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coal |
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serious
accident in us coal mine - 2 miners missing |
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West Virginia
explosion traps 13 coal miners |
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blasting
for coal |
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in China |
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65 trapped
in Mexico |
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carbon
capture and storage - filthy coal is a cheaper power source,
and far nastier |
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black
lung disease |
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what
is black lung disease? |
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sickness and death
from coal worker’s pneumoconiosis |
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burning
solid fuels at home |
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radiation
from coal |
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oil |
storage |
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transport |
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the prestige
disaster - heavy fuel oil strewn at sea |
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oilpipe
rupture - again |
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pollution
and asthma |
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discussion
The track record for fossil fuel production is far worse
than that of other fuel production, in particular nuclear
fuel. Fossil fuels are not clean or safe in their
extraction, transport, storage and waste generation. This
document lists some of the disasters that have occurred
recently at various stages of creating fossil fuel-based
energy. Fossil fuels are, of course, strongly implicated
in global warming
concerns. Also compare with much lower evidence of serious
disasters linked to the nuclear
generation industry.
While not discussed in this document, keep in mind that
the steadily
dwindling of fossil fuel resources is also a driving
factor behind inter-state friction and the vast costs
of associated military actions.
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coal
in the United States of America:
serious
accident in us coal mine - 2 miners missing [January
2006]
“Doug Conaway, the director of the state's Miners'
Health, Safety and Training, said that on Thursday just
before 6 p.m., a monitor picked up a reading of carbon
monoxide and a directive was issued for the crew to
get out. This was about 10,000 feet into the mine and
about 900 feet underground.
“As they started toward the outside they were
all together and encountered light smoke," said
Mr. Conaway. At that point, the crew donned their personal
rescue gear, he said.
“The smoke became very heavy at that point in
time," he said. "For some reason the other
two individuals got separated from the other 10."
”
West
Virginia explosion traps 13 coal miners [December
2005]
“CHARLESTON, West Virginia (Reuters) - An early
morning explosion at a West Virginia coal mine trapped
13 miners more than a mile (1.6 km) underground on Monday
and rescuers struggled to reach them.”
blasting
for coal
“We are certain that Montana is going to put
its gasification plants on the back burner and even
though Tom Freidman says "Montana has one-third
of all the coal deposits in America - 8 percent of all
the coal in the world. Montana’s coal is roughly
equivalent to 240 billion barrels of oil. "That’s
enough to replace all our imported oil for 60 years."
they will leave it in the ground out of equal concern
for their own backyards.”
Two useful, short video films showing something of the
destruction
in the Appalachians, and in
West Virginia.
add comment
in
China:
“Nov.
27, 2005: Coal dust catches fire
at the Dongfeng Coal Mine in Qitaihe, a city in Heilongjiang
province, killing at least 134 miners.”
China has many coal-mining accidents.
Here another two of the larger ones:
“-Feb. 15, 2005: An explosion in Sunjiawan coal
mine in Liaoning province kills 214 miners.
“-Nov. 28, 2004: An explosion in the state-run
Chenjiashan Coal Mine in the northwestern province of
Shaanxi kills 166 miners.”
The above linked article has details
of more Chinese mining accidents.
In China alone, ten
to twenty thousand probably die directly in coal-mining
each year.
“Official statistics show more than 7,200 coal
miners were killed in gas explosions, floods, cave-ins
and other accidents last year, making China's mines
by far the world's deadliest. But the real figure could
be around 20,000, labour rights groups say, as many
deaths are covered up or fail to enter the official
statistics for various reasons.”
Although only accidents in the USA
and China are thus far listed, many other countries have
coal-mining industries which are disaster centres.
65
trapped in Mexico [21.02.2006]
“Shovel load by shovel load, rescuers were yesterday
inching towards 65 miners trapped inside a coalmine
in northern Mexico. As hope of finding their loved ones
alive faded, relatives waiting for news outside were
left praying for divine intervention.
“The men were trapped early on Sunday after an
underground explosion, apparently caused
by a build-up of gas, led to the collapse of
several shafts. Around a dozen miners working near the
surface managed to get out of the mine. Seven were taken
to hospital with burns and broken bones.” [Quoted
from guardian.co.uk]
Note that explosions can also be caused
by the very fine coal dust igniting/exploding.
carbon
capture and storage - filthy coal is a cheaper power source,
and far nastier
“CCS [carbon capture and storage] is untested
for good reason. The technology will add about US$1
billion to the capital cost of a power plant, not including
efficiency losses which will demand a quarter more coal
burn just to maintain output, and extra water for steam
to make up the lost power.”
