The Range of Environmental Concerns - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 519

FIGURE 13.1
Environmental and Social Concerns
are Many and Varied

Mining affects the physical, socio-
cultural, socio-economic, and ecological
spheres, and the environmental assess-
ment of a new mine should give justice
to impacts on all of them.

eroded by wind, degrading air quality. Furthermore, tailings impoundments may inun-
date large land areas, physically displacing or burying local fauna and l ora.
Frequently the required EIA format of the host country mandates how impacts are
grouped, which can lead to tedious repetition, due to the requirement to discuss each
occurrence of an impact rather than as part of a signii cant group. In this chapter, however,
impacts are grouped according to activity as well as according to the affected environmen-
tal component, depending on the most appropriate approach to discussing a given group.

CASE 13.1
The Bunker Hill Mine Complex in Idaho, USA

The Bunker Hill Mine complex is located in northwest
Idaho in the Coeur d'Alene Region, and has a legacy of
a century of mining-related contamination. Operations
ceased in 1982, and the EPA declared much of the area a
Superfund site in 1983. The complex produced lead, zinc,
cadmium, silver, and gold, as well as arsenic and other
minerals and materials. Much of the mining pollution was
caused by the dispersal of mining wastes containing such
contaminants as arsenic, cadmium, and lead into the fl ood-
plain of the Coeur d'Alene River, acid mine drainage, and
a leaking tailings pond. Soils, surface water, groundwater,

and air became contaminated by these metals, leading
to health and environmental effects. Lead, in particular,
was noted for its health effects on children in the area.
EPA reports concerning lead poisoning state that experts
believe blood levels as low as 10 micrograms per decilitre
( µ g/dL) are associated with children's learning and behav-
ioral problems. High blood lead levels cause devastating
health effects, such as seizures, coma, and death. Blood
levels of children in areas near the complex ranged from
about 35 to 65 µ g/dL in the early 1970s to less than 5%
of that fi gure in 1999, as remediation efforts progressed.

EPA reports also state that children are at a greater risk
from exposure to lead than adults because, among other
reasons, children absorb and retain a larger percentage
of ingested lead per unit of body weight than adults,
which increases the toxic effects of the lead. Efforts by
the federal government, the state of Idaho, and industry
to remediate contaminated areas associated with the site
are ongoing.

Source: Thomson Gale 2006