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Item Open Access A Realist Synthesis of Community Consent in Mining: The Enabling Environment for Free, Prior, and Informed Consent in Latin America(2020-05-03) Comer, KatherinePolicy Question The policy problem this analysis seeks to understand is the context (otherwise known as the enabling environment) of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of Indigenous Peoples impacted by mining in Latin America. The specific policy question of interest to the client, Equitable Origin, is: How should Equitable Origin evaluate the impact of its FPIC monitoring and verification framework which seeks to promote equity and community inclusion of Indigenous communities in energy and natural resources development? By studying the enabling environment, this research parses out what aspects of FPIC are most important to evaluate, enabling EO and others to better understand how to evaluate it. Methods This research investigates the enabling factors for FPIC and similar theories of community consent, e.g., corporate social responsibility, social license to operate, and community participatory practices in the context of mining. The geographic focus of this analysis is Latin America because the client’s work is based predominantly in Latin America and the mining industry faces significant challenges with community consent there. This study uses the realist synthesis (RS) methodology to analyze case studies. RS is similar to a systematic review but balances quantitative and qualitative methods, focusing on the underlying theories. The main objective of RS is to understand the key contextual factors that affect the outcomes of the initiatives studied, what works for whom, in what circumstances, in what respects, and how (Pawson 2005). The case studies were sorted by the most relevant program theory and further analyzed for prominent contextual factors of their successes and limitations. The policy recommendations are based on 24 studies, analyzed by the contextual factors and program theories for community participation. Findings The case studies of community consent fell into three program theory categories used to enable mining projects in Latin America: 1. FPIC/rights-based approaches, 2. corporate social responsibility, and 3. community participation. Throughout the three different program theories, several key contextual factors stood out: governance, corporate culture toward FPIC, power and information asymmetries, transparency, benefit-sharing, and environmental concerns. Many of the studies, regardless of program theory, advocate for clarity and legitimation of the processes for community consent. FPIC/rights-based approaches, in particular, emphasize the need for the legitimation of IP and international human rights. CSR and community participation demonstrate the lack of clear requirements for all parties working in IP territories. Without clear rules, regulations, processes, and arbitrators, FPIC is undermined, and conflict arises. Corporate culture was also found to be an essential enabling factor. Companies with intentional, inclusive development processes led successful projects when they were flexible and attentive to the effect of specific social policies on company-community relations. Concerns over benefit-sharing were found to impede project implementation in all three theories. Problems of benefit-sharing are derived from various contextual factors, but creative, iv appropriate, and culturally sound responses to benefit-sharing concerns often lead to mutuallybeneficial company-community agreements. Finally, lack of information was a recurring, limiting feature and is related to trust. The concerns about information relate to both what information is available to whom and whether information collected by third parties can be trusted. The following contextual factors matter for effectiveness of community participation: 1. All actors benefit from governments taking an active role in the FPIC process because: a. Clear, concise indigenous and human rights laws as well as mining laws enable both communities and companies to manage and fulfill expectations and eventually reach agreements b. When governments are a neutral third party, they can, in principle, level power and information asymmetries as well as promote social cohesion. Frequently, however, they are perceived to be industry allies, and therefore not trusted c. Clear, enforceable environmental regulations and requirements will aid companies and communities in fulfilling environmental obligations 2. FPIC should be incorporated into every stage of mining development. Company culture toward FPIC and stakeholder theory must be normative ("why") from the start for projects to succeed. If not, FPIC and SLO are very hard to achieve 3. Trust is the essential prerequisite. It is embedded in every aspect of community consent. a. Information asymmetries can be corrected through straightforward, transparent, culturally appropriate, and equitable information sharing b. Diverse stakeholder representation can mitigate benefit and cost-sharing concerns as well as poor interpersonal relations Thus, the policy recommendation is for governments to adopt and create clear, enforceable FPIC requirements for mining projects. FPIC requirements should be compulsory at multiple