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black
lung disease
Data regarding the numbers of coal-workers suffering
from this industrial disease are very hard to find, most
countries preferring to keep quiet about their large mortality.
China, for instance, only started releasing air pollution
data in 1998. abelard.org has found fairly
reasonable data for the USA, who are prepared to publish
statistics. For most other countries, it has been a matter
of gleaning bits of data from here and there.
This section is primarily concerned with mining workers.
However, that is a small proportion of those damaged by
fossil fuel filth. Here is a claim we have found concerning
the general population:
“Worldwide, particulate and SO2 pollution cause
at least 500,000 premature deaths, 4 to 5 million new
cases of bronchitis, and millions of other respiratory
illnesses per year.” [Quoted from wvhighland.org]
what
is black lung disease?
Black lung disease is the result of
the lungs being coated with coal dust as miners work at
the coal-face hacking out the coal, or elsewhere shifting
the lumps of coal or mining waste.(When hit for any reason,
coal easily disintegrates into tiny, insoluble particles
of coal dust and other components such as silica.) Because
coal-mining has been, and in some countries still is,
a widespread industrial activity, there are large numbers
of black lung disease sufferers. This disease is also
called coal worker’s pneumoconiosis
(CWP).
The name, black lung, comes from the distinctive blue-black
marbling of the lung from the coal dust accumulation.
This disease occurs mostly in those who mine hard coal
(anthracite), but also occurs among those mining soft
coals and graphite. After about ten to twenty years of
exposure, symptoms to set in and it may be aggravated
by silica (causing silicosis) mixed with the coal.
“CWP, a progressive (with continued exposure)
and incurable condition, [that] begins with the inhalation
of small coal dust particles. [This causes] a localized
inflammation, usually in the upper part of the lungs,
followed by the formation of fibrous scars. Although
asymptomatic in the early stages, as CWP advances, scarred
areas in the lungs increase and coalesce. With massive
fibrosis, or scarring, pulmonary function decreases,
sometimes fatally. Chest X rays are the only way to
confirm CWP, and there is no cure other than a lung
transplant.” [Quoted from Environmental
Health Perspectives]
Black lung disease includes symptoms of pneumoconiosis,
silicosis, asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. These
symptoms are generally lumped under the label chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD.
sickness and death
from coal worker’s pneumoconiosis
Historically, black lung disease (or CWP) has caused
many hundreds of thousands of deaths throughout the world.
These deaths were to both the coal miners and to the general
population. There was a generalised burning of coal for
heating and for industry, which resulted in sometimes
lethal “coal smogs” in larger towns. It is
only since various clean air acts were passed that deaths
in the general population have decreased in modern industrial
countries. Industrial victims have reduced considerably
since stricter working regulations have been introduced.
However, despite the reduction in new industrial deaths,
there is still a steady mortality from previous coal-miners,
as black lung disease can take as long as fifteen to twenty
years to kill.
Houses of Parliament, London,
Sun Breaking Through the Fog
by Claude Monet, 1904. Source: Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Doubtless, these diseases go back hundreds of years;
there are reports concerning air pollution in south-east
England in the 17th/18th centuries, relating to charcoal-burning,
low visibility and the impossibility of putting clothes
out to dry due to the filth in the air. I would there
to be large effects in backward countries with open fires
and poorly ventilated living spaces.
| “coal smog”/
“killer fog” deaths in towns |
| London, UK |
1880 |
2,200 |
| London, UK |
1952 |
4,000 |
| Donora, Pennsylvania, USA |
1948 |
50 |
| Bejing, China; Delhi, India |
each, currently |
up to 4,000 p.a. |
| industrial black lung
disease (CWP) |
| country |
current
prevalence |
deaths
|
number
of known cases |
rate
of new cases |
| China |
440,000 |
140,000
(1950s - 2000s) |
- |
10,000 p.a.
(previously 2,500 p.a.) |
USA
[various sources] |
4.5% of coal workers |
14,156
(1979 - 1996) |
19,400 (recognised in 1974) |
4000 p.a.
