports them is the sustainable way forward. Recycling has a number of advantages. Canada’s offices like The Pembina Institute, the Natural Step and The National Office of Pollution Prevention are all behind these huge pushes towards not only monitoring mining manufacturing performance, but environmental performance as well.

5.  Accurate tallying of toxic mining waste

Another problem with the whole sustainable mining debate has to do with secrecy in reporting toxic mining waste. Mining companies have not been accurately reporting the amounts being dumped into the environment and in doing so, have kept the public in the dark. Most notably this has been occurring with the Canadian people as of late, with a huge public backlash being the center of much of the mining industry controversy being targeted on accurate waste tallying lately. While sustainable mining looks good on paper and seems easy enough to follow provincial or federal guidelines, the industry has a way to go before it can be considered even remotely green. 

6.  Building from reusable waste

Not only can mining present a hazard to the environment, but it can also be seen as a toll on public health if appropriate measures are not taken to ensure that the mining process is being done as safely and efficiently as possible. Case studies from mines around the world have provided numerous success stories of corporations and private mines alike being able to build new construction and infrastructure from the reusable materials that a mine site presents. For example, aluminum can be substituted as a recyclable material rather than using bauxite ore, which is a rarer and less reusable item. By noticing the small details of the products used and generated in a mine site, the mining industry can make strides towards being a more sustainable industry. Tricks like recycling copper, which takes seven times less energy than processing ore, recycling steel which uses three-and-a-half times less energy than ore, can go a long way in determining the longevity of a mine and its positive environmental impact.

7.  Closing and reclaiming sites of shut-down mines

The dangers of allowing no longer working mines to exist can not only allowing wasted debris the opportunity to rot and decay on site, but it can lead to illegal or unregulated mining activity. Enacting small decommissioning groups and contractors to take apart the mining processing facilities and plants; this process will allow the pipelines to be drained, equipment and parts of the mine to be cleaned and sold off, the buildings can be repurposed or demolished, warehouse materials recovered, and wasted disposed of. The main objective in the reclaiming process is to return the sire and the land which surrounds it back to reusable standards, ensuring that any landforms and structures are stable, and why watercourses need to be evaluated in order to regain water quality within the affected area.

8.  Investing in research and development of Green Mining Technology

The mining industry is one that is always in need of proper research and development in order to make sure the industry to ever-changing with today’s commitment to sustainability and turning the world into a more “green friendly’ place. Through either state of federal agencies, collecting funding and allowing that funding to be dispersed into ROD funds for Green Mining can be one way to positively impact the environment before and after mining projects. By pushing the envelope and never letting the future slip too far from reach, staying ahead can prevent unnecessary waste in the sense of less reusable materials, better efficiency and a better understood industry. 

9.  Replenishing the environment

A seemingly simple but rarely prioritized activity, replenishing mine sites and mine environments is one of the key factors to not only earning the respect and cooperation of those living near the mine, but will ultimately protect the mine’s impact on the environment. Simple solutions like replenishing native soils and grasses, cleaning excess waste, proper waste removal, site inspections and replanting trees and natural forestry can rejuvenate a long-term ecosystem repair and sustain the environment for years beyond when the mine is no longer operating. The entire reclamation process should include: removing hazardous materials, reshaping land, restoring topsoil, and planting native grasses, trees or ground cover natural to the site.

10.  Improving the efficiency of manufacturing processes

By targeting the goal of closely monitoring the standard mining supply chain, mining industry giants will be forced to confront the ways in which a company can improve its efficiency by seeing exactly where the organization is lacking in terms of sustainability and green mining initiatives. This supervision of the manufacturing process is essential in order to develop new ways of thinking, new metrics, and new management/supervisory tools that will help cushion the transition into more efficient and less environmentally-harmful patterns of resource use in modern societies. Organizations like The World Resources Institute are currently conducting research on the most frequently used resources and materials, in order to better understand how the industry can conserve its non-renewable materials. The WRI has been working towards developing a database, and can now indicate the flow of materials through industrial economies. Material flows analyses will track the physical flows of natural resources through extraction, production, fabrication, use and recycling, and final disposal, accounting for both the gains and losses occurring throughout the supply chain.

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Here’s how the mining industry can respond to climate change

Kimberly Henderson

August 27, 2020 Although the COVID-19 crisis has understandably consumed the attention of mining executives around the world, the threats that mining companies face because of climate change remain urgent. Forecasts indicate that climate hazards such as heavy precipitation, drought, and heat will get more frequent and intense, increasing the physical challenges to mining operations. Widespread decarbonization efforts across industries could create major shifts in commodity demand for the mining industry. And the mining sector, responsible for 4 to 7 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions globally, will also face pressure from governments, investors, and society to reduce emissions. Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO2 emissions from the sector (those incurred through mining operations and power consumption, respectively) amount to 1 percent, and fugitive methane emissions from coal mining are estimated at 3 to 6 percent. 1 A significant share of global emissions—28 percent—would be considered Scope 3 (indirect) emissions, including the combustion of coal.

Mining companies must prepare for climate hazards. Today, 30 to 50 percent of production of copper, gold, iron ore, and zinc is concentrated in areas where water stress is already high. Climate change is expected to cause more frequent droughts and floods, altering the supply of water and disrupting operations. Even in areas with low water stress, certain water-intensive mining processes can be jeopardized. In Germany—not a country known for being vulnerable to drought—a potash miner was forced to close two locations because of severe water shortages in the summer of 2018, losing nearly $2 million a day per site.

Another issue for mining companies is shifting demand for minerals. Significant growth of low-carbon technologies, such as wind turbines, solar photovoltaics, and electric vehicles, should boost demand for the raw materials needed for these technologies. As the global electrification of industries continues, electric vehicles and batteries will create growth markets for cobalt, lithium, and nickel. Deep decarbonization of industrial segments would also favor green hydrogen and biomass over metallurgical coal. According to our analysis, to achieve a 1.5oC pathway, the amount of coal used to manufacture steel would need to decline by 80 percent by 2050, compared to current levels. Thermal and metallurgical coal are currently about 50 percent of the global mining market and would be the most obvious victim of such shifts.

In addition, any serious effort to implement Paris Agreement goals for limiting global warming would require participation from the entire mining value chain. Large capital investments are required for mines to fully decarbonize, but certain measures, such as adopting renewables, electrification, and operational efficiency, are economical today for many mines.

Shifting to renewable sources of electricity is increasingly feasible, even in off-grid environments, because the cost of battery packs is projected to halve from 2017 to 2030. Codelco, for instance, uses solar power for one of its copper mines in Chile, and Fortescue Metals Group is investing in renewable energy at its iron ore mines in the Pilbara region in Australia. BHP, a multinational mining company, recently signed contracts for renewable energy at its Escondida and Spence copper mines. For the average on-grid mine, there are usually several percentage points of energy efficiency improvements to reduce operating costs and indirect emissions from the electricity consumed, such as reducing the idle time of equipment.

Another economically viable decarbonization option is to electrify mining equipment, such as diesel trucks and gas-consuming appliances. Right now, only 0.5 percent of mining equipment is fully electric. However, in some cases, battery electric vehicles have a 20 percent lower total cost of ownership versus traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. Newmont, for example, recently started production at its all-electric Borden mine in Ontario, Canada.

Some decarbonization actions will benefit the bottom line, while others will prioritize social responsibility. Several big mining companies have installed their own sustainability committees, signaling that mining is joining the wave of corporate sustainability reporting and activity . Reporting emissions and understanding decarbonization pathways are the first steps toward setting targets and taking action.

Future regulatory and technological developments may change the viability of certain decarbonization actions, but one thing is certain: The business case will vary for each mine—and each company. To effectively respond to the impact of climate change, mining executives should take five main actions:

  • Perform an end-to-end diagnostic of climate change’s effects on the business to understand which assets to protect from physical climate change and which stand to gain or lose from decarbonization.
  • Mobilize the C-suite and the board to set ambitious climate targets that come from the top.
  • Shift to renewables, which can lower the mine’s electricity costs and reduce volatility.
  • Introduce “climate intelligence” to decision-making processes, such as capital allocation.
  • Engage through reporting, partnerships, and other proactive measures, such as climate risk disclosures, which will become more important as climate expectations mature .

As recent McKinsey analysis  illustrates, every part of the economy would need to decarbonize to achieve a 1.5 degree Celsius warming pathway. Yet actions taken to date by the mining industry are too modest to reach this scenario and may not be keeping up with society’s expectations, as increasingly voiced by investors seeking disclosures, companies asking their suppliers to decarbonize, and communities advocating for action on environmental issues. Mining companies concerned about their long-term reputation, “license to operate,” or contribution to decarbonization efforts may start to consider more aggressive decarbonization and resilience plans, even as part of their recovery agendas for the post-COVID-19 period.

Read more in our article “ Climate risk and decarbonization: What every mining CEO needs to know ”.

1 Emission estimates are based on research by McKinsey’s Basic Materials Institute. The range of fugitive methane emissions is a function of the time horizon at which the warming impact of methane is calculated. The lower number refers to global warming potential on a 100-year time frame (GWP100), and the higher number refers to global warming potential on a 20-year time frame (GWP20).

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Mining Upgrades to Reduce Pollution

Stories of progress in achieving healthy waters, u.s. epa region 3 water protection division, appalachia • december 22, 2016.

A settlement with Southern Coal Corporation and 26 affiliates requires the companies to comprehensively upgrade their coal mining and processing operations to prevent polluted wastewater from threatening rivers and streams and overburdened communities across Appalachia.

The estimated cost of the upgrades is $5 million. The companies will also pay a $900,000 civil penalty for past violations. The consent decree, approved by a federal judge December 2016, will help reduce the exposure of Appalachian communities to a number of pollutants, including selenium and sulfates, as well as solids, which can impair watersheds. An annual cut in pollution of approximately five million pounds is expected.

The action was listed in a roundup of enforcement and compliance results for the 2016 fiscal year as one of EPA’s high impact cases delivering environmental and public health benefits across the U.S.

The settlement resolves alleged violations of state-issued Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits at the companies’ operations in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. In addition, there were numerous violations of the companies’ legal responsibilities to sample their discharges to rivers and streams required by their NPDES permits.

Under the settlement approved by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, the Roanoke-based Southern Coal Corporation must implement a series of measures to ensure compliance and prevent future Clean Water Act violations, including.

  • Implementing a company-wide, EPA-approved environmental management system.
  • Maintaining a centralized data management system to track audit results, violations, water sampling data and compliance efforts.
  • Constructing a publicly accessible website for posting of key documents, such as discharge monitoring reports, water sampling data, notices of violations and compliance orders.
  • Paying escalated stipulated penalties if Clean Water Act permit violations continue to occur.
  • Taking steps to ensure sufficient funds and a mechanism to achieve compliance if Southern Coal fails to perform.

