coal refuse

The first step to reclaiming land occupied by coal refuse piles is to remove the refuse matter.{{cite web |last1=Patel |first1=Sonal |title=The Remarkable Responsibility of Coal Refuse Power |url=https://www.powermag.com/the-remarkable-responsibility-of-coal-refuse-power/ |website=Power Magazine |date=2 August 2021}}

Where economically viable, some coal miners try to reprocess these wastes. This may include complex reprocessing in more industrialized economies, {{Citation|last1=Woodruff|first1=D.|title=16 - Treatment of coal tailings|date=2013-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780857094223500169|work=The Coal Handbook: Towards Cleaner Production|volume=1|pages=529–559|editor-last=Osborne|editor-first=Dave|series=Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy|publisher=Woodhead Publishing|language=en|isbn=978-0-85709-422-3|access-date=2020-08-02|last2=Macnamara|first2=L.}} such as fluidized bed combustion in power plants. In less industrialized systems, manual sorting may be employed. For example, in the Jharia coalfield in eastern India, a large cohort of "coal cycle wallahs" manually sort mine tailings with their families, and then transport the salvaged coal on bicycles more than {{cvt|60|km|mi}} to market.{{Cite web|title=The Human Cost Of India's Push to Produce More Coal|url=https://e360.yale.edu/features/on_burning_ground_human_cost_indias_push_produce_more_coal|access-date=2020-08-02|website=Yale E360|language=en-US}}{{Cite book|last1=Pai|first1=Sandeep|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-iMZtQEACAAJ&q=Total+Transition:+The+Human+Side+of+the+Renewable+Energy+Revolution|title=Total Transition: The Human Side of the Renewable Energy Revolution|last2=Carr-Wilson|first2=Savannah|date=2018|publisher=Rocky Mountain Books|isbn=978-1-77160-248-8|language=en}}

The burning of waste coal typically produces more environmental toxins than higher energy coals. Modern fluidized bed combustion with limestone for acid gas control can lower toxin emissions to acceptable levels,{{efn|Burning of waste coal also produces more {{CO2}} than higher-grade coals. Current (2013) technology does not usefully mitigate this difference.}} concentrating the toxicity into waste ash. For every 100 tons of coal waste burned, 85 tons of waste ash (more toxic versions of fly ash and bottom ash) are created. However, this ash is more stable than the waste and may simply be re-compacted into the mine site with less risk of leaching. It can also be used to neutralize acidic mine discharge.

There have been some attempts to use non-flammable coal waste in concrete production, similar to the use of fly ash.Caneda-Martmez, Laura, et al. "Evaluation of chloride transport in blended cement mortars containing coal mining waste". Construction and Building Materials, vol. 190, 30 Nov. 2018, p. 200+. Gale General OneFile, https://link-gale-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A569157868/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=GPS&xid=5ed3c9d1. Accessed 7 August 2020. The waste ash from burning coal waste was approved as a source of fly ash by the West Virginia Department of Highways in 2019.

In the United States, most waste coal piles accumulated from 1900 to 1970 when processing techniques were less sophisticated.{{Cite web|title=Waste Coal {{!}} Energy Justice Network|url=http://www.energyjustice.net/coal/wastecoal|access-date=2020-08-02|website=www.energyjustice.net}} The US has a longstanding inspection program of these refuse piles.{{Cite book|last=Administration|first=United States Mining Enforcement and Safety|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CT-K0ZHOebkC&q=coal+refuse&pg=PA1|title=Coal Refuse Inspection Manual|date=1976|publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior, Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration|language=en}} In Pennsylvania alone, there are over 770 such piles identified.{{Cite web|title=What Is Coal Refuse|url=https://arippa.org/what-is-coal-refuse/|access-date=2020-08-02|website=ARIPPA|language=en}} There are at least 18 coal waste burning plants in the United States,{{Cite web|title=Coal Waste {{!}} Waste Coal Ash {{!}} Byproduct Of Coal Processing Operations|url=https://www.rpmsolve.com/coal-waste|access-date=2020-08-02|website=www.rpmsolve.com}} mostly in Pennsylvania.

The Grant Town Power Project in West Virginia burns 530,000 tons of coal refuse annually, allowing the reclamation of 30 acres of land annually. Still, there's criticism regarding the plant's negative profitability and its greenhouse gas emissions from burning coal. The plant has controversially proposed pivoting to cryptocurrency mining for funding.{{cite web |last1=Waldman |first1=Scott |title=A coal plant fights to stay open. It could enrich Manchin |url=https://www.eenews.net/articles/a-coal-plant-fights-to-stay-open-it-could-enrich-manchin/ |website=E&E News |date=17 November 2021}} Wider replacement of cement by its fly ash should bring down its carbon footprint.

The word about coal waste is of uncertain origin but goes back over 200 years, long before a false etymology as a backronym for "garbage of bituminous"{{Cite news |last1=Flavelle |first1=Christopher |last2=Tate |first2=Julie |last3=Schaff |first3=Erin |date=2022-03-27 |title=How Joe Manchin Aided Coal, and Earned Millions |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/27/climate/manchin-coal-climate-conflicts.html |access-date=2022-03-28 |issn=0362-4331}} was humorously invented to "explain" it.

In the 1966 Aberfan disaster in Wales, a colliery spoil tip collapsed, engulfing a school and killing 116 children and 28 adults. Other accidents involving coal waste include the Martin County coal slurry spill (US, 2000), the Kingston Fossil Plant coal fly ash slurry spill (US, 2008), and the Obed Mountain coal mine spill (Canada, 2013).

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Category:Coal mining

Category:Mining waste