Lignite Surface Mining in the Southeastern Saskatchewan Region: An Environmental Impact Analysis
Coal is a major source of energy recoverable from the Earth's crust. Indeed, the material currently plays a significant role in the economies of both the United States and the world. It is likely to become even more important in the next century. The conterminous United States have thus been divided up into 28 coal regions. These various areas are further grouped into six larger coal provinces. Of the six, the Northern Great Plains Coal Province is rapidly becoming the nation's primary coal producing region.
The Federal Commission has been charged with the responsibility of deciding whether a consortium of mining companies will be allowed to develop certain lignite deposits within the Northern Great Plains Coal Province. The site in question occurs in a rural area of southeastern Saskatchewan near the border between Manitoba and North Dakota. This region's land surface is flat to gently undulating; the geologic strata are relatively horizontal. Extensive lignite deposits occur in 4 main seams under an overburden of glacial sands and clays. The seams are each several meters thick and are separated vertically by poorly consolidated siltstones and sandstones. The overburden ranges from a few meters to 20 meters in thickness.
The Commission must evaluate whether or not the economic benefits derived from mining operations will outweigh any potential for environmental degradation. At present, the local economy primarily consists of cattle ranching, with the production of cereal crops in flat lying areas. The mining consortium maintains that it will create 250 new jobs for the region's local people.
Opponents of development insist that strip mining will irreparably damage range and agricultural land, and eventually produce useless tracts of badlands. In addition, they are concerned about mine drainage. Surfac...