The government complaint filed concurrently with the consent decree alleged that over a five-year period, Southern Coal violated NPDES discharge permits for pollutants including iron, total suspended solids, aluminum, pH and manganese in their permits. The complaint also alleged that Southern Coal failed to submit complete and timely discharge monitoring reports, made unauthorized discharges and failed to respond to EPA requests for information. The settlement follows two others with coal companies this fiscal year, including Consol and Corsa Coal  , all of which resulted in a collective $10.4 million in penalties and $7 million in investments for pollution control projects.

Map highlighting the location of Roanoke, Virginia.

  • Mining Upgrades to Reduce Pollution (pdf) (587.7 KB, 2016-12-22)

AT A GLANCE

  • Settlement ranks among top cases for Fiscal Year 2016.
  • Annual pollutant reductions of about five million pounds expected.

For additional information, contact:

Chad Harsh Office of NPDES Permitting and Enforcement U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 3 Water Protection Division 1650 Arch Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 [email protected]

A guide to air pollution monitoring in mining

One of the biggest issues in mining is air pollution from both underground and above ground operations. During the mining process, numerous harmful aerosols are generated, such as quartz, silica, arsenic, diesel, and particulate matter. Permissible exposure limits, which determine how much aerosol can be inhaled without adverse health effects, have been established. Aerosol size is the most important characteristic for health risk classification, as size determines where the particle is deposited in the lungs. Luckily, there are several technologies and automated systems that continuously monitor and provide real-time air quality data, so any issues can be immediately remedied.

how to prevent air pollution in mines

Giant mine monitoring system

One large air quality monitoring program in Yellowknife at Giant mine provides information that protects miners, residents, and the environment. Giant mine is a former gold mine that stopped operating in 2004. The site is currently running a sitewide remediation programme removing arsenic trioxide caused by previous mining and asbestos materials in site buildings.

how to prevent air pollution in mines

Continuous particulate matter monitors are installed on the perimeter of the mine site to evaluate dust levels and composition. A second network, the activity-specific network, installs monitors at specific on-site work areas.

These stations measure airborne contaminants including arsenic, trioxide dust, asbestos, antimony, iron, lead, and nickel. They also measure airborne dust, including total suspended particulate (TSP), particulate matter 10 (PM 10 ), and particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5 ).

Real-time monitoring data is provided to construction managers so that workers and residents are not exposed to unacceptable levels of contaminants and effective emission control measures can be implemented. If any air monitor detects an unusual spike in airborne dust levels, an alarm goes off, alerting site workers.

When levels exceed Health Canada guidelines, which are 159 µg/m 3  for PM10 or 333 µg/m 3  for TPS over a 15-minute period, workers may water the affected area to reduce dust, shut the site down, or implement an emergency response plan.

How can miners improve air quality?

Mine operators strive daily to keep their employees safe and complying with health regulations. Continuously monitoring the aerosols and dust emitting from mines ensures compliance with Health Canada guidelines and keeps workers and local residents safe.

Instruments which monitor air quality can be installed both underground and above ground around the site perimeter, ensuring there are no dangerous levels of particulate matter within the mine or outside.

Ventilation in a mine provides adequate airflow, diluting contaminants and ensuring air quality is safe to breathe. An automated system monitors the airflow throughout the mine and provides real-time data. Signals from sensors like the flow meter or gas meter are analog and must be converted into a digital signal and sent to a server so that the information can be accessed. Sensor data is communicated with fans, louvers, and other ventilation components. Using the data, the system’s fans and louvers can be adjusted to change the air flow. Approximately 50% of energy consumed by mining operations is used by ventilation systems. An automated mine ventilation system ensures a safe and cost-efficient way of controlling the supply of fresh air underground. Optimizing the ventilation system lowers workers exposure to noxious gases and reduces their risk of injury. Monitoring gas concentrations is also vital for workers safety.

Pressure is another important parameter to monitor. Air naturally flows from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure. Actively monitoring pressure throughout the ventilation automation system provides feedback on the air flow.

Air monitoring technology

Products include airflow monitors, toxic gas detectors, temperature, pressure and humidity level sensors, and complete mine air quality stations (MAQS).

Advanced technology which measures particulates including aerosols and dust within a designated area includes gravimetric sampling, light scattering, beta attenuation, and TEOM (tapered element oscillating microbalance).

Mining sensors offer a complete picture of the mining site and surrounding environment and can be placed above and below ground.

Real-time, accurate coal mine dust measurements are critical for providing data to the miner to minimize their exposure to coal dust. Personal dust monitors help ensure the respirable dust exposure does not exceed regulatory limits, which helps prevent black lung disease and other lung diseases. Dust monitors utilize highly sensitive light-scattering photometer (nephelometer) technology and provide continuous measurements of airborne particle concentrations. Portable, remote, and handheld air particle counters are designed for routine environmental monitoring, and air filtration troubleshooting.

Automated air quality monitoring systems can measure air quality, low and high levels of criteria pollutants, as well as other gases and toxins, and helps ensure ambient air quality complies with local environmental regulations. The MAQS Mine air quality station is an affordable underground mine ventilation monitoring station. MAQS monitors working environments, integrates and communicates with remote devices, and automates the ventilation process. Its instrumentation functions with existing software and communication infrastructure.

Several instrumentation and communication platforms are available for hosting SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) energy management systems (EMS), ventilation vimulation or ventilation on demand (VOD) software. 

Catherine Hercus is a freelance technical writer .

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Global Mining Review

Nature-based solutions reduce environmental damage caused by mining

Save to read list Published by Jane Bentham , Editorial Assistant Global Mining Review , Monday, 06 November 2023 14:00

Dr Brendan Duprey outlines how Kazakhstan is employing innovative solutions to reduce air and water pollution caused by mining tailings.

Nature-based solutions reduce environmental damage caused by mining

Mining activities pose a risk to the environment. After valuable metals are extracted from ore, often involving the use of chemicals, millions of cubic metres of contaminated waste rock remain, which is deposited in mine tailings. These tailings cause numerous environmental problems, including airborne dust particles, water pollution, landslides, and dam failures, as exemplified by the infamous incident at Vale’s Brumadinho site in Brazil in 2019.

Kazakhstan, a resource-rich country in Central Asia, has adopted a scientific approach to mitigating the environmental damage caused by mine tailings. The Sustainable Kazakhstan Research Institute (SKRI) has developed a technology for creating a vegetative barrier to capture harmful particles from the air (“phytocapture”) near mining facilities. Utilising ENVI-met software and a powerful computer, the institute conducted 3D modelling and calculated that the planting of trees and shrubs, if properly planned, can reduce air pollution around these facilities by up to 40%.

SKRI has gone beyond scientific research, however, having implemented its phytocapture technology in practice at the Altynalmas gold mining company in Kazakhstan. SKRI staff planted rows of silverberry shrubs near the company’s Aksu mine; the shrubs can grow up to 1.5 m in height and effectively capture large dust particles. A second perimeter was planted with rows of maples and elms, which, thanks to their height and dense canopies, are effective at capturing fine dust particles carried by the wind. As the trees grow, this project is moving closer to achieving the targeted 40% reduction in air pollution.

SKRI initiated a similar project this year at RG Gold, another Kazakhstani gold mining company, which is co-owned by the American private equity firm Resource Capital Funds. Through the project, the SKRI team aims to plant thousands of trees and shrubs.

The research institute considers improving the environmental situation in Kazakhstan and protecting the health of the people living near mining facilities to be of paramount importance. According to the United Nations, air pollution affects 99% of the world’s population and leads to 6.7 million premature deaths annually. With each breath, people inhale tiny particles that can harm the lungs and lead to cardiovascular problems. Among these particles, the most dangerous are fine solid particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns (PM 2.5) – precisely the type found in the air near mine tailings.

In May, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE, one of five UN regional commissions, which brings together 56 countries) held a regional conference on the Convention on Mine Tailings Safety and Industrial Accidents. During the conference, the solutions developed by SKRI were presented as advanced practices for ensuring the safety of tailings.

Considering the industry’s needs, SKRI has also begun developing two major nature-based solutions for reducing water pollution from mine wastewater. One involves planting trees in special “wells” made of impermeable materials, allowing the root system to absorb pollutants from deep groundwater layers in the soil.

The other solution involves placing special mats made of biochar and peat at the bottom of channels or streams to absorb pollutants. The Dutch company Tauw Engineering has laid such mats at the bottom of a contaminated canal near an old asphalt plant in Ghent, Belgium.

SKRI, in collaboration with Tauw, is now conducting trials of these technologies in Kazakhstan and at the mine tailings of the Ak-Tuz rare-earth mine in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/mining/06112023/nature-based-solutions-reduce-environmental-damage-caused-by-mining/

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how to prevent air pollution in mines

Devic Earth

Mining Processes: Ambient Air Pollution, Emissions, and the Solution

Mining is a significant economic activity in India. Even on a small scale, it contributes up to 6% to the total cost of mineral extraction. Pollutants and fugitive emissions from the processes involved in mining are suspended in the air and make it unfit for breathing leading to serious respiratory complications.

Table Of Contents:

  • The Processes Involved in Mining.
  • Stages of Mining that involve Air Pollution.
  • Identification of ambient air pollutants at different stages.
  • Sources of emission in mining.
  • Effects of mining air pollution on human health.
  • Solution for air pollution in the mining industry.
  • Pure Skies by Devic Earth
  • References.

Different Stages of Mining Process: Phases Involved in Mining:

Mining contributes a significant percentage to the annual air pollution in India. Major sources of air pollution in the mining sector are the processes that emit particulate matter (PM) and fugitive emissions.

There are different stages of mining. Mining Air pollution is caused at every stage of the mining process. Major sources of pollution in the mining operations are unpaved roads, blasting, and dust explosion during loading. Apart from air pollution due to mining activities, Significant emission of fine coal particulates (PM1, PM2.5, and PM10), heavy metal dust (PM1, PM2.5, and PM10), are and gases such as NOx, NO2, CO, CO2, and CH4. also a part of the mining process.

Stages of Mining that involve Air Pollution:

Excavation :.

This is the primary stage that is essential to opening up a mine. The phase one of the operating cycle includes opening up the mine using methods like drilling, blasting, and removal of ore.

Pre-Processing:

In the pre-processing stage, Ore stockpiled from underground and open-pit mines is fed into the primary crusher at the process plant. Crushed rock is then transported to the mill.

Transportation: 

The ore is then transported for further processing at the on-site or off-site plant between the material extraction site and the processing plant. 

Main Processing: 

The main mining operation involves milling, grinding, froth floatation, smelting, and wet grinding.

This operation involves more advanced processes like hydrometallurgy and electrometallurgy, for highly pure ore.

