PROBLEMS IN PENNSYLVANIA

ACID MINE DRAINAGE

Abandoned mine drainage (AMD) is water that is polluted from contact with mining activity, and normally associated with coal mining. AMD is a common form of water pollution in Pennsylvania and in other states where vast amounts of mining took place in the past. There are several issues with abandoned mines that impact water quality
⚫️Acid mine drainage pollutes our water systems making it a huge threat to people and animals.

SOLUTIONS👍

• The most effective way to clean up a mess like this is to nuetralize using limestone.

ACID RAIN

The most obvious environmental effect of acid rain has been the loss of fish in acid sensitive lakes and streams. Many species of fish are not able to survive in acidic water. Acid rain affects lakes and streams in two ways: chronic and episodic. Chronic, or long-term acidification results form years of acidic rainfall. It reduces the alkalinity (buffering capacity) and increases the acidity of the water. Chronic acidification may reduce the levels of nutrients such as calcium, which, over time, may weaken the fish and other plants and animals in an aquatic ecosystem. Episodic acidification is a sudden jump in the acidity of the water. This can result from a heavy rainstorm. It also happens in the spring, because the sulfates and nitrates will concentrate in the lowest layers of a snowpack. In the spring, when that snow melts, it will be more acidic than normal. Episodic acidification can cause sudden shifts in water chemistry. This may lead to high concentrations of substances such as aluminum, which may be toxic to fish.

Most of the effects on forests are subtle. Acid deposition may influence forest vegetation and soils. Acid rain weakens the trees’ natural defenses, making them more vulnerable to diseases. Acid rain has been cited as a contributing factor to the decline of the spruce-fir forests throughout the Eastern United States. Acid rain may remove soil nutrients such as calcium and magnesium from soils in high elevation forests and cause damage to needles of Red Spruce. Acid rain may also help weaken natural defenses of some trees, making them more vulnerable to some diseases and pests.

Acid rain deposits nitrates that can lead to increases in nitrogen in forests. Nitrogen is an important plant nutrient, but some forest systems may not be able to use all they receive, leading to nitrogen saturation. In the Eastern United States, there is evidence of nitrogen saturation in some forests. Nitrates can remove additional calcium and magnesium from the soils. Continued nitrogen deposition may alter other aspects of the nutrient balance in sensitive forest ecosystems and alter the chemistry of nearby lakes and streams.

Excess nitrogen may cause eutrophication (over nourishment) in areas where rivers enter the ocean. This may lead to unwanted growth of algae and other nuisance plants. As much as 40% of the total nitrogen entering coastal bays on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts may come from atmospheric deposition. Table I shows estimates of the percentage of nitrogen deposition which comes from the atmosphere.

SOLUTIONS👍

• Clean up smokestacks and exhaust pipes.
• Use alternative energy sources
• Restore a damaged environment
• Take action as an individual

NUCLEAR WASTE

⚫️The first U.S. nuclear power plant was built in 1957 in Shippingport, Pennsylvania.

⚫️Pennsylvania has the 2nd highest number of nuclear reactors next to Illinois, and produces the 2nd highest amount of nuclear waste.8
⚫️The routine health risks and greenhouse gas emissions from nuclear fission power are small relative to those associated with coal, oil and gas. However, there is a "catastrophic risk" potential if containment fails,[1] which in nuclear reactors can be brought about by over-heated fuels melting and releasing large quantities of fission products into the environment. The public is sensitive to these risks and there has been considerable public opposition to nuclear power.

SOLUTIONS👍

• Geological disposal
• Reprocessing
• Transmutation
• Space disposal

WHERE DID I GET MY INFO?

• Annual Energy Review 2009," U.S. Energy Information Agency.
• R. C. Ewing, "Nuclear Waste Forms for Actinides," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 96, 3432 (1999).
• R. L. Murray and K. L. Manke, Understanding Radioactive Waste (Battelle Press, 2003).
• A. Macfarlane, "Underlying Yucca Mountain: The Interplay of Geology and Policy in Nuclear Waste Disposal," Social Studies of Science 33, 783 (2003).
• [4] A. Macfarlane, "Underlying Yucca M [A. Andrews, "Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing: U.S. Policy Development," CRS Report for Congress RS22542, 27 Mar 08.