Growth of Coal Mining Operations in the Elk River Valley (Canada) and Selenium in a US River.

[NNadir]

Last edited Sat Nov 25, 2023, 03:03 PM - Edit history (1)

The paper to which I'll refer in this brief post is this one: Growth of Coal Mining Operations in the Elk River Valley (Canada) Linked to Increasing Solute Transport of Se, NO3–, and SO42– into the Transboundary Koocanusa Reservoir (USA–Canada) Meryl B. Storb, Ashley M. Bussell, Sara L. Caldwell Eldridge, Robert M. Hirsch, and Travis S. Schmidt Environmental Science & Technology 2023 57 (45), 17465-17480.

One of the big lies that flows around in the age of celebration of the lie is that so called "renewable energy" is driving the coal industry out of business.

People can lie, to each other and to themselves, but numbers don't lie.

The numbers are here: 2023 World Energy Outlook published by the International Energy Agency (IEA)Table A.1a on Page 264 .

In the period between 2021 and 2022, the coal industry (in units of primary energy produced) grew as fast as solar and wind combined, with the caveat the the coal industry produces prodigious energy and the solar and wind industries combined produce trivial energy, 170 EJ (Exajoules) for coal, 15 EJ combined for solar and wind, this at the expense of trillions of dollars spent on stuff that lasts only for a short time before needing replacement.

So called "renewable energy," as represented by the solar and wind scam is not reliable, and the only advantage that coal has over these generally useless forms of energy is that it is reliable, filthy, deadly, toxic, unsustainable, climate change driving, but reliable.

The paper cited at the outset of this post gives just one of the external costs of the rising use of coal and the lie that it is being phased out because so called "renewable energy" is so great. So called "renewable energy" generates lots of complacency, but insignificant energy.

The paper is open sourced, anyone who cares can read it by clicking on the link, but here's some text:

Worldwide, more than 260 river basins are divided and shared by multiple nations. Managing and preserving transboundary watersheds, their water resources, and cultural heritage is exceptionally difficult because political borders rarely coincide with watershed boundaries, and governments may have conflicting regulatory approaches. (1−3) Without cooperative resource management between governments, transboundary waterways are uniquely vulnerable to the influences of human land use on water quality and ecosystem integrity. One example is large scale mining and the alteration of land surfaces and aquifers due to placement of waste rock, which are known to profoundly influence groundwater and surface water quality. (4−6) Mining supports regional and national economies but has been shown to alter water, solute, and sediment dynamics and harm aquatic ecosystems. (7) Understanding environmental and water-quality impacts from mines located near borders provides information that may be used to protect, restore, and manage natural resources in the complex regulatory setting of transboundary watersheds. (8)

Koocanusa Reservoir (KOC, also called “Lake Koocanusa”) is a transboundary reservoir that is split between northwestern Montana (MT), United States (U.S.), and southeastern British Columbia (B.C.), Canada (CA). The reservoir was impounded in 1972 by the Libby Dam, near Libby, MT (Figure 1). KOC encompasses the headwaters of the Kootenai (Kootenay in CA) River Basin. Including KOC, the Kootenai River crosses the U.S./CA border twice and drains into the Columbia River just north of where the river crosses the international border a third time (Figure 1). The Kootenai and Columbia Rivers have significant cultural importance─the watershed itself is the basis for the Ktunaxa Creation Story. (9) Ecologically and culturally important fish resources in the Kootenai Watershed (U.S.) include the federally endangered Kootenai River White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus), the threatened Bull Trout (Salvelinus confluentus), and two species of concern, Burbot (Lota lota) and Westslope Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi). (10) The headwater drainages for KOC are present on both sides of the border. However, the three largest tributaries are in B.C., and the second largest is the Elk River, which drains a watershed that contains several open-pit, coal mining operations (Figure 1). (11,12)

According to the paper, the river is contaminated by sulfate SO₄^-2, nitrate NO₃^-1, and selenium as run off from the expanding coal mining operations in Canada. The polluted water flows across the border into the US. Selenium is one of those elements that is essential at very low levels (as selenomethionine) but very toxic above a threshold.

I hope you're enjoying the weekend.