Identification of ambient air pollutants at different Mining stages:

ambient air pollutants at different Mining stages

Activities such as exploration, development, construction, and operational activities result in airborne emissions of pollutants. Mining operations muster large amounts of material, and waste piles comprise small size particles that are easily diffused by the wind. The largest sources of mining air pollution are:

  • Particulate matter pollutants are spread by the wind during excavations, blasting, transportation of materials, and wind erosion; which is more frequent in open-pit mining, fugitive emissions, stockpiles, waste dumps, and haulage tracks. Exhaust emissions from mobile sources such as cars, trucks, and heavy equipment raise these particulate levels to an even higher level.
  • Gas emissions from the combustion of fuels in stationary and mobile sources, explosions, and mineral processing.

Sources of emission/pollution in mining:

There are three sources of emission of pollutants:

Sources of emission of pollution

Mobile sources of Air Pollution:

 Mobile sources of air pollutants consist of heavy vehicles used in excavation operations, cars used to transport personnel at the mining site, and trucks for transporting mining materials. The level of polluting emissions from these sources depends on the fuel and conditions of the equipment. Even though the individual emissions can be relatively meager but collectively these emissions are of huge concern perhaps. Mobile sources are a major source of emission of particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) that contribute significantly to the formation of ground-level ozone

Stationary sources of Air Pollution:

Major gaseous emissions are from the combustion of fuels in power generation installations, drying, roasting, and smelting activities. Many precious metal producers smelt metal on-site, before shipping it to off-site refineries. Generally, gold and silver are produced in fluxing furnaces that perhaps produce elevated levels of mining air pollution like airborne mercury, arsenic, sulfur dioxide, and other metals.

Fugitive Emissions:

Regular emissions generated from industrial combustion processes are systematically passed through scrubber and electrostatic precipitators, vents, and chimneys, and therefore, easily sampled using monitoring equipment. Fugitive emissions, on the other hand, are not easy to monitor during mining stages, since they are not accounted for. It, therefore, becomes difficult to reduce or eradicate them. Air pollution monitoring devices are not capable enough to monitor fugitive emissions.

Various gaseous releases may be identified as fugitive emissions in the mining operations, such as evaporation losses from storage tanks and wastewater treatment facilities, emissions from solid/hazardous waste, a gas emanation from the mineral and mining industries, and loading and unloading discharge. Methane is generated from landfills containing solid and hazardous waste. Further, the microbial anaerobic degradation of waste of this kind produces hundreds of different gases.

In petroleum refineries, volatile organic compounds other than methane, Sox, and NOx are generated during different processes such as crude oil separation, conversion, blending, and storage. The emission of such gases significantly increases the risk of accidents on site. Fugitive emissions are undesirable at the workplace, as well.

Effects of Mining Air Pollution on Human Health:

Effects of Mining Air Pollution on Human Health

Throughout different stages of the mining process, several kinds of pollutants are emitted as mentioned above. These pollutants can cause severe health hazards to the human body. Repeated inhalation of mining dust can cause Black Lungs. Minning emissions cause respiratory complications like asbestosis, silicosis, and lung cancer. The pollutants emitted during the process of blasting and drilling can cause Pneumoconiosis and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Secondary effects of Air Pollution:

  • Regulatory fines
  • Costly plant shutdowns
  • Sick leaves
  • Loss of productivity
  • Health hazards
  • Union Strikes
  • Disharmony with nearby communities

Solution for Air Pollution in Mining Industry:

Mining is a process that involves both indoor and ambient air pollution. Fugitive emissions are a form of pollution that is not easily captured by air pollution control devices. To mitigate air pollution in the mining industry, the only effective solution is pollution control equipment designed to address ambient air pollution in larger areas. Certain technologies only cater to specific pollutants in particular stages of the process but that does not help in the mitigation of air pollution at a larger structure. 

There are two categories under which the air pollution control equipment falls into:

  • Point Source air pollution control technologies
  • Ambient air pollution control technologies.

Point Source air pollution control technologies:

So, how do scrubbers remove pollutants? Scrubbers or Wet Scrubbers are devices that trap suspended particles through direct contact with the spray of liquid. Due to countless tiny droplets, the particulates collide and are washed away from the dirty airstream. There are several configurations of wet scrubbers are in use, namely, spray-tower scrubbers, orifice scrubbers, and venturi scrubbers. The efficiency of the scrubber depends upon the relative velocity between the droplets and the particulates.

Electrostatic Precipitators:

Scrubber and Electrostatic precipitators are generally used for removal of particulates from airstreams. In an electrostatic precipitator, as the particulates enter the unit, they get laden with electric charge and are then removed by the influence of an electric field. The charged particles are then attracted to collector plates carrying the opposite charge. The effectiveness of electrostatic precipitators in removing fly ash from the combustion gases of fossil-fuel furnaces accounts for their high frequency of use at power stations.

Baghouse Filters:

Baghouse filters are a collection of fabric-filter bags that remove suspended particulates from the air stream. A baghouse consists of an array of long, narrow bags of about 25 cm (10 inches) in diameter each. These are suspended upside down in a large enclosure. Dust-laden air is blown upward through the bottom of the enclosure by fans. Particulates are trapped inside the filter bags, while the clean air passes through the fabric and exits from the top of the baghouse. This method offers relatively high resistance to airflow, which leads to substantial energy usage for the fan system.

Ambient air pollution control technologies:

Pulsed radio wave based air cleaners:.

Pulsed radio wave air cleaners use pulsed radio waves in the WIFI spectrum to accelerate the natural clearance of particulate pollutants such as PM10 and PM2.5 in the air. This technology helps mitigate ambient air pollution without passing air through several filters before delivering clean air into the enclosed spaces. These air cleaners come with the advantage of zero maintenance. Only annual routine maintenance of air quality monitors is required. 

Pure Skies by Devic Earth:

Pure Skies

Devic Earth’s Pure Skies is a breakthrough technology that covers large areas that include fugitives. It addresses very large areas, cleaning ambient air pollution including fugitive and regular emissions. A clean sweep reduces air pollution by removing pollutants such as PM2.5 and PM10 as primary and NOx, and Sox as secondary pollutants. One unit of Pure Skies is sufficient to cover very large areas, at an affordable cost per unit area.

The technology behind Pure Skies is based on pulsed Wi-Fi. Pulsed radio waves are spread across the area to be covered, via base stations and extender units of Pure Skies. This air pollution control device operates in the normal Wi-Fi signal range and is completely safe. Further, it does not interfere with the activities of a manufacturing plant in any way. Pure Skies only accelerates the natural process of dry deposition, whereby minute particles of dust settle in the ground.

Know more about our breakthrough Pulsed Radio Wave-based Clean Air Technology: Pure Skies by Devic Earth.

Start your journey to sustainable mining.

Download our case study

(This article is Co-authored & conceptualized by Shashank Aggarwal, Priya Singh, Kiran Shinde & Ammu Prameela)

References:.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11721598/

https://www.britannica.com/technology/cement-building-material/Extraction-and-processing

https://www.eawag.ch/fileadmin/Domain1/Abteilungen/sandec/publikationen/Chemical_Pollution/ChemPoll-LAMICS_Chapter4.pdf

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Biden Administration Toughens Limits on Deadly Air Pollution

The E.P.A. says the new rule will prevent 4,500 premature deaths annually. Industry leaders are expected to challenge the regulation, saying it will harm the economy.

Industrial material with smokestacks in the distance.

By Lisa Friedman

The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday tightened limits on fine industrial particles, one of the most common and deadliest forms of air pollution, for the first time in a decade.

Business groups immediately objected, saying the new regulation could raise costs and hurt manufacturing jobs across the country. Public health organizations said the pollution rules would save lives and strengthen the economy by reducing hospitalizations and lost workdays.

Fine particulate matter, which can include soot, can come from factories, power plants and other industrial facilities. It can penetrate the lungs and bloodstream and has been linked to serious health effects like asthma and heart and lung disease. Long-term exposure has been associated with premature deaths.

The new rule lowers the annual standard for fine particulate matter to nine micrograms per cubic meter of air, down from the current standard of 12 micrograms. Over the next two years, the E.P.A. will use air sampling to identify areas that do not meet the new standard. States would then have 18 months to develop compliance plans for those areas. By 2032, any that exceed the new standard could face penalties.

“Soot pollution is one of the most dangerous forms of air pollution,” Michael S. Regan, the E.P.A. administrator, said in a call with reporters on Tuesday. “This is truly a game changer for the health and well-being of communities in our country.”

Mr. Regan estimated that the rule would prevent 4,500 premature deaths every year and 290,000 lost workdays because of illness. The E.P.A. maintained that the rule also would deliver as much as $46 billion in net health benefits in the first year that the standards would be fully implemented.

The tiny particles are known as PM 2.5 because they are 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller. By comparison, an average human hair is about 70 microns in diameter.

Harold Wimmer, president of the American Lung Association, called the rule “a step forward.” But he criticized the Biden administration for not going further, noting that science and health experts urged the E.P.A. to lower the standard for the annual average amount to eight micrograms instead of nine.

The new pollution limits could cause election-year complications for President Biden.

Business groups, which are expected to mount a legal challenge to the rule, argue that cutting pollution would crush manufacturing. That includes the roads and bridges funded by the 2021 infrastructure law, legislation that Mr. Biden often promotes. The rule also could make it harder to manufacture the electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines and other products that are central to the president’s climate agenda, they said. Mr. Biden has also made the resurgence of American manufacturing part of his campaign pitch.

At least two Democratic governors, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Laura Kelly of Kansas, wrote to Mr. Biden expressing concern about the rule’s economic impact.

Mike Ireland, president of the Portland Cement Association, which represents U.S. cement manufacturers, said the rule “would lead to fewer hours of operation at plants, which would mean layoffs, as well as less American cement and concrete at a time when the country needs more.”

Marty Durbin, the senior vice president for policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, predicted manufacturing “gridlock” and noted that wildfires and road dust, neither of which are accounted for in the rule, make up the bulk of fine particulate matter emissions. “This administration is creating obstacles to being able to achieve their infrastructure and climate objectives,” he said.

The U.S. Chamber has estimated that, under the tighter regulation, 569 counties would be out of compliance.

E.P.A. officials said that, by their count, as few as 59 counties might exceed the new standard. And most would be expected to fall within the acceptable range within a few years, they said — because other proposed regulations governing emissions from automobile tailpipes and power plants would also slash fine particulate matter.

“No doubt there will be a loud hue and cry from industry,” said Doris Browne, the former president of the National Medical Association, which is the largest U.S. organization representing Black physicians.

The new restrictions would especially help poor and minority communities, which are disproportionately located near industrial facilities, she said. “The new standard of nine will save lives,” Dr. Browne said. “That is the bottom line.”

The law requires the E.P.A. to review the latest science and to consider updating the PM 2.5 standard every five years, though it had not been strengthened since 2012 under the Obama administration.