stages of project development and facilitate diverse stakeholder input. Ultimately, FPIC is about Indigenous self-determination, so any enabling environment that fails to recognize that will undermine the process. Attuned to the context, stakeholders, companies, and governments can anticipate issues and solutions before mining conflicts arise. Additional analysis of FPIC Monitoring and Evaluation methods can be found in Appendix 5. The solutions vary from case to case but depend on the prior consultation and non-coerced consent of communities. In the absence of community consent, mining projects in Latin America are likely to garner community opposition and ultimately fail.Item Open Access AN ANALYSIS OF THE FEASIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF INCORPORATING CLEAN ENERGY INTO AN ISLANDED MICROGRID IN SIERRA LEONE(2014-04-24) Yagjian, Christina; Kelly, IanClarity Project is a fine jewelry company and social enterprise that recently began mining diamonds in Sierra Leone as part of its mission to improve the quality of life of artisanal miners in West African communities. This has presented a new challenge to the company: the site of Clarity Project’s new mining compound is distant from the country’s modest electric grid, leaving Clarity Project to procure its own electric power. The purpose of this project is to determine Clarity Project’s electricity needs, analyze its alternatives for meeting those needs, and evaluate the costs and environmental impacts of those alternatives. Using data obtained on site in Sierra Leone and meteorological data from NASA, we developed a model that predicts the load profile of the mining compound, forecasts the expected amount and temporal availability of electricity from photovoltaic arrays on site, and projects the use of diesel generators and battery storage to supplement the solar power. The model then calculates the present value of the capital and operating expenses for the microgrid as well as the carbon dioxide emissions associated with generating electricity for the compound. Our analysis has determined that (1) the least expensive option, based on capital expenses and operating expenses discounted to present value, would be to rely solely on diesel generators; (2) the cost of relying solely on renewable energy during Sierra Leone’s dry season would be approximately double the all-diesel option over a five-year time horizon and about 60 percent greater over a 25-year time horizon (and the availability of renewable energy falls significantly during the rainy season); and (3) incorporating solar power and battery storage, while more expensive, would allow Clarity Project to avoid emitting nearly 20 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.Item Open Access An Interpretive History of the Lower Deep River Region, NC(2022-04-15) Wicker, Cole W.How can interpreting the regional history of the lower Deep River region of North Carolina inform land conservation for future generational use, education, and recreation? I explore the Lower Deep River Region, NC, and its mining heritage in hopes of understanding how land conservation efforts can use interpretive history as a guiding framework. With the approval of a regional state trail, ever expanding public parks, and the threat of impending commercial development, the region sits at the precipice of change. In the paper, I examine the region's past, including its indigenous and early histories, as well as its coal mining and industrial heritage, and I contextualize these stories alongside available interpretive resources. I explore themes of race and labor in a temporal and spatial manner as a guiding methodical framework. Using historic maps and spatial sources, I reconstruct the Deep River’s history and bring the buried, lost, and disappearing past into the present. The river’s past informs how certain places, markers, or seemingly naturalized objects become integral in the regional conservation dialogue. In addition to the written component below, I include a website (deepriverhistory.com) that allows the public to engage with the material at an individual pace.Item Open Access Environmental Risk Sharing in the Oyu Tolgoi Mining Project(2007-05) Mancinelli, LauriIn 2005, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. released a development plan for open pit and underground copper and gold mining of the Oyu Tolgoi porphyry deposits in Mongolia’s Gobi desert. Ivanhoe refers to the project as the largest copper-gold development project in the world. Under Mongolian law, the national government maintains ownership of all mineral reserves, and private parties license exploration and mining rights from the government. A contract agreement between the government and the private mining company stipulates the terms of the license. The size of the state’s share in the copper deposit will be determined by the contract and the Minerals Law of Mongolia. The purpose of this project is to analyze how the contract under consideration distributes environmental risk when environmental financial assurance is included. The basis for this analysis is a cash flow model developed by Robert Conrad for the Open Society Forum Mongolia and Revenue Watch. Two new cash flow models are created by adding self insurance and environmental fund assurance schemes to the Conrad