Coal seam groundwater concernsThe mining and burning of coal: effects on health and the environment
Clinical Focus:
“The mining and burning of coal: effects on health and the environment”
Environmental damage, water and health:
Coalmining poses a significant threat to the integrity of aquifers, which may be hydrologically connected to other groundwater-dependent ecosystems including farm dams, bores and rivers. Water from coalmines must be disposed of and waste material is often held within the surface lease of a mine, introducing a risk of contamination of human food sources. Pollution of the environment can also occur through windblown dust during transportation, where coal is washed and at export ports. In 2010, coal seam gas operations in Queensland were held up at two sites because groundwater had become contaminated with a potentially dangerous combination of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX).9 Similar contamination occurred after an underground coal gasification trial near Kingaroy.10 The Queensland government has recently banned BTEX chemicals from coal-bed fracturing fluids.