(of whom 1,500 are former coal miners) |
| CWP: work-related
deaths and disease in the USA |
| year |
deaths
|
percentage
of coal workers with CWP |
| 1972 |
3,000 |
|
| 1992 |
1,766 |
|
| 1970-1973 |
|
11% |
| 1987-1991 |
|
3.6% |
| [Source: Environmental
Health Perspectives] |
burning
solid fuels at home
According
to the World Health Organisation:
“Half the world's population burns wood, coal,
dung and other solid fuels to cook food and heat their
homes, exposing them to dangerous smoke that kills 1.5
million people a year, the UN health agency said on
Thursday [4th May 2006].”
—
“ Day in day out, and for hours at a time, women
and their small children breathe in amounts of smoke
equivalent to consuming two packs of cigarettes per
day.”
From Hazards
of high-level radioactive waste — the great myth
“Finally there is uranium, thorium, and radium,
radioactive wastes released from coal burning that serve
as a source of radon gas. The impact of this radioactive
radon gas from coal burning on the public's health far
exceeds the effects of all the radioactive waste released
from nuclear plants.”
|
“Coal ash is composed primarily of oxides of
silicon, aluminum, iron, calcium, magnesium, titanium,
sodium, potassium, arsenic, mercury, and sulfur plus
small quantities of uranium and thorium.”
—
“Today 52% of the capacity for generating electricity
in the United States is fueled by coal, compared with
14.8% for nuclear energy. Although there are economic
justifications for this preference, it is surprising
for two reasons. First, coal combustion produces carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are suspected
to cause climatic warming, and it is a source of sulfur
oxides and nitrogen oxides, which are harmful to human
health and may be largely responsible for acid rain.
Second, although not as well known, releases from coal
combustion contain naturally occurring radioactive materials--mainly,
uranium and thorium.”
—
“Thus, by combining U.S. coal combustion from
1937 (440 million tons) through 1987 (661 million tons)
with an estimated total in the year 2040 (2516 million
tons), the total expected U.S. radioactivity release
to the environment by 2040 can be determined. That total
comes from the expected combustion of 111,716 million
tons of coal with the release of 477,027,320 millicuries
in the United States. Global releases of radioactivity
from the predicted combustion of 637,409 million tons
of coal would be 2,721,736,430 millicuries.”
Of course, the extremely high standards
of the nuclear industry result in a regimen of care and
containment, whereas the coal industry chucks their muck
willy-nilly into the air and across the landscape.
comparing coal and nuclear
“For comparison, according to NCRP Reports No.
92 and No. 95, population exposure from operation of
1000-MWe nuclear and coal-fired power plants amounts
to 490 person-rem/year for coal plants and 4.8 person-rem/year
for nuclear plants. Thus, the population effective dose
equivalent from coal plants is 100 times that from nuclear
plants. For the complete nuclear fuel cycle, from mining
to reactor operation to waste disposal, the radiation
dose is cited as 136 person-rem/year; the equivalent
dose for coal use, from mining to power plant operation
to waste disposal, is not listed in this report and
is probably unknown.”
—
heavy metals in coal
“During combustion, the volume of coal is reduced
by over 85%, which increases the concentration of the
metals originally in the coal. Although significant
quantities of ash are retained by precipitators, heavy
metals such as uranium tend to concentrate on the tiny
glass spheres that make up the bulk of fly ash. This
uranium is released to the atmosphere with the escaping
fly ash, at about 1.0% of the original amount, according
to NCRP data. The retained ash is enriched in uranium
several times over the original uranium concentration
in the coal because the uranium, and thorium, content
is not decreased as the volume of coal is reduced.”
—
mining coal waste
“[...] radioactive elements released in coal ash
and exhaust produced by coal combustion contain fissionable
fuels and much larger quantities of fertile materials
that can be bred into fuels by absorption of neutrons,
including those generated in the air by bombardment
of oxygen, nitrogen, and other nuclei with cosmic rays;
such fissionable and fertile materials can be recovered
from coal ash using known technologies. These nuclear
materials have growing value to private concerns and
governments that may want to market them for fueling
nuclear power plants.”
