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4 Potential Impacts to Health and the Environment
Pages 91-114

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From page 91...
... This chapter first summarizes some of the broad environmental impacts that could occur due to gold mining and processing in Virginia and then discusses individual impacts that can affect human health and the environment in more detail. BROAD DISCUSSION OF IMPACTS Although the study task emphasizes effects to public health, air, and water quality, the committee acknowledges that other concerns have been raised about potential impacts of commercial gold mining operations.
From page 92...
... Overarching concerns from these citizens included dewatering of aquifers and the effects on well water supply; pol lution of local groundwater and surface water, including impacts to drinking water supplies, the James River, and the Chesapeake Bay; detrimental impacts to local fish, wildlife, and livestock; air pollution; adverse impacts to livelihoods of local residents; the inability to pass wealth and property on to future generations; and the loss of the rural character and lifestyle that is core to their community's identity and values. Community members expressed a strong connection to rural life, natural environments, and environmental stewardship.
From page 93...
... . Environmental impacts tend to occur when ARD contaminates streams and wetlands, either through direct surface runoff from mine sites, from acidic seeps, or from subsurface water that has hydraulic connectivity to surface waters (Johnson et al., 2017; McCarthy, 2011; Tutu et al., 2008)
From page 94...
... . In addition to harming the environment, ARD can impact drinking water that is sourced from the local aquifer or from downstream surface water intakes.
From page 95...
... , and/or their presence as legacy contaminants in historical mine sites. Other elements, like uranium, were deprioritized as they are not commonly associated with low-sulfide, gold-quartz vein deposits and the committee did not find evidence for elevated contents in the gold-bearing rocks of Virginia, nor in downstream mine-influenced water (Owens and Peters, 2018; Owens et al., 2013; Pavlides et al., 1982; Seal et al., 2002)
From page 96...
... as being priority metals of potential concern for human health due to their documented or potential association with Virginia ores or mine sites and their potential for toxicity. The primary routes of human exposure to these metals are through the ingestion of contaminated surface water, groundwater, biota, or crops.
From page 97...
... -- were identified as being of potential concern due to their documented presence in mine drainage from Virginia massive sulfide deposits or their potential association with Virginia gold-quartz vein deposits (Ashley, 2002)
From page 98...
... . The most common route for human exposure to arsenic is through drinking water containing geologically derived arsenic -- it has been estimated that more than 2 million Americans use drinking water wells with arsenic levels in excess of drinking water limits (USGS, 2019)
From page 99...
... is reported as a common trace mineral in many Virginia gold deposits (Schellenbach and Krekeler, 2012) , including the London and Virginia Mine, Moss Mine, and Vaucluse Mine gold deposits (see Chapter 2)
From page 100...
... The Haile Gold Mine was fined for discharging thallium into surface waters (The State, 2021)
From page 101...
... . Tl+ is the most common species in surface waters.
From page 102...
... . In contrast to rare gaseous exposures, aqueous cyanide exposure has occasionally resulted from mishandling of cyanide at gold mines, such as a large spill from a truck carrying NaCN in Kyrgystan in 1998 that resulted in contamination of surface drinking water, which produced conflicting reports regarding fatalities and thousands of illnesses (Cleven and Van Bruggen, 2000; Moran, 1998, 1999)
From page 103...
... Similar risks of exposure would need to be carefully managed in the gold pyrite belt of Virginia, especially in light of its high biodiversity and population densities of wildlife. In Virginia, amphibians, migratory songbirds, waterfowl and waterbirds, and bats are among the groups of wildlife that depend on open surface water and should be deterred from using ponds containing cyanide.
From page 104...
... The most significant chronic environmental impact of tailings dam failures from gold mines is the release of metals, which can be dissolved in surface water runoff, sorbed to sediment particles, or dispersed by wind (Barcelos et al., 2020; Fashola et al., 2016)
From page 105...
... . Another relevant case study is the tailings dam failure at the Mount Polley copper and gold mine in British Columbia, Canada.
From page 106...
... The first, the Fundão Dam at the Germano iron ore mine in Bento Rodrigues in Minas Gerais State, released more than 40 million cubic meters of tailings, contaminating over 668 kilometers of surface waters. The second, when Dam B1 failed at the Córrego do Feijão iron ore mine in Brumadinho in Minas Gerais State, released 12 million cubic meters.
From page 107...
... . Following the termination of pumping, the water table will begin to recover.
From page 108...
... Major impacts to surface water are not expected given the relatively limited size of mines expected in Virginia, although site-specific analysis would be needed for any proposed mine to evaluate potential impacts. AIR EMISSIONS Various air pollutants can be generated from mining activities (see Chapter 3)
From page 109...
... In addition, there could be significant amounts of mercury near old gold mine sites where mercury was once used during gold processing (see Chapter 2)
From page 110...
... , underlying health vulnerability, behavioral vulnerabilities, and individual susceptibility to these factors. Because of this, the impacts of degraded water quality from mining on nearby populations are best interpreted in light of a variety of cultural, social, and economic vulnerabilities (French et al., 2017)
From page 111...
... As a result, considerable legacy mercury may exist in surface waters, soil, and mine waste at previously mined sites. These areas may still harbor unmined gold deposits and unrecovered gold in historic waste material, and future gold mining operations could remobilize this legacy mercury unless appropriate extraction and processing circuits are implemented to capture the mercury.
From page 112...
... However, if adjacent massive sulfide deposits or sulfide-bearing country rock are disturbed and if appropriate engineering controls are not applied, ARD could adversely impact sensitive freshwater fauna in nearby streams and wetlands, resulting in substantial remediation costs. Site-specific characterization, engineering controls, and monitoring throughout the life cycle of gold mines are important to minimize and mitigate ARD that could negatively impact surface water and ecological communities.
From page 113...
... Cumulative Risk Robust analyses of the potential impacts of mining consider cumulative health risks. Human populations are exposed to multiple hazard types, including biological, physical, chemical, psychological, and social (e.g., poverty, discrimination, unemployment, limited access to health care)


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