The Trump administration did conduct a review. In a draft 457-page scientific assessment of the risks associated with keeping or strengthening the fine soot pollution rule, career scientists at the E.P.A. said that an estimated 45,000 deaths annually were linked to PM 2.5. The scientists wrote that if the rule were tightened to nine micrograms per cubic meter, annual deaths would fall by about 27 percent, or 12,150 people a year.

After the publication of that report, numerous industries, including oil and coal companies, automakers and chemical manufacturers, urged the Trump administration to disregard the findings, and it declined to make any changes.

Lisa Friedman is a Times reporter who writes about how governments are addressing climate change and the effects of those policies on communities. More about Lisa Friedman

Good neighbor? Polluting states want Supreme Court to pause Biden's plan to reduce smog

Three states are challenging an epa rule to limit pollution. clean air advocates worry they are seeing a repeat of what happened yeas ago, when trump killed obama's signature climate change plan..

how to prevent air pollution in mines

WASHINGTON − A showdown between states fighting pollution controls and states whose residents breathe their smog will hit the Supreme Court this week as it considers the Biden administration's controversial "good neighbor" plan to reduce ozone.

Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia want to pause the administration's attempt to combat smog-forming pollution that drifts into other states. But nine other states say a pause will exacerbate asthma and other health concerns for their residents and burden them with the high expense of pollution controls.

That’s the trade-off facing the Supreme Court on Wednesday when it considers the request from the three states and from industries to halt enforcement. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to put the plan on hold while its legality is being challenged.

One of the most widespread pollutants in the United States, smog is also one of the most dangerous, according to the American Lung Association . It causes breathing difficulties, worsens lung diseases and shortens lives.

More than 100 million Americans live in counties with repeated instances of unhealthful ozone levels, the main component of smog, according to the association’s latest report.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

A repeat of Obama's signature climate change policy, killed by Trump?

Clean air advocates fear a repeat of what happened to the Obama administration’s signature climate change policy. The Supreme Court put the Clean Power Plan on hold while it was being challenged, a delay that later allowed the Trump administration to scrap the plan.

“The Supreme Court’s taken a particular and distressing interest in environmental laws,” said Sam Sankar, senior vice president of the environmental group Earthjustice. “It's sort of saying, `Look, these things are guilty until proven innocent.’ And that's a new way for courts to be treating environmental regulations.”

The states challenging the regulations say they shouldn’t have to bear the cost of complying with what they call a “power grab” by the Biden administration. They argue the “Good Neighbor Plan” requires an excessive amount of pollution control and will eventually be struck down by the courts.

“The plan inflicts irreparable economic injuries on the states and others every day it remains in effect,” lawyers for Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia told the court.

Meanwhile, the increased reduction requirements are already on hold in 12 of the 23 affected states . Those states are separately challenging in circuit courts the Environmental Protection Agency’s rejection of their preferred pollution control plans.

The Biden administration imposed the “Good Neighbor Plan” on large industrial polluters in 23 states last year after rejecting 21 state proposals as ineffective. Two other states failed to submit a plan.

The federal program, the EPA told the Supreme Court, “strikes a proper balance between the interests of upwind and downwind states.”

Since the 1990s, the government has used "good neighbor" rules to take into account that pollutants can travel hundreds of miles, causing a significant share of the pollution in another state.

In Connecticut’s Fairfield County, for example, ozone-forming emissions from upwind states are responsible for as much as 57% of the area’s ozone, according to a brief filed by the downwind states of New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Though many upwind states can still use low-cost, widely available pollution control equipment, they argue, options are more expensive for states that are already heavily controlling their own emissions.

New York, for example, already requires controls that cost up to $5,500 per ton of pollutants reduced compared with the $1,600 per ton cost of controls required in the near term for sources in Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia, according to New York’s court filing.

The emissions come from coal-fired power plants, steel mills, cement factories, natural gas pipeline engines and other sources .

Without federal intervention, upwind states will engage in a “deregulatory race to the bottom to attract industry away from other states – at the expense of public health and welfare,” they wrote.

Ohio and the other states challenging the federal plan say it’s already “a disaster” because it has been put on hold in so many places.

Unless it’s paused everywhere, the states argue, they will have to spend too much time and money on compliance measures – including reporting requirements and issuing or updating permits – while waiting to see if the courts uphold the plan.

The tighter pollution limits also could leave states without sufficient power sources if power plants shut down because it’s too expensive to comply, according to the states.

“If the federal plan is unlawful, the state applicants should be relieved from the harms the plan is imposing now,” lawyers for Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia wrote in a filing.

The EPA told the court that many of the requirements don’t kick in until 2026. Near-term costs are not high and won’t jeopardize power supplies, according to the agency.  

By contrast, the government’s lawyers said, halting enforcement while the rule is being challenged could result in years of delay for significant emissions reductions.

And even though the plan is already on hold in some states, it can still be effective in the others, they said.

Most of the expected reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions from iron and steel mills, for example, would come from Indiana and Ohio.

“It would be great if we controlled all of the pollution sources, but it is absolutely good to control some of them,” Earthjustice's Sankar said. “Controlling pollution sources is always a good thing.”

One year later: President Joe Biden drinks the water in East Palestine a year after train derailment

Supreme Court weighs blocking a federal plan to cut smog pollution

In an unusual move, opponents of the rule have asked the highest court to pause the rule even as dozens of lawsuits in lower courts remain undecided..

how to prevent air pollution in mines

The trouble with air pollution is that it tends to travel — blowing downwind for hundreds of miles, entering the lungs of people living far from its source. Nitrogen oxides emitted by coal-fired power plants, for example, can waft across state lines and react with other chemicals in the atmosphere to form ozone, a potent pollutant and the main ingredient in smog. Last March, the federal Environmental Protection Agency issued a rule to rein in those downwind ozone pollutants in 23 states. But in the months since, states and fossil fuel industry groups have filed dozens of lawsuits to block the plan. As a result of this ongoing litigation, the agency’s ozone pollution reduction rule, dubbed the “Good Neighbor” plan , has been put on hold in 12 states, including Kentucky, Texas, and Utah. 

Those legal battles have now reached the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, as supporters of the rule demonstrated outside, attorneys representing the state of Ohio, the oil and gas pipeline company Kinder Morgan, the American Forest and Paper Association, and the manufacturing company U.S. Steel, among others, presented oral arguments before the Supreme Court. The groups want the court to grant what’s called an “emergency stay,” which would halt the Good Neighbor plan entirely — even in the 11 states already implementing the rule — while lawsuits in lower courts play out. 

The justices wouldn’t have a final say on the legitimacy of the EPA’s rule — that’s up to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which is currently wrangling with 18 related lawsuits on that question. But legal experts say that Wednesday’s oral arguments seem to indicate that the Supreme Court could end up wading into the validity of the Good Neighbor plan in its decision anyway, with untold public health consequences for residents of downwind states.

“The applicants are trying to get the Supreme Court to weigh in on the merits through this procedural stay application,” Zachary Fabish, senior attorney at the Sierra Club, told Grist based on what he heard at the court on Wednesday. “And the downwind folks in those states are paying the public health price.”

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A few justices commented on the plaintiffs’ unusual choice to argue in front of the Supreme Court before their pending litigation has been decided by the D.C. Circuit. The groups even admitted during oral arguments that they had requested a delayed briefing at the lower court so they could present their case to the Supreme Court first.

“It’s fairly extraordinary, I think, to be asking the court to decide this matter when you haven’t even lost below in terms of what is before the D.C. Circuit,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson told the plaintiffs . “So I’m trying to understand what the emergency is that warrants Supreme Court intervention at this point.”

how to prevent air pollution in mines

That emergency, the state and industry plaintiffs argue, mostly boils down to the costs of complying with the EPA’s ozone reduction plan. In 2015, the EPA updated the federal air quality standard for ozone, which sets strict limits for that pollutant nationwide. According to federal law, each state was required to submit a plan within three years of the updated standard describing how it would reduce the amount of ozone pollution blowing downwind to other states. If they failed to do so, or submitted inadequate plans, the EPA was obligated under the Clean Air Act to enforce the Good Neighbor rule to reduce downwind pollution in those states. By February 2023, the EPA had rejected 21 states’ plans ; another two, Pennsylvania and Virginia, did not submit one. 

In March, the agency issued the Good Neighbor plan for those 23 states, a rule that plaintiffs argued levies an unfair burden on states like Ohio and Indiana; oil and gas companies; and heavy industry. “In order to get into compliance with an unlawful federal rule, we are spending immense sums, both the states as well as our industries,” argued Ohio Deputy Solicitor General Mathura Sridharan. 

But Judith Vale, a deputy solicitor general for New York who argued in favor of the Good Neighbor plan, noted that the EPA’s rule helps address inherent cost imbalances between upwind and downwind states. In many cases, power plants and industrial facilities in upwind states in the South and Midwest would simply need to turn on existing pollution controls to come into compliance. Downwind states like Connecticut and Wisconsin, on the other hand, need to reduce their own pollution while also compensating for pollutants blowing into their jurisdiction. 

Often, those states have “already exhausted a lot of the less expensive strategies,” Vale said. “So they need to turn to more and more expensive strategies to find any further cuts.”

While Jackson and other liberal justices seemed to question challenges against the Good Neighbor plan, conservative justices like Justice Brett Kavanaugh appeared more sympathetic. In response to a point raised by Malcolm Stewart, a deputy solicitor general at the U.S. Department of Justice, that pausing the air pollution plan would disproportionately harm downwind states, Kavanaugh agreed but added that “there’s also the equities of the upwind states and the industry,” concluding that both sides had experienced irreparable harm.

Emissions from a coal-fired power plant blow into the distance

Fabish noted that the court’s decision to even schedule oral arguments for this case is highly unusual. The request for the emergency stay arrived on the Supreme Court’s “shadow docket,” a lineup of cases that, until recently , involved less consequential matters and got decided on without oral arguments, extensive hearings, or even explanations from the judges. But by asking for briefings and an oral argument, the court has created a kind of “process conundrum” for themselves, Fabish said. While the justices have some materials to base a judgment on, he noted they lack most of the evidence used in a typical case, such as extensive briefs, documents, and arguments. The justices also lack detailed opinions from a lower court, since the D.C. Circuit has yet to issue a decision.

All those factors, in addition to dozens of pending lawsuits related to the Good Neighbor rule in courts across the country, create a great deal of uncertainty around how and when the Supreme Court will rule on this application, Fabish said. Richard Lazarus, an environmental law professor at Harvard Law School, told Harvard Law Today that anywhere from four to six justices could agree to halt the rule, pointing to Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito as likely votes to do just that. Meanwhile, other justices worried aloud whether this case could encourage future plaintiffs to use the shadow docket as a venue to challenge environmental regulations. 

“I mean, surely, the Supreme Court’s emergency docket is not a viable alternative for every party that believes they have a meritorious claim against the government and doesn’t want to have to comply with a rule while they’re challenging it,” Justice Jackson said. 