model. Monte Carlo simulations are used to estimate the effects of environmental damages on the relative risk shares born by the Mongolian government and Ivanhoe Mines. Under both financial assurance models, risk shares diverge as the probability that environmental damage will occur increases. Risk shares also diverge as damages increase. The sum of the standard deviations on NPV to the government and the investor is higher than the standard deviation on the NPV to the project as a whole. The results of this analysis are general with respect to the contract but independent of the environmental parameters. The results also imply that the interactions between environmental assurance and other contract terms will ultimately determine the value of the project to the parties. Given the current contract structure, any risk of environmental damages will necessarily result in a cost to the government. This risk may be unnecessary and may dampen any development benefits of the Oyu Tolgoi license.Item Open Access Fool’s Gold: An Examination of Liberalization and Extractive Mining and in Ghana(2018-04) Gundersen, ConnorThis thesis assesses the spatial distribution of mines in Ghana and its effect on residents in nearby communities. Large-scale mines are largely concentrated in the country’s “Golden Triangle,” a gold-rich area in southwest Ghana that has seen increased conflict, displacement, and poverty due to the expansion of large-scale mines, a key part of development policy in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Testing the relationship between the independent variable of a resident’s distance to the nearest large-scale mine and the dependent variables of their household 1) wellbeing and 2) attitudes towards government, as measured through a robust set of survey responses, this analysis is designed to assess the role of large-scale mining in the everyday lives and political perspectives of rural Ghanaians. Undertaken with an interdisciplinary approach, this research question possesses relevance to greater development scholarship, as large-scale mining aptly represents the logics behind the last several decades of structural adjustment and its successors. The data analysis finds no statistically-significant relationship between household wellbeing and distance to the nearest mine, with little evidence of any effect. However, in testing the relationship between household attitudes towards government and distance to the nearest mine, there is a significant relationship found that poses further questions. The influence of control variables is also discussed.Item Open Access Geochemical, biological, and landscape controls on mercury fate, transport, and impact in natural ecosystems(2021) Gerson, JacquelineAn increasingly large fraction of Earth’s surface has been reshaped and contaminated by humans, leading experts to suggest we’ve entered into a new geologic epoch – the Anthropocene. Nowhere are these changes more obvious than in mining-impacted landscapes. Mining reshapes landscapes, liberates trace elements, and alters the fate, transport, and transformation of trace elements. In this dissertation, I examine the extent to which mining both alters landscape features and mobilizes trace elements, and how these paired changes together determine the bioavailability of toxic trace elements. Specifically, in this dissertation, I focus on the mobilization and transformation of selenium (Se) and mercury (Hg) from mountaintop mining (MTM) in West Virginia; the biogeochemical interactions between Se and Hg in ecosystems and organisms; and the fate of Hg derived from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Senegal and Peru.
In chapter 2, I examine the fate of Hg and Se from MTM of coal. Coal is naturally enriched in trace elements, including Hg and Se. Alkaline mine drainage from MTM – the dominant form of surface coal mining in Appalachia, USA – releases large quantities of Se into streams draining mined catchments, resulting in elevated bioaccumulation of Se in aquatic and riparian organisms. Yet, the release of Hg into these streams from MTM has not yet been studied. I measured total Hg, methyl Hg (MeHg), and Se in stream water, sediment, biofilm, cranefly larvae, and riparian spiders in alkaline streams (pH range: 6.9-8.4) across a mining gradient (0-98% watershed mined) in central Appalachia. Hg concentrations ranged from below detection limit (BDL)-6.9 ng/L in unfiltered water, BDL-0.05 μg/g in bulk sediment, 0.016-0.098 μg/g in biofilm, 0.038-0.11 μg/g in cranefly larvae, and 0.046-0.25 μg/g in riparian spiders. In contrast to Se, I found that Hg concentrations in all environmental compartments were not related to the proportion of the watershed mined, suggesting that Hg is not being released from, nor bioaccumulating within, MTM-VF watersheds. I also did not find clear evidence for a reduction in Hg methylation or bioaccumulation under elevated Se concentrations: water, sediment, biofilm, and riparian spiders exhibited no relationship between Hg and Se; only cranefly larvae exhibited a negative relationship (p=0.0002, r2=0.42). I suggest that the type of surface mining matrix rock, with resultant alkaline or acid mine drainage, is important for the speciation, mobility, and bioaccumulation of trace elements within watersheds affected by mining activities.
