‘Moonscapes and Bleeding Streams’

Abandoned Mine Lands…

• 280,000 acres–3 times the size of Philadelphia
• Pennsylvania has 1/3 of the national problem across the country
• It will take a conservative estimate of $15 billion dollars to clean it all up
• Impacts ecological balance of the environment–especially water quality
• Many different health & safety hazard

Abandoned Mine Drainage…

• Forms when surface water comes in contact with coal material, pyrites, & air.
• Contains iron, aluminum, manganese, & sulfates
• pH levels sometimes below 3
• Impacts over 5,000 miles of streams
• >Pennsylvanias single largest non-point source water pollutant

Highwalls & Water-filled Pits…

• Highwalls are cliff-like banks at old strip mines
  • Can be hundreds of feet high
  • Deaths & injuries from falling
• Water-filled pits are found at the base of highwalls
  • Sometimes popular recreation spots
  • Drownings occur because of trespassing to close

Subsidence…

• Moving, shifting, cracking or sinking of the earth
• Wooden support structures or pillars in old deep mines decay & collapse
• Changes in mine pool levels can be the cause
• Buildings on the surface shift, crack, sink or collapse along with the land
• Water supplies & other utilities may be affected or damaged

Open shafts…

• Surface openings of old deep mines
• May be camouflaged by overgrown brush or covered in ice
• Can be hundreds of feet deep
• Usually contain water at the bottom
• Falls, Entrapment and Drownings can occur
• Curious past mining relics to children

Refuse Piles…

• Material left over after coal was mined or processed (slate, shale, sandstone)
• Contain coal & rock
• Runoff from piles causes mine drainage
• One pile can cover many acres
• Destroy natural landscape & create wastelands
• Some piles take on the formation of a mountain range

Mine Fires…

• Refuse piles or exposed coal seams catch fire
• Illegal garbage or brush is dumped in these abandoned areas and set on fire
• Pennsylvania has 45 known deep mine fires statewide
• Dangerous gases can be released or seep into homes (ex. carbon monoxide)
• Cause subsidence after underground mine pillars burn

Old Equipment & Structures…

• Abandoned mine equipment & processing buildings
• Buildings are often deteriorated, unstable & dangerous and can contain asbestos
• Attract curious visitors
• Drag lines, shovels, and dump trucks look like an abandoned sand box from the air