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The EV shift could prevent millions of childhood asthma attacks

Biden’s climate law fines oil companies for methane pollution. the bill is coming due., atmospheric rivers are battering california. why don’t residents have flood insurance, bitcoin mining uses a lot of energy. the us government is about to find out how much., as states slash rooftop solar incentives, puerto rico extends them, los angeles just showed how spongy a city can be, a geothermal energy boom could be coming to chicago’s south side, cash-strapped university of arizona says climate action can wait, how air pollution delayed a surge in extreme rain, modal gallery.

There’s Only One Way to Fix Air Pollution Now

Clean-air rules just can’t keep up with climate change.

Dark afternoon smoke from the Alamo Fire burning in the nearby coastal mountains, within view of the Pacific Ocean, creates an eerie, surreal scene on July 9, 2017, near Santa Maria, California.

It feels like a sin against the sanctitude of being alive to put a dollar value on one year of a human life. A year spent living instead of dead is obviously priceless, beyond the measure of something so unprofound as money. But it gets a price tag in the world of economic models. Different agencies and organizations use different estimates—no one can seem to agree on the precise going rate. But according to the Environmental Protection Agency, a statistical lifetime is valued at about $11.5 million in 2024 dollars. By one new analysis, that translates to about $250,000 per year of living.

That’s important to know, because the EPA is in the business of calculating how much money is lost or saved by preventing people’s early demise through various environmental regulations. Making contaminated water safer and dirty air cleaner costs money, but the country also benefits financially by keeping people alive. In the EPA’s own language, the agency simply estimates how much people are willing to pay to reduce their risk of dying from exposure to an unclean environment.

Polluted air is particularly important to the life-cost calculus. Air pollution is associated with some 100,000 to 200,000 American deaths each year. Particulate matter from burning fossil fuels is responsible for roughly one in five deaths worldwide. In the U.S., those lost life years and other air-pollution-related damages amount to about 5 percent of GDP . The U.S. has largely decided that the cost is worth it, more than made up for by the financial benefits of keeping the economy moving. But a pair of new analyses suggests that we may be getting that calculus wrong—that air pollution is already a silent but severe tax on human life and will get only more costly as the world warms.

In the first report , economists at MIT, the University of Chicago, McMaster University, and the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009—despite causing profound economic hardship—actually increased Americans’ life expectancy. And the economic advantages of those added life-years might even roughly equal the economic costs.

Using county-level data focused on local labor markets, they found that every 1 percent increase in unemployment led to a .5 percent decrease in the death rate. Some regions saw larger benefits than others, and young people, whose lifetime earning power is especially harmed in any recession, were likely still harmed more than helped, at least in the short term. But older Americans, who have naturally higher mortality rates, got especially lucky. Out of every 25 Americans age 55, for instance, one appears to have received an extra year of life. On average, across all age groups, the recession reduced the American mortality rate by 2.3 percent.

The recession officially lasted just 18 months, but life expectancy stayed elevated for at least 10 years. And crucially, the researchers estimate that more than a third of the reduction in deaths resulted from fewer commuters hitting the road, as well as lower industrial activity and electricity generation—in short, a reduction in air pollution.

When the team applied the value of a life-year to the recession-induced longevity, they suddenly saw the recession differently: What Americans lost in income and purchasing power, they gained in life-years, Matthew J. Notowidigdo, an economist at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and an author of the paper, told me. “From a social-welfare perspective, they kind of even out.”

Remarkably, the recession seemed to even reduce the “ deaths of despair ” typically linked to economic downturns. For each 1 percent increase in the unemployment rate during the recession, deaths from drug overdose, liver disease, and suicide went down 1.4 percent in the years following it. The cleaner air of the Great Recession might have contributed: A recent study of suicide in China found that a major reduction in particulate-matter pollution during the country’s recent crackdown on pollution prevented some 46,000 such deaths in just five years.

The China study is not the first to link dirty air with suicide. And that makes sense, given the many connections researchers are now drawing between air pollution and cognitive outcomes. Ultra-small air-pollution particles known as PM2.5—so named because they are 2.5 microns or smaller in diameter, about 30 times narrower than a human hair—can cross the blood-brain barrier, and are linked to a suite of neurological harms. A 2023 paper found that Americans living in places with the country’s median level of PM2.5 air pollution had a 56 percent higher chance of developing Parkinson’s disease than those living in the cleanest air. High levels of PM2.5 appear to also be related to higher rates of dementia . In children, whose brains are still developing, exposure to PM2.5 has been associated with behavioral and cognitive problems.

Because particulate matter poses such a health risk, the U.S. has for more than half a century enforced rules limiting how much of it can leave tailpipes and smokestacks. Prior to the Clean Air Act, breathing was an outrageously hazardous activity in many towns and cities. On Halloween weekend in 1948, two dozen people suffocated to death in the city of Donora, Pennsylvania, when a windless weather pattern made pollution from the local zinc plant stall over the town.

Each year since the air-quality rules came into force, they have prevented nearly 250,000 premature deaths, staved off nearly 200,000 heart attacks, kept American adults at work a cumulative 17 million days, and boosted school attendance by 5.4 million days. But those benefits are now being swamped by another source of air pollution, one that’s far less directly manageable than cars and power plants: climate change. That’s the conclusion of a new report from the nonprofit First Street Foundation, which found that climate-change-fueled environmental conditions such as wildfires and ozone pollution are already reversing decades of air-quality gains for millions of Americans, a trend that will get worse for at least the next 30 years.

According to First Street, American air got better from the 1970s until 2016. Then, it began to reverse course. As the climate crisis deepens—specifically as more frequent, hotter wildfires bear down on the American West and as temperatures rise across the country—that degradation will continue. By 2054, the report projects, U.S. air quality will have degraded to what it was in 2004, wiping out years of progress. “We’re essentially adding back more premature deaths, we’re adding back more heart attacks,” Jeremy Porter, a demographer who serves as the head of climate implications at First Street, said during a webinar presenting the findings.

Read: A frightening new reason to worry about air pollution

The impacts will be worse across the West, where wildfires are set to cause the greatest increases in PM2.5 pollution. Pierce County, in Washington State, is projected to see 12 more days of poor air quality a year by 2054, the biggest increase in the country. The researchers defined poor air days as those with an Air Quality Index of 101 or above, the threshold at which the EPA says air becomes dangerous for sensitive groups (elderly people, children, and people with certain illnesses) and can impair lung function for a sizable portion of active, healthy people too. “Twelve days doesn’t sound like a lot, but you’re thinking about 12 more days being trapped in your house, not being able to go outside, worrying about the health consequences of being exposed to the poor air quality,” Porter said. California’s San Bernardino County came in second, with nine additional days, and Fresno County would add eight more days.

California is already experiencing the worst of what First Street called the “climate penalty” on air quality. Its number of “hazardous” air-quality days—the worst on the EPA’s Air Quality Index, indicating emergency conditions—increased from three in 2010 to 38 in 2021. “Very unhealthy” days, the next level down from “hazardous,” went from one to 17 over that period. The number of days designated as “unhealthy for sensitive groups” went up, from 15 to 55. And “good” air-quality days, when the air is considered safe for everyone to breathe, declined by 32 percent.

The First Street researchers described California’s situation as a glimpse into the rest of the country’s future under climate change, barring dramatic action to curb it. The East Coast and Great Lakes regions got a taste of that future last summer, when wildfire smoke blown over from Canada’s record burns turned the sky in some places a sickening orange. Notowidigdo told me that last year, he was working on the Great Recession paper when Canadian wildfires sent air quality plummeting in Chicago, where he lives. He and his kids were stuck inside, and wore masks if they had to go out. Still, the bad air got to them through their house’s walls.

Although clean-air rules served their purpose relatively well in the 20th century, today the pollution they regulate is being dwarfed by the consequences of a warming planet. You can’t put scrubbers on a wildfire. But you can cut off the fuel—climate change—coaxing them to get bigger. The faster the American economy moves away from fossil energy, the sooner the burns stop growing.

That transition will be expensive. But the science makes clear that Americans are already paying steep costs, and stand to pay even more in the coming decades. GDP, as Notowidigdo and his colleagues note, may be an incomplete proxy for the true health of society. As long as economic growth is linked to polluting industries, it will come at the cost of human health. As such, we live in a world where economic downturns can paradoxically save lives. But a country powered by clean energy could presumably prosper economically without killing people prematurely.

The air we breathe is worsening because of an expired calculation. Maybe it was always bunk. Now, preserving life depends on how quickly we can correct that equation.

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Supreme Court will hear challenge to EPA's 'good neighbor' rule that limits pollution

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Carrie Johnson

how to prevent air pollution in mines

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge from GOP-led states and industry groups seeking to block the EPA's "good neighbor" provision, which is designed to reduce smog and air pollution. Catie Dull/NPR hide caption

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge from GOP-led states and industry groups seeking to block the EPA's "good neighbor" provision, which is designed to reduce smog and air pollution.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Wednesday in an important environmental case that centers on the obligation to be a "good neighbor."

Lawyers representing three states, companies and industry groups will ask the justices to block a federal rule that's intended to limit ozone air pollution. Experts said it's only the third time in more than 50 years that the court has scheduled arguments on an emergency application like this one.

At the heart of the dispute is the part of the Clean Air Act known as the "good neighbor" provision. It's designed to help protect people from severe health problems they face because of pollution that floats downwind from neighboring states.

"Air pollution doesn't respect state borders," said Harvard Law School professor Richard Lazarus.

The facts of the case

States like Wisconsin, New York and Connecticut can struggle to meet federal standards and reduce harmful levels of ozone because of emissions from coal plant smokestacks, cement kilns and natural gas pipelines that drift across their borders.

"One of the primary reasons that Congress passed this law in 1970 was the one place you could not trust the states to do it on their own was when there was interstate air pollution," Lazarus said.

Vickie Patton, general counsel at the Environmental Defense Fund, said these bedrock protections can save lives.

"There are children, there are older adults, people who work outside in the summer and people who are afflicted by asthma who are at very, very serious risk, and this case is just about asking those upwind polluters to do their fair share," Patton said.

Utah is pushing back against ever-tightening EPA air pollution standards

Environment

Utah is pushing back against ever-tightening epa air pollution standards.

Three of those upwind states — Ohio, Indiana and West Virginia — alongside companies including Kinder Morgan Inc. and U.S. Steel Corp. want the Supreme Court to freeze the good neighbor rule while they pursue an appeal with a lower court in the D.C. Circuit.

The Supreme Court steps in early

Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas and author of a book putting these kinds of emergency actions by the Supreme Court into context, said the other two cases where the justices entertained arguments at this stage involved vaccine mandates during the coronavirus pandemic.

The good neighbor case, on the other hand, doesn't present those same kinds of issues, he said.

