Types of Mining and Fracking
Robin Batsuli, Elizabeth Durkee, Heli Kavi
Surface Mining
Effects: For strip mining, scraping away layers of the Earth destroys landscapes and leads to soil erosion. This destroys agricultural land. For all types of mining, chemical contamination from the extraction can also destroy the land. The dust and noise pollution from heavy machinery is problematic as well.
Strip
Open Pit
Mountaintop Removal
Subsurface Mining
Effects: Underground mining can cause waste to be brought up to the surface. The mine could collapse and cause serious damages to the surroundings. Coal mining also creates greenhouse gases.
Slope
Drift
Shaft
Fracking
Fracking causes controversy because as we find this new resource, we also waste water and release carcinogenic chemicals. 1-8 million gallons of water are used EACH fracking job. 40,000 gallons of chemicals are used for each fracking job. This process can also cause small earth tremors. It distracts us from finding a renewable and non-damaging resource. Fracking also has advantages such as making oil production go up and reducing gas prices. However, the source of oil is not permanent.