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THE
PUBLIC HEALTH EFFECTS OF ABANDONED COAL MINE WORKINGS ON RESIDENTS
IN SOUTH WELLINGTON, NANAIMO
Biagioni,
Karla “The Public Health Effects Of Abandoned Coal
Mine Workings On Residents In South Wellington, Nanaimo”
in Martin J. Bunch, V. Madha Suresh and T. Vasantha Kumaran, eds.,
Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Environment
and Health, Chennai, India, 15-17 December, 2003. Chennai:
Department of Geography, University of Madras and Faculty of Environmental
Studies, York University. Pages 23 – 31.
Abstract:
The direct public health
effects of organic compounds and metals associated with drinking
water are unclear, especially as only a small fraction of the
daily intake of elements reaches the human body . However, surveys
by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have “confirmed
the presence of several organic petroleum and solvent types of
compounds in drinking water effected by mine operations”
. Among these pollutants are “suspect carcinogens”
.
Previous studies have
shown that in coal mining areas, the quality of groundwater decreases
with depth. There is an extensive network of abandoned coal mines
in South Wellington, and several domestic wells have been drilled
directly into these mines or coal seams. In August 2002 the Ministry
of Water Land and Air Protection calculated the quality of well
water in the Cassidy observation well in Nanaimo. In this analytical
report, substances in the well such as sulphur and iron were shown
at levels exceeding the recommended drinking water quality guidelines.
I am currently researching
the potential positive and negative impacts of abandoned coal
mine workings on the health of residents in South Wellington,
Nanaimo. This project will compare the health of two groups, a
study group drinking well water, and a control group drinking
the city’s mains water. The major objective of the data
analysis will be to determine which specific illnesses are more
common in the study area and in the control area.
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