"If this is an emergency, what isn't?" Vladeck asked. "There are lots of federal polices that are going to have massive stakes and they're going to have massive stakeholders on both sides. It's not at all obvious why this case merits this kind of special treatment."

Traditionally, the Supreme Court goes last — after a case has made its way through the lower courts and a variety of facts and arguments have been aired.

"This case hasn't really gone very far at all," Vladeck said. "I mean, the only thing that's happened in the entire litigation to date is that the D.C. Circuit, the federal appeals court, refused to give the same thing that they're now asking the Supreme Court for, refused to basically pause the rule at the beginning of the litigation."

The rule in question

Lawyers for the states and companies challenging the good neighbor rule declined to talk before the arguments. In court papers, they call the EPA rule a "disaster" and "a shell of itself."

That's because the plan originally applied to 23 states. But lower courts have hit pause in about half of them for a bunch of different reasons, in separate litigation.

These lawyers said states shouldn't have to shoulder the costs for what they say is an unlawful federal mandate, criticizing the EPA for taking a "top-down" approach to the rule.

But environmental advocates say many of the obligations in the new rule won't kick in until 2026, giving big polluters a couple of years to prepare. The rule is already in force and protecting people in a number of states, they add.

Lazarus, at Harvard Law School, said to win a pause at the Supreme Court, the states challenging the rule will have to meet what's typically a high bar by showing they're likely to win on the merits and they're suffering irreparable harm.

A skeptical Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has narrowed the scope of the Clean Water Act

The Supreme Court has narrowed the scope of the Clean Water Act

Even so, Lazarus said, regulators and environmental advocacy groups have had a hard time at the Supreme Court over the past few years. First, the justices struck down the Clean Power Plan . Then, they slashed the EPA's jurisdiction over the Clean Water Act. And just last month, they seemed skeptical about another case involving regulations for the fishing industry.

"It certainly seems like a court is sort of on a juggernaut to cut back in an aggressive way on sort of federal environmental law," he added.

Patton, whose environmental group submitted a friend of the court brief in the case, said she'll be watching closely.

"Industry has a responsibility to be a good neighbor under our nation's clean air laws, and I hope the Supreme Court does not upend those protections," Patton said.

There's no clear timetable for a decision from the justices.

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Actions You Can Take to Reduce Air Pollution

Follow these tips every day to reduce pollution:.

  • Conserve energy - at home, at work, everywhere.
  • Look for the ENERGY STAR label when buying home or office equipment.
  • Carpool, use public transportation, bike, or walk whenever possible.
  • Follow gasoline refueling instructions for efficient vapor recovery, being careful not to spill fuel and always tightening your gas cap securely.
  • Consider purchasing portable gasoline containers labeled “spill-proof,” where available.
  • Keep car, boat, and other engines properly tuned.
  • Be sure your tires are properly inflated.
  • Use environmentally safe paints and cleaning products whenever possible.
  • Mulch or compost leaves and yard waste.
  • Consider using gas logs instead of wood.

On Days when High Ozone Levels are Expected, Take these Extra Steps to Reduce Pollution:

  • Choose a cleaner commute - share a ride to work or use public transportation.
  • Combine errands and reduce trips. Walk to errands when possible.
  • Avoid excessive idling of your automobile.
  • Refuel your car in the evening when its cooler.
  • Conserve electricity and set air conditioners no lower than 78 degrees.
  • Defer lawn and gardening chores that use gasoline-powered equipment, or wait until evening.

On Days when High Particle Levels are Expected, Take these Extra Steps to Reduce Pollution:

  • Reduce the number of trips you take in your car.
  • Reduce or eliminate fireplace and wood stove use.
  • Avoid burning leaves, trash, and other materials.
  • Avoid using gas-powered lawn and garden equipment.

You can also take steps to minimize your exposure to air pollution and protection your health.

  • Information on the health effects of ozone
  • Information on the health effects of particles
  • More Air Quality Index Publications

Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.

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20 Ways to Prevent Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution

how to prevent air pollution in mines

Since the Industrial Revolution, people have been polluting the Earth like never before. There is rarely a place today that has not been subjected to pollutants in one form or another.

Some pollution comes in a visible form, like pieces of plastic washed up on our beaches or illegal dumpsites in groves nearby large cities, other pollution comes in a hidden and perhaps even more dangerous form, in the air we breathe daily.

Our continuous existence depends on the clean air and yet our activities are constantly releasing extremely toxic particles that contaminate our atmosphere.

Polluted air is costing us lives

The issue has become so serious that scientists attribute a large number of deaths to ever increasing effects of air pollution. In fact, polluted air kills each year more people than malaria or tuberculosis [1] . Some cities are even shut down during certain parts of the year because the air is so toxic that it is impossible to function.

Another alarming record comes from New Delhi in India, infamous for its pollution exceeding safe air quality levels by 20 times on days when thick smog wraps around the city. According to a study by the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, almost half of Delhi’s children develop irreversible lung damage during their childhood years [2] .

To imagine the severity of the global pollution even better, there is an animal in the remote Arctic whose body contains one of the highest level of pollutants of any organism on this planet. The word is about a polar bear who is due to the global distillation effect exposed to anthropologically created pollution even in the most remote corner of the planet.

Although increasing number of countries enforce stricter regulations to prevent further emissions of air pollutants, there is still a lot to do on an individual level.

The key to have a healthier life is to adopt measures that do not pollute air so much because we all have a role to play when it comes to creating healthy environment for living.

Simple ways to reduce outdoor air pollution

Being aware and changing our habits is the only way to reversing negative actions we have adopted in our modern lifestyles. Even though some initiative needs to be taken by authorities, individual habits still can make a big impact. If not globally, they will make impact locally – directly in the environment where you live.

The following list will help you get started with the transition to improving the quality of your life by addressing the problem of air pollution and learning about ways of reducing it.

#1 Minimize air pollution from cars

Road transportation is one of the biggest emitters of nitrogen oxides. Oxides of nitrogen are closely monitored air pollutants with an adverse effect on the healthy lung development and the overall lifetime expectancy.

The problem of harmful emissions from cars can be felt especially in cities with heavy traffic. Personal diesel cars and smaller vans top the list of the dirtiest polluters in such instances.

As a driver you can help reduce the pollution from your car by sticking to a few of simple rules.

  • When you are out for a drive, do not idle your vehicle.
  • Drive less by combining trips, telecommuting, carpooling, or carsharing. A great idea is to bring your lunch to work, so you do not have to drive out during the lunch break, or agree with your co-workers on going to get lunch together.
  • Do not speed up or drive aggressively because that only produces more emissions.
  • If possible avoid driving out during rush hours.
  • When you are in the market to buy a new vehicle, consider buying a car that has done well on emission tests. In general, newer models have better fuel economy than older models because they are developed with the latest technologies.
  • Go away from diesel cars. Diesel cars emit more nitrogen oxides than petrol cars. That’s why some of the largest European cities have banned or are preparing to ban older diesel cars from their downtown .
  • If you want to choose the cleanest option, look into hybrid or all-electric cars. These cars should have a smaller ecological footprint than conventional cars do. Although it is important to realize that there are still some emissions involved. These are emissions from power plants that supply the electricity to power your e-drive.
  • Be sure to keep your car tuned and regularly replace air filters at recommended intervals.
  • Even something so easily overlooked as keeping your tires properly inflated plays a role in the amount of gases your car will emit. When the tires are not properly inflated, your car needs to burn more fuel and therefore pollutes the environment on a larger scale.

By following this advice you will definitely help reducing air pollution caused by cars, but you should still be aware that any car with an exhaust pipe will emit some amounts of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide into the air. Therefore, the most effective strategy to keep the air clean is to avoid driving your car when possible .

#2 Walk, bike or use public transportation to reduce air pollution

When you have the option, take public transportation to get to work. Many cities have already invested in a good public transportation network and by choosing public transportation (even just one or two days a week) you are helping to reduce the number of cars on the road.

Many municipalities also offer great benefits to encourage people to use their public transportation. Some commonly applied advantages are cheap long-term fares, shorter times to reach your destination, short waiting times, punctuality, and fares for free at certain hours, weekends or for seniors and students.

For example, the city of Vienna, Austrian capital, offers a yearly ticket to their extensive public transportation network for only 1 Euro a day (that is USD 1.14). This means that as a holder of the yearly card you can travel as much as you want in one day for just 1 Euro. Isn’t that wonderful?

*And a little insider tip: Your pup can travel with you for free when you have this card… 😉

Or German city Stuttgart lets students travel for free on weekends and after 6 pm every day.

Additional benefit to consider is that many cities place emphasis on lowering carbon emissions of their public transportation means. They invest in electric buses and other modern vehicles that enable them to do so. The website of the abundantly used public transportation in Vienna mentions that every person who switches to public transportation prevents 1,500 kg of carbon dioxide from being released into the air each year [3] .

Walking or riding a bike to get to work comes with numerous benefits for your wellbeing. You can take less frequent roads and backstreets to arrive to work sooner and less stressed than you would be if stuck in traffic. Both of these activities also contribute to maintaining active lifestyle and improving your self-confidence and health.

However, when biking or walking you should take into consideration the level of already existent air pollution along your route. If you cannot avoid too busy roads, it’s better to stick with public transportation because on bike you would directly breathe all the emissions produced by the heavy traffic.

#3 Save energy and make sure you use energy efficiently

In 2016, the International Energy Agency released a report with the key statement that “air pollution is an energy problem.”

Similar concept repeats in other scientific papers. For example, the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health published a study that lists a myriad of health problems arising from the air contamination due to the combustion of fossil fuels.

Burning of fossil fuels for energy production releases potent pollutants such as:

  • Sulphur dioxide
  • Nitrogen oxide
  • Black carbon
  • Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
  • Carbon dioxide
  • Particulate matter [4]

All of these substances are known to have negative impacts on human health and the environment.

That is why being mindful about your energy consumption matters . Decreasing your energy need will not only save you money on utility bills but more importantly will benefit your health in the long-term.

When you save energy, whether it is at home, at work, or while you are traveling, you are reducing production of many polluting substances as well as carbon emissions that make the air dirty and cause global warming.

Some effective strategies to lower your energy consumption to set you on the right track are:

  • Increase energy efficiency of your home Make sure you use energy efficiently. For a detailed information on energy efficiency, check our article on 10 Tips on How to Improve Energy Efficiency at Home .
  • M inimize the use of air conditioners Use air conditioners in the summer only when absolutely necessary. Air conditioners need much more power than fans do. Give a try to strategically placed fans and open windows at night to cool down your room.
  • Use appliances smartly Run your dishwasher and washing machine only when full and if possible at night. When running these appliances outside the peak hours, it is more likely that the biggest (and the most polluting) power plants won’t work because the demand for power is lower and can be covered from smaller power plants that often use newer technologies.
  • Switch to renewable energy Renewables are much cleaner version of power generation. The technology has made such a great progress that there are many affordable options and programs available for the residential use of renewable energy nowadays. For example, photovoltaic solar panels produce energy without emitting gases. So, if you switched to solar energy, you would lower your personal amount of emissions significantly – the exact number depends on how much of your total energy demand would be covered entirely from solar power.

