Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Reporting Initiative, and (d) the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
These indicators were divided into economic, environment, and social categories for
several components. The environment indicators for sustainability were (a) ecosys-
tem health based on soil erosion and species diversity, (b) the availability of natural
resources such as minerals, (c) the effect of the company on the ecological amenity, and
(d) sustainability. The features included for the environment sector were a tailings pond
reclamation, and a drainage water treatment plant. Reuse, recycling, and safe handling
of all products are practiced. The Mark Creek is now been carefully landscaped with
a golf course. A Sullivan Mine Public Liaison Committee was formed to ensure public
participation in the process.
Four fatalities occurred at this site in May 2006 in a seepage monitoring station that
was hydraulically connected to an acid generating waste rock. Various studies were com-
pleted to determine the cause of the asphyxiation deaths in the shed (Hockley et al., 2009).
Reactions occur within the waste piles that lead to hazardous gas production. Gas lows
are induced due to temperature differences and depletion of oxygen and moisture in the
pore spaces. Therefore, physical and chemical factors must be considered for storage of
waste rock.
Another example of the practice of sustainability (Stanton-Hicks, 2001) can be found
in an iron industry at another site in Australia (Pilbara). A theoretical model (CSIRO)
Glass earth
Sustainable collection/extraction
Rehabilitation
Zero air/water
emissions
Zero emissions during
minerals and energy
processing
Renewables
recycled
materials
Distributed
energy
Enhanced materials and
energy end use
Goals
Social acceptability,
minimal energy use
no deleterious emissions
FIGURE 13.9
Concept of the CSIRO model. (Adapted from Stanton-Hicks, E.,
Sustainability and the Iron Ore Industry in the
Pilbara: A Regional Perspective. Sustainability and Mining in Western Australia
, Institute for Sustainability and
Technology Policy, Murdoch University, 2001.)
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