Abandoned Mine Drainage in Pennsylvania.

¶ … abandoned mine drainage in Pennsylvania. The writer explores the issues and then makes recommendations about how to approach the issue from a nursing standpoint. There were five sources used to complete this paper.

Abandoned Mine Drainage in Pennsylvania

The issue of abandoned mine drainage in Pennsylvania dates back several decades but it was not until the 1990's that environmentalists and politicians began to work in tandem to address the issues (AMD (http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/envirosci/enviroissue/amd/links/scope.html).

Abandoned mine drainage, sometimes referred to as acid mine drainage occurs when the runoff waters include waste products from the abandoned mines (Acid Mine Drainage: Research Looks at Remediation, Manual Provides How-Tos on Site (http://www.ruralpa.org/news0303.html).It is a problem throughout the United States, wherever there are abandoned mines however, Pennsylvania's issue is one of the largest in magnitude in the nation.

A abandoned mine drainage (http://www.newsitem.com/scra/html/what_s_a.m.d..html)

Of the 67 counties within Pennsylvania, 45 are affected by coal mining. Abandoned Mine Drainage (AMD) pollutes approximately 3,000 miles of streams. It has been estimated that it would cost $15 billion to solve the abandoned mine problems within Pennsylvania alone. AMD is now the number one source of non-point water pollution within the Commonwealth (AMD (http://www.leo.lehigh.edu/envirosci/enviroissue/amd/links/scope.html)."

The department of environmental resources conducted studies in the early 1970's and began to push for help acid mine drainage (http://www-ucdmag.ucdavis.edu/win00/Feature_Mining.html)

HEALTH HAZARDS

The problem of abandoned mine drainage extends not only to the plant and animal life it touches but to those populations that eat and use the resources. The drinking water supplies are also being impacted.

The community is affected when the water supplies are tainted by the run off. This can include dying fish, contaminated fish, contaminated drinking supplies and destroyed vegetation in the area.

The health effects that can be directly linked to the issue include health hazards through the consumption of the tainted fish or foliage. In addition, the drinking water supply creates a health hazard especially to pregnant women or people with already compromised immune systems.

One contributing factor to the problem is the environmental damage and long-term impact that damage will have to natural resources.

The populations that could be most at risk include pregnant women and people with already weakened immune systems as well as the elderly and the very young.

Several agencies could help investigate the problem and are doing that.