#4 Take a good care of your wood stove or fireplace

If you own a wood burning stove or a fireplace, be sure to keep it well-maintained. When burning fire-wood in wood stoves, incomplete combustion often releases particulate matter of a very small size (less than 2.5 micrometer). These tiny particles are the most harmful to our respiratory tracts because they can easily get deep into our lungs, and for their small size may even enter our bloodstream.

Other noxious gases released from fireplaces and wood stoves are:

  • Carbon monoxide
  • Nitrogen oxides [5]

What amount of emissions your stove produces depends on:

  • The efficiency of the wood stove

Newer models are usually more efficient than older, improperly maintained models. Old wood stoves from 80s release three to six times more particulate air pollutants than newer stoves [5] . This is due to lower burning temperature and insufficient aeration.

You should also preferably have the stove (fireplace) installed by a professional with a necessary certification. This ensures that your stove will perform with the best efficiency and at the lowest risk of unwanted accidents.

  • The type and the condition of fuel you are burning

Dry firewood burns better than humid wood. It will thus emit less air pollutants. Also make sure you don’t burn wood with paint, glue or other coating because it could release additional toxins into the air.

Pellets made of compacted sawdust and wood waste are a less polluting and more heat-producing alternative to wood.

#5 Recycle and buy recycled products

Imagine all complex processes needed to create new items from scratch. You need to begin with mining for raw materials. Mined materials then need to be transported, cleaned from impurities, processed and treated until they can finally be transformed into desired products.

Each stage of the manufacture from raw materials is accompanied by emissions of polluting particles, heavy metals, chemicals and greenhouse gases.

It also takes more energy to make new items from raw materials, increasing the environmental footprint (including the air pollution that is produced) of those products, compared with those products that are made from recycled materials.

Since recycled products have already been extracted and processed once, manufacturing the same products the second time is much less-energy intensive and polluting.

#6 Consume less and choose sustainable products

A 2017 study published in the International Journal of Science highlighted that 22 percent of premature deaths caused by air pollution happened in countries that produce (cheap) goods for export to developed countries [6] .

European and North American love of cheaper gadgets from China actually killed more than 100,000 people in Chinese towns where factories manufacturing many of our favorite products are located [6] .

Higher levels of environmental pollution in these regions are often due to weak or lacking emission restrictions in place (which is also why these goods can be produced at a lower cost), but the air they are polluting is still part of the same air you are and will be breathing for as long as you are on this planet.

So, our consumption patterns affect pollution levels globally. Even if you haven’t ever traveled to China, your choice of products in your local supermarket will decide whether you encourage polluting businesses abroad.

Consuming less and thinking twice before buying new item is the best you can do for the environment and the air quality. If you need to buy new products, whatever they are, support local companies that are committed to sustainable manufacturing practices and reducing pollution in the air.

#7 Eat local and organic produce & eat less meat

In countries with intensively farmed lands, agriculture is the main emitter of ammonia and other nitrogen-containing compounds like nitrous oxide or nitric oxide. Livestock farming also emits high concentrations of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and non-methane volatile organic compounds.

Agricultural pesticides and fertilizers release Persistent Organic Pollutants, such as hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorocyclohexane and pentachlorophenol in the air [7] . Those names don’t sound that good, do they? Now, consider that the air you breathe may contains also these compounds with their complex names. There is nothing natural about that…

A study by the Earth Institute of Columbia University warns over health-damaging effects of gases emitted from conventional agriculture in combination with industrial emissions. The research says that when these pollutants combine together, they form fine particles that easily damage our respiratory system, leading to chronic health problems [8] .

Organic agriculture is not entirely emission-free as well, but the amounts of many pollutants are lower.

This is due to a number of reasons:

  • Nitrogen input to organic soils is lower, so even nitrogen compounds escaping into the air decrease.
  • Sustainable soil conservation practices such as no-tilling, green manuring and crop rotation help preserve nutrients in soils where they are utilized by plants instead of being lost into the environment as often happens in heavily tilled crops.
  • Healthy, well-aerated soils with good microbial activity have improved methane uptake.

If possible, consider buying organically-grown produce over the conventional one, and look for local products because this way you cut down emissions from transportation and energy needed to get the food on your plate.

A very important step to take in regard to your consumption pattern is to eat less meat . You may have heard already about the significant greenhouse gas footprint of the modern livestock industry. By going meatless some days a week or eating maximum 90 grams of meat a day, you will lower air pollution and will even benefit your health (and wallet – since plant-based diet is cheaper).

#8 Grow your own food and eat seasonal products

It is easy to get produce from all over the world these days. Just a quick trip to supermarket opens up a world of a great variety of exotic fruits, vegetables and spices. Although, having such a great diversity is wonderful, it always comes with a cost – in this case the cost of polluting the air we breathe by long-distance transportation.

Just think about it. Bananas imported from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras or other exotic destinations. Kiwis from Italy, Chile, New Zealand… Mangoes brought from Thailand, Philippines, India or Pakistan. These favorite fruits have to travel really long distances to make it to your supermarket.

One easy and fun way to make sure you have a nutrient-rich diet, which even helps offset some of the harmful emissions of the food industry, is to grow your own food. This way you will have direct access to fresh produce of your preference, and you will even be sure that what you eat is chemical-free.

If you are unable to grow fruits and vegetables due to time and/or space limitations, stick to the rule of eating mostly seasonal products that are native to your area. The reason for this is very simple – when in season, products will be more likely sourced from regional farmers.

#9 Plant trees

Trees around your house and in your neighborhood help reduce air pollutants significantly. Researchers from the University of Southampton measured the ability of trees in London to remove particulate pollutants from the air. Their findings were truly astonishing. Trees remove between 850 to 2,000 tons of harmful particles from the urban air each year [9] .

Except of removing the particulate matter, trees also decrease levels of nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and monoxide, ozone, benzene and dioxin.

Some of the most efficient tree “air cleaners” are large-growing species with leaves. For example, common ash, ginkgo biloba, oak, various linden trees and elms [10] .

Trees planted alongside roads or on the boundaries of your property also slow down polluted air from being carried far by wind. You can think of it as a protective shield formed by tree canopy. This way trees prevent spreading of air pollution over large distances. Then, they gradually filter the pollution at the spot without giving it much chances of contaminating neighboring areas.

But trees are not only natural air filters, they also cool down summer temperatures by a few degrees. Even the slightest temperature reduction can make a real difference in keeping the air clean, because many compounds and ground-level-ozone-forming chemicals are temperature dependent [11] . This means that they transform into pollutants only when outdoor temperature reaches certain level.

Additionally, cooler temperatures are more comfortable for our wellbeing, which makes trees a great substitute for energy demanding air conditioners.

#10 Raise awareness and become interested in local matters

Awareness-raising can be the first step to increase the knowledge of people around you and start the change in their attitudes towards mitigating the problem of poor air quality in affected areas.

As you can see most of these ways on dealing with air pollution are rooted in the consumer behavior. Often, all it takes is just being a little bit more aware of the impact of your personal decisions as a consumer on the air quality–even so far from you as on a different continent.

By making conscious consumer choices, your initiative can serve as a good example to your friends, family and community. This way you can become one of the initiators of a bigger change in your area.

Equally important is to express your support to public policies and representative politicians who work to protect the air and the environment. If you care about the quality of life in the place you call home, it is necessary to stay informed and take supportive actions for good causes.

Preventive measures of indoor air pollution: How to clean the air in your home?

When we think of air pollution, most of us think of poor outdoor air quality. However, did you know that indoor air is on average two to five times more polluted than outdoor air? This happens because the air circulation indoors is much lower than outdoors, which allows toxins from dust particles, vapors from cooking, painting or furniture dyes to accumulate inside our houses.

And since most of us spend so much time indoors, we are at a higher risk of developing health issues from the toxic indoor air . In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that 30 percent of global diseases are a result of indoor air pollution [12] .

For example, one of the most common indoor pollutants is formaldehyde. Sources of formaldehyde are everywhere around us. It can be found in furniture, insulation, textiles, wallpapers, glues, detergents, softeners, disinfectants, cosmetic products and even in electronics [13] . But did you also know that increased concentrations of formaldehyde cause irritations, asthma and eczema?!

It’s time to become more cautious about what pollutants you introduce to your life. And since you have already learned how to help reduce outdoor air pollution, it is time to have a look at some preventative measures that will teach you how to improve air quality in your home and office.

#1 Keep air purifying indoor plants

Very elegant solution to improving air indoors, that would also have a beneficial effect on our health, is keeping houseplants.

Many houseplants have the same ability as trees to metabolize air pollutants from indoor spaces as well as refresh air by removing carbon dioxide and replenishing oxygen levels. Plants with large leaves that originate from tropics and rainforests are especially effective in doing so.

Some examples of the best houseplants for cleaning indoor air are:

  • Spider Plants
  • Peace Lilies
  • Snake Plants (“Mother-in-Law’s Tongue”)
  • Elephant Ears
  • Weeping Figs
  • Rubber Plants
  • Bamboo Palms
  • Heartleaf Philodendron

Common indoor toxins these plants can absorb include compounds such as formaldehyde, xylene, benzene, trichloroethylene, toluene, octane and carbon monoxide [14] .

Can there be any easier solution how to get better air quality in your home than surrounding yourself by pretty flowers?

#2 Open your windows

Opening your windows fully at least once a day for three to five minutes can replace stagnant and polluted indoor air with fresh air from outside.

It is important to let the air in your house circulate even for short periods of time because this way you let accumulated toxins out and decrease humidity that gathers from many indoor activities like cooking, doing laundry or taking a steamy shower.

One of the common issues of well-insulated houses is that indoor-outdoor air exchange is entirely disabled. While this is a desired effect when it comes to preserving heat and energy, it is not the best for maintaining healthy air quality inside. If that’s the case, the stagnant air in your house needs to be refreshed once a while by opening windows to create a little draft.

Do not forget to open your windows to ventilate a room if you must use any volatile chemicals, such as those found in paint strippers and paints. Better yet, look for low- or no-VOC products to avoid being exposed to the toxic fumes from these products in the first place.

#3 Use natural products and non-toxic cleaners

When purchasing household products for your home and your yard, opt for the cleanest and greenest products that don’t contain any harmful polluting chemicals.

The majority of the air fresheners, detergents, paints, and cleaners on the market contain toxic substances, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), that easily vaporize into indoor air.

VOCs represent a variety of chemicals derived from petroleum, for example, formaldehyde, benzene, perchloroethylene and chlorofluorocarbons.