In chapter 3, I examine evidence for an interaction between Hg and Se. Hg is a pervasive environmental pollutant and contaminant of concern for both people and wildlife that has been a focus of environmental remediation efforts for decades. A growing body of literature has motivated calls for revising Hg consumption advisories to co-consider Se levels in seafood and implies that remediating aquatic ecosystems with ecosystem-scale Se additions could be a robust solution to Hg contamination. Provided that elevated Se concentrations are also known toxicological threats to aquatic animals, I performed a literature search to evaluate the strength of evidence supporting three assertions underpinning the ameliorating benefits of Se: (1) dietary Se reduces MeHg toxicity in consumers; (2) environmental Se reduces Hg bioaccumulation and biomagnification in aquatic food webs; and (3) Se inhibits Hg bioavailability to, and/or MeHg production by, microbial communities. Limited or ambiguous support for each criterion indicates that many scientific uncertainties and gaps remain regarding Se mediation of Hg behavior and toxicity in abiotic and biotic compartments. Significantly more information is needed to provide a strong scientific basis for modifying current fish consumption advisories on the basis of Se:Hg ratios or for applying Se amendments to remediate Hg-contaminated ecosystems.
In chapter 4, I examine evidence for Hg and Se interaction at the base of the food web. Hg, a potent neurotoxin, can biomagnify through food webs once converted into MeHg. Some studies have found that Se exposure may reduce MeHg bioaccumulation and toxicity, though this pattern is not universal. Se itself can also be toxic at elevated levels. We experimentally manipulated the relative concentrations of dietary MeHg and Se (as selenomethionine [SeMet]) for an aquatic grazer (the mayfly, Neocloeon triangulifer) and its food source (diatoms). Under low MeHg treatment (0.2 ng/L), diatoms exhibited a quadratic pattern, with decreasing diatom MeHg concentration up to 2.0 g Se/L and increasing MeHg accumulation at higher SeMet concentrations. Under high MeHg treatment (2 ng/L), SeMet concentrations had no effect on diatom MeHg concentrations. Mayfly MeHg concentrations and biomagnification factors (concentration of MeHg in mayflies: concentration of MeHg in diatoms) declined with SeMet addition only in the high MeHg treatment. Mayfly biomagnification factors decreased from 5.3 to 3.3 in the high MeHg treatment, while the biomagnification factor was constant with an average of 4.9 in the low MeHg treatment. The benefit of reduced MeHg biomagnification was offset by non-lethal effects and high mortality associated with ‘protective’ levels of SeMet exposure. Mayfly larvae escape behavior (i.e., startle response) was greatly reduced at early exposure days. Larvae took nearly twice as long for all to metamorphose to adults at high Se concentrations. The minimum number of days to emergence did not differ by SeMet exposure, with an average of 13 days. We measured an LC50SeMet for mayflies of 3.9 μg Se/L, with complete mortality at concentrations ≥6.0 μg Se/L. High reproductive mortality occurred at elevated SeMet exposures, with only 0-18% emergence at ≥4.12 g Se/L. Collectively our results suggest that while there is some evidence that Se can reduce MeHg accumulation at the base of the food web at specific exposure levels of SeMet and MeHg, Se is also toxic to mayflies and could lead to negative effects that extend across ecosystem boundaries.
In chapter 5, I examine the fate of total and MeHg from ASGM in Senegal. The largest source of global Hg anthropogenic inputs to the environment is derived from ASGM activities in developing countries. While our understanding of global Hg emissions from ASGM is growing, there is limited empirical documentation about the levels of total Hg (THg) and MeHg contamination near ASGM sites. I measured THg and MeHg concentrations in soil (n=119) sediment (n=22), and water (n=25) from four ASGM villages and one non-ASGM reference village in Senegal, West Africa with active ASGM. Nearly all samples had THg and MeHg concentrations that exceeded the reference village concentrations and USEPA regulatory standards. The highest median THg concentrations were found in huts where Hg-gold amalgams were burned (7.5 μg/g), while the highest median MeHg concentrations and percent Hg as MeHg were found in river sediments (4.2 ng/g, 0.41%). Median river water concentrations of THg and MeHg were also elevated compared to values at the reference site (22 ng THg/L, 0.037 ng MeHg/L in ASGM sites). This study provides direct evidence that Hg from ASGM is entering both the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems where it is converted to the neurotoxic and bioavailable form of MeHg in soils, sediment, and water.
