Trace-Element Geochemistry of Coal Resource Development Related to Environmental Quality and Health (1980) / Chapter Skim
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SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Pages 1-10
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Annual consumption of coal in the United States is currently about 600 million metric tons, of which about two thirds are used in electric power qeneration. The production and use of coal in the United States is projected to double in the next decade.
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Dust-control measures currently used in the United States are expected to prevent severe health hazards. Residues remaininq from coal cleaninq and preparation usinq current methods are site-specific problems dependent on local qeochemical conditions, climatic conditions, and the type of coal treated.
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ELEMENTS OF MODERATE CONCERN D ELEMENTS OF MINOR CONCERN llIIIIll RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS, GENERALLY CONSIDERED TO BE OF MINOR CONCERN BUT ADEQUATE INFORMATION IS LACKING FOR PROPER ASSESSMENT [] ELEMENTS OF CONCERN, BUT WITH NEGLIGIBLE CONCENTRATIONS IN COAL ANO COAL RESIDUES D ELEMENTS OF NO IMMEDIATE CONCERN FIGURE 1 Potentially hazardous elements in coal resource development.
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Because levels of radioactivity associated with these elements during coal resource development are not significantly different from those commonly found in nature, and because they are in a geochemically immobile form, their effects on health ar= thought to be negligible. Available information on other radioactive elements such as radon, radium, and polonium suggests that the effects of their radioactivity associated with coal resource development are minimal1 however, because adequate information is lacking, the Panel has classed these radioactive elements in a category requiring additional information for conclusive assessment.
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. Near-term development of coal in the United States will be principally at western sources where surface mininq is widely practiced.
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saits could accumulate, and soil salinization could occur and cause reduced productivity. Because of increased exposure and porosity from strip mining, boron concentrations in surface waters and groundwater couid reach levels that would damage boron-sensitive crops.
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(Photo courtesy Pennsylvania Power Company.) tl conversion in the United States are still in the 1e.
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For example, arsenic and mercury are of no concern for coal mines and coal-fired power plants in the Northern Great Plains; however, close monitoring and possible regulation of arsenic in mines in the Appalachian and Interior provinces and of mercury in the Appalachian, Interior, and Gulf provinces may be necessary. Clearly, adequate information on coal is now available to use the bed-specific, site-specific approach in assessing related health hazards.
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7. The Panel also recommends that individual researchers in academic, industrial, and government organizations and administrators responsible for planning federal agency programs give particular attention to the following research and data needs that would improve the safe and effective exploitation of coal resources (the sequence of listing is not intended to signify relative priorities)
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and to take appropriate corrective action, even thouqh substantial proqress toward correctinq AMD has been made. • To extend coal-ash disposal studies and to enhance evaluations of the impact of coal residues on the quality of soils, veqetation, and surface and underqround waters, field-plot studies on aqricultural land with coal ash containinq notable amounts of possibly deleterious trace elements are needed.
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