—
“For the 100 years following 1937, U.S. and world
use of coal as a heat source for electric power generation
will result in the distribution of a variety of radioactive
elements into the environment. This prospect raises
several questions about the risks and benefits of coal
combustion, the leading source of electricity production.”
add comment |
oil
storage
A
fuel depot of twenty-two storage tanks blows up in
crowded south-east England, provoking the largest oil
fire in Europe during peacetime. [December 2005]
Smoke from oil depot fire at
Hemel Hempstead, England. Image
courtesy of NASA
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oil
transport
the
prestige disaster - heavy fuel oil strewn at sea [November
2002]
“The oil tanker “Prestige foundered off
Cape Finisterre in 2002, leaking 80,000 tonnes of heavy
fuel oil on to Spanish beaches. It was his [the 76-year-old
master, Captain Apostolos Mangouras] first SOS in 32
years and in a force 10 gale with 25-foot waves, he
tried to rescue his ship after being refused safe haven
in a Spanish port. Desperate for a scapegoat, the Spanish
authorities threw him in jail for three months and then
kept him under house arrest for a year pending trial.
Numerous investigations blamed the pollution incident
on the decision by Spanish authorities to refuse the
Prestige access to a port.”
This ecological and social disaster was documented extensively
from its beginnings by abelard.org.
This is the original news item:
Another
potential ecological oil mess (Nov. 2002).
abelard.org followed the pricipal events in this story
over 18 or so months. The latest story was The
Spanish Emperor has no clothes—facing up to reality.
From this linked item, readers can move back through other
related articles on that page and to other pages with
earlier details, including photographs.
Major oil spills
oil
pipeline rupture - again
“A ruptured gasoline pipeline burst into flames
Tuesday [26.12.2006] as scavengers collected the fuel
in Nigeria's largest city, killing at least 200 people.
The death toll was expected to rise as rescue workers
tried to document more charred corpses.
“Scores of bodies could be seen jumbled and fused
together in the raging flames at the blast site. Intense
heat kept rescue workers back as smoke billowed over
the heavily populated Abule Egba neighborhood in Lagos.”
—
“ In May, more than 150 people died in a similar
explosion in Lagos.”
add comment |
oil
pollution and asthma
new
rules planned in the USA for off-road diesel emissions
“Studies show that the new rules could prevent
about 8,500 premature deaths a year and reduce asthma
and other respiratory ailments linked with human exposure
to air particles.”
“The new rules would require fuel refiners to
produce diesel with a sulfur content of just 15 parts
per million (ppm), down from about 3,000 ppm currently,
starting in 2008.”
new
rules, part 2
“Diesel engines emit a mixture of gases and fine
particles that contain some 40 chemicals, including
benzene, butadiene, dioxin and mercury compounds.”
“... would prevent more than 360,000 asthma attacks
... annually.”
BP’s
low sulphur diesel
| country |
sulphur
content in diesel permitted |
legislation |
| Australia |
500ppm |
in
force, 1 Jan 2003 |
| USA |
15
ppm |
proposed
for 2008 |
| |
|
|
thousands
of deaths a year caused by diesel fuel
“Researchers have identified tiny soot particles
from diesel exhausts - 30 times smaller than the width
of a human hair - as the chief culprits in 9,000 fatal
heart attacks in the UK annually.”
—
“Dr David Newby, the lead cardiologist on the
project, said: "Compared to other risk factors
such as cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking,
the role these particles play is less important, but
on top of these other things it can be quite significant.
The difference is that the whole population is exposed
to them unlike these other factors that affect individuals.
Air pollution affects everybody as they don't have a
choice.”
—
Last year, diesel cars accounted for more than 35% of
total sales compared with just 14% five years ago.”
“Under the European Commission's EURO5 standards,
it is hoped filters fitted to diesel engines will slash
particulate emissions by 80%. If approved, the directive
will come into force in 2008. Some car manufacturers
are already offering optional filters for diesel engines.
“But experts and environment campaigners claim
that under the European limits requiring particle emissions
to be cut in weight, the lightweight PM2.5s could still
be emitted in high numbers without breaching the regulations.
“The Edinburgh scientists now plan to test commercially
available diesel engine filters for their ability to
remove these dangerous particles.”
Note that “high numbers”
is not a number.
in
Iran [10.01.2007]
yet
another fossil fuel industry disaster 11 - 10,000 dead
in one city in one year
“About 10,000 people were killed last year by
illnesses related to air pollution in Iran's smog-choked
capital, the Etemad-e Melli newspaper on Tuesday quoted
the deputy mayor as saying.”
add comment |