In chapter 6, I examine pathways of Hg deposition and storage from ASGM in the Peruvian Amazon. Hg emissions from ASGM now exceed coal combustion as the largest global source of Hg to the atmosphere and are being released into some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth. Hg, following microbial conversion to MeHg, is a potent neurotoxin with deleterious impacts on people and wildlife. However, while we know ASGM is an important source of Hg to the atmosphere, we know very little about the fate of this source of Hg. Here, I examine Hg deposition and storage in the Peruvian Amazon by analyzing THg and MeHg in atmospheric, precipitation, leaf, and soil samples from remote and mining-impacted areas. I found that intact forests in the Peruvian Amazon near ASGM receive extremely high inputs of Hg in throughfall (71 µg m-2 yr-1) and litterfall (66 μg m-2 yr-1) and have accumulated significant quantities of soil Hg (9100 μg Hg m-2 within the top five cm). My findings show for the first time that intact forests near ASGM are intercepting high levels of Hg deposition, and that songbirds inhabiting these forests have elevated levels of mercury. Our findings raise important questions about how mercury pollution may constrain modern and future conservation efforts in these ecosystems.
In chapter 7, I examine the combined effects of landscape change and Hg loading from ASGM in the Peruvian Amazon. ASGM is the largest global source of anthropogenic Hg emissions. However, little is known about how effectively Hg released from ASGM is converted into the bioavailable form of MeHg in ASGM-altered landscapes. Through examination of ASGM-impacted river basins in Peru, I show that lake area in heavily mined watersheds has increased by 670% between 1985 and 2018, and that lakes in this area convert Hg into MeHg at net rates 5-7 times greater than rivers. These results suggest that synergistic increases in lake area and Hg loading associated with ASGM are significantly increasing exposure risk for people and wildlife. Similarly dramatic increases in lake area in other ASGM hotspots suggest that ‘hydroscape’ (hydrological landscape) alteration is an important and previously unrecognized component of Hg risk from ASGM.
In chapter 8, I develop several of the emergent themes that connect the distinct elements of this dissertation research. Here I develop a conceptual framework for merging perspectives from geochemistry, landscape ecology, and toxicology to understand the movement, fate and impact of toxic trace elements in the natural world. In the Anthropocene, we typically study the increasing mobilization of toxic trace elements and the changing land cover of our planet as separate issues. Yet the way we alter our landscapes plays a critical role in the likelihood that any particular place will retain, sequester, and alter the transport and bioavailability of trace elements to people and wildlife. The goal of this chapter is to provide examples that demonstrate that the risk of contaminant exposure is not merely a function of loading, but arises through interactions among loading, landscape capture, and biological transformation, all of which are simultaneously altered by human activities. I posit that successful prevention and mitigation of trace element toxicity requires a merging of these diverse perspectives and traditions.
Item Restricted Gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon: global prices, deforestation, and mercury imports.(PLoS One, 2011-04-19) Swenson, Jennifer J; Carter, Catherine E; Domec, Jean-Christophe; Delgado, Cesar IMany factors such as poverty, ineffective institutions and environmental regulations may prevent developing countries from managing how natural resources are extracted to meet a strong market demand. Extraction for some resources has reached such proportions that evidence is measurable from space. We present recent evidence of the global demand for a single commodity and the ecosystem destruction resulting from commodity extraction, recorded by satellites for one of the most biodiverse areas of the world. We find that since 2003, recent mining deforestation in Madre de Dios, Peru is increasing nonlinearly alongside a constant annual rate of increase in international gold price (∼18%/yr). We detect that the new pattern of mining deforestation (1915 ha/year, 2006-2009) is outpacing that of nearby settlement deforestation. We show that gold price is linked with exponential increases in Peruvian national mercury imports over time (R(2) = 0.93, p = 0.04, 2003-2009). Given the past rates of increase we predict that mercury imports may more than double for 2011 (∼500 t/year). Virtually all of Peru's mercury imports are used in artisanal gold mining. Much of the mining increase is unregulated/artisanal in nature, lacking environmental impact analysis or miner education. As a result, large quantities of mercury are being released into the atmosphere, sediments and waterways. Other developing countries endowed with gold deposits are likely experiencing similar environmental destruction in response to recent record high gold prices. The increasing availability of satellite imagery ought to evoke further studies linking economic variables with land use and cover changes on the ground.Item Open Access Implementation Effectiveness of Corporate Environmental Policies & Strategies(2008-08-28T00:51:14Z) Weikel, Marielle CanterConservation International (CI) has for many years recognized both the impact private sector development has on global biodiversity and the opportunity companies present to achieving biodiversity conservation results if their resources are properly harnessed. As a result, CI has long engaged with numerous companies to support their development and implementation of environmental best practices, including policies and strategies. Several years into this