Full of holes
Why Australia's mining boom will leave permanent scars
Slezak, Michael; Robertson, Joshua http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/20/full-holes-australia-mining-boom-permanent-scars
Publisher: The Guardian
Date Written: 19/07/2016
Year Published: 2016
Resource Type: Article
Describing the environmental impact following the end of Australia's coal boom.
Abstract:
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Excerpts:
Unlike in the US, when coalmines were approved in Australia, it was never a requirement for companies to plan for the mines to be filled in after they close. This guaranteed that gaping holes – also called "final voids" - would be permanently left in the landscape.
Those voids can leach water from the water table and pollute the landscape during floods. Since the 1970s, the size of these pits has ballooned. Some are hundreds of metres deep and kilometres long. Even with rehabilitation plans, there is no intention to fill in those holes, primarily because of the cost - often estimated at hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars.
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