These chemicals not only pollute indoor air, they can be detrimental to your and your pets’ health. Some symptoms include irritations, nausea, dizziness, asthma, liver and kidney failures, central nervous system damage and cancer [15] .

To minimize your exposure to these chemicals, choose products that have been made with natural substances, and do not produce harmful fumes.

When seeking out natural products, resources such as the Environmental Working Group’s Guide to Healthy Cleaning and the United States Environmental Protection Agency Safer Choice page are great places to learn about the product safety.   A few great tips to stick to:

  • Opt for no-VOC or low-VOC paints, stains, finishes, paint strippers, and glues. Paint with a brush rather than spray.
  • Instead of using chemical-filled air fresheners, use essential oils, herbs and flowers to make your home smell nice.
  • Use green cleaning products instead of conventional chemical-filled products.
  • Use perfumes moderately or not at all. Perfumes consist of a number of synthetic chemicals that when being sprayed in the air break down into harmful compounds. You can learn more here .

#4 Use essential oils

Essential oils are potent plant extracts that can be used for many purposes, including cleaning, purifying and freshening indoor air. They also offer an eco-friendly, healthy, and often more effective alternative to many chemical and synthetic products.

Using high quality essential oils in a diffuser will not only produce a nice scent throughout a room, you will also gain many health benefits from the complex natural compounds that the essential oils contain. For example, lavender oil with eucalyptus oil have calming properties; peppermint and chamomile oils are good for digestion and relieving symptoms of cold; rosemary oil improves concentration and memory.

You can also use essential oils to make your own homemade cleaning products and personal care products. Some favorite oils that have been used for skin and hair are rose, cedarwood, thyme or clary sage oils.

For purposes of purity, safety, and to experience the most benefits, be sure to use only therapeutic grade essential oils from a reputable company.

#5 Test your home for radon

Radon is an invisible, odorless and radioactive gas that naturally seeps up from the soil and bedrock of the Earth. It is one of the products of the radioactive decay of uranium, which can be found naturally in all rocks on this planet.

Most houses draw less than one percent of their indoor air from subjacent soils, but when your house is built on a highly permeable soil and foundations are not properly sealed, more than 10 percent of indoor air can come from the ground. This can lead to increased radon accumulation in the indoor air, even though its concentration in the soil is within safe limits.

It is good to know that radon can also seep from some building materials, such as granite countertops, alum shale concrete or volcanic tuff [13] .

Radon is after smoking the second most frequent cause of lung cancer [13] , so it is important to have your home tested for it. The testing procedure is very simple and inexpensive.

When radon levels in your house are above limits, some mitigation strategies for reducing its concentration need to be applied. One reliable technique is ‘ Active soil depressurization , ‘which draws radon from beneath the foundation and emits it outside.

#6 Do not smoke indoors

Do not smoke inside your home. Cigarette smoke contains up to 70 carcinogenic substances and toxins that remain in the indoor air for a long time.

Passive exposure to the cigarette smoke can also cause serious health problems to other family members and pets.

Some of the health deteriorating compounds found in smoke include lead, arsenic, ammonia, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. By smoking in a confined space, the level of these compounds quickly exceeds safe limits without you even realizing the danger associated with inhaling them.

For example, nitrogen dioxide contributes to seemingly unrelated health problems such as ear infections and development of food allergies in children.

#7 Keep indoor humidity low

We do many activities at home that make rooms damp. But did you know that in humid environments hundreds of different bacteria species, fungi and molds thrive? And that breathing their spores affects the health of your skin and respiratory tract?

Keep your home dry to prevent mold and mildew from proliferating. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends keeping an indoor humidity level of 30 to 60 percent.

You can do this by opening windows to exchange air inside your house. Remember that stagnant air retains all the moisture from your activities, so you should allow proper air movement by creating a draft inside at least once a day.

Use exhaust hoods or fans to reduce the level of moisture that can travel throughout the air when you cook or take shower. When showering, keep the bathroom door closed to not let excess humidity out. Rather leave the fan remove the moisture after you finish the shower.

Also, when possible dry your clothes outside.

If necessary, use a dehumidifier to reduce the humidity level of your home. If anything else have failed, this could be the solution to your problem with high humidity.

#8 Vacuum clean with a HEPA filter

It may sound surprising, but some vacuum cleaners actually contribute to indoor air pollution.

Yes, that’s right.

Vacuum cleaners without a proper filter, that would allow small particles escape back into the air, only worsen home air quality by stirring and redistributing pollutants.

To be sure you are not causing more harm when cleaning your house, use a vacuum cleaner that has a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) or ULPA (Ultra Low Penetration Air) filter.

HEPA filters should be able to capture 99.7 percent of particles as small as 0.3 micrometers. ULPA filters perform even better by retaining 99.9 percent of particles of 0.12 micrometers in size [16] .

The design and cleaning efficiency are also important criteria. No HEPA filter will perform as promised if the vacuum cleaner is not properly sealed. Only well-sealed vacuum cleaners direct all collected particles to pass through the filter.

When looking for a new vacuum cleaner, make sure that it contains the real HEPA filter and not something labelled misleadingly as “HEPA-like” or “HEPA-type” filters. Beware of this marketing trick to confuse customers, as these types of filters might not comply with the standards of removing the most harmful particles.

#9 Keep your home dust free

Do you know where dust comes from and how come it always reappears in your home?

According to researchers, most household dust is a mixture of organic matter and particulate matter from outdoor air, which is brought inside every time you, other family members or your pets come from the outside [17] .

What should you imagine under this label?

Well, let’s see… It includes tiny particles like dead skin cells, pet dander, microscopic soil particles from your shoes, decomposing organic materials, microfibers from clothing, bacteria, molds, and dust mites.

Scientists have also found traces of many chemicals in common household dust. These chemicals usually originate from cleaning products, plastic items, paints, oil, cosmetics, pesticides or other products commonly used at home.

No one can write down a precise list of compounds contained in dust since they differ based on the area where you live, your lifestyle and your household, but every time you walk across a room, your kids play, pets run around, dust gets suspended into the air, from where it can be easily inhaled by you and your children.

You cannot prevent dust from entering your house, but you can minimize chances of your exposure to it by regular cleaning. Vacuum cleaners with HEPA filter should help in retaining most of the harmful particles (read the previous section to learn more about them).

Do not forget to clean your heating and air conditioning filters, ducts, and vents regularly as well. It will reduce particles accumulated over the time from re-circulating throughout the air in your home.

#10 Use air purifiers with HEPA filter

If you live in an area with poor outdoor air quality, it’s worth considering the use of air purifier at home. On critical days when authorities issue health warning, you should keep your windows closed and use air purifier to minimize the risk of breathing polluted air.

For example , a two-year study in Salt Lake City , which chokes under a thick blanket of smog on cold winter days when inversion hits in, has found out that air purifiers with HEPA filters reduced fine-particulate matter (PM2.5) in observed households by 55 percent.

Similar results were confirmed by other studies, coming to a conclusion that at least 50 percent of particulate matter can be removed by a high-efficiency air filtration system [19] .

Most modern air purifiers work with a multilayer filter system, consisting of a prefilter, a carbon filter, an antibacterial filter and a HEPA filter [19] . You can even find some ENERGY STAR purifiers on the market that offer better energy efficiency.

So, there are plenty of options to choose from.

Final words

Do not take the quality of the air you breathe every day lightly. It is easy to overlook your own health when other daily chores demand your immediate attention. But do not forget that throughout one day around 10,000 liters of air enter your lungs and take part of the most important metabolic processes in your body [18] .

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About greentumble.

Greentumble was founded in the summer of 2015 by us, Sara and Ovi . We are a couple of environmentalists who seek inspiration for life in simple values based on our love for nature. Our goal is to inspire people to change their attitudes and behaviors toward a more sustainable life. Read more about us .

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Air Quality Management

Air Quality Management in Mining Areas

To minimize dust generation during mining processes, modern technologies are adopted and regularly monitored – surface miners, fog canons, mist sprayer, wheel washing, mechanised road sweeper, CAAQMS, wet drilling to minimize dust generation. Drill machines are also fitted with dust suppression system. More and more use of surface miners/BWEs minimizes the requirement of drilling and blasting and thus the pollution load. Periodical maintenance of vehicles is carried out as per Manufacturer’s standards to minimize the emissions.

Fig. Surface Miner with water jets, Gevra OCP, SECL

Dust suppression systems are installed at loading, transfer and unloading points in mines. Additionally, water-spraying systems for arresting fugitive dust in washeries, CHPs, Feeder Breakers, Crushers, belt conveyors, haul roads and coal stock areas are installed.

Fig. Air pollution control measures Nigahi OCP, NCL

All roads connecting mines, CHP’s, workshops and colonies have been black topped to prevent dust from becoming airborne.Mist spray systems have been introduced and the trucks are being covered by tarpaulin. Fog canon, wheel washing system, mechanical road sweepers etc. are being deployed for control of air pollution.During FY 2021-22 to FY 2023-24 (till October, 2023) Coal/Lignite PSUs have deployed/installed 413 mist sprayer/fog canon, 16 wheel washing, 26 mechanical road sweeper and 78CAAQMS.

Black topped road

Coal companies are commissioning First Mile Connectivity (FMC) Projects aimed to replace the system of convention loading & road transport with rapid mechanized loading system with transport through Rail/MGR/Conveyors/tube conveyor network. Some of the projects have already been completed and others are in pipeline. These projects are not only minimizing air pollution but also results in substantial reduction in carbon footprint.

Nigahi OC of NCL: Closed Belt Conveyor System and then rapid loading system

Dust generation from the OB dump due to wind is controlled significantly by planting grasses on slopes and plants on dump top soon after their formation. Avenue plantation is raised along roads for dust control. Plantation is done around the quarry and OB dumps, which serves as a barrier to prevent the dispersion of air borne dust. Wind screens have been created to restrict the movement of dust within a limited area.

Fig. Wind screen at Phulbasia Siding, Magadh Area, CCL

The ambient air quality in and around coal mines is routinely monitored as per statutory stipulations and their results are shared with regulatory agencies. Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Systems (CAAQMS) have also been installed in opencast mines which are connected to SPCB websites for real time monitoring of Ambient Air Quality Parameters. Additional pollution control measures are undertaken, if required, to bring the air quality level within permissible limits.

Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Systems (CAAQMS) at Nigahi OC

With various emission control and mitigative measures in place, the standards of ambient air quality in and around mining areas are maintained within the prescribed limits.

Air Quality Data

IMAGES

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    Fig. Air pollution control measures Nigahi OCP, NCL Fig. Feeder Breaker with Mist Spraying Arrangements at Gevra OCP, SECL. All roads connecting mines, CHP's, workshops and colonies have been black topped to prevent dust from becoming airborne.Mist spray systems have been introduced and the trucks are being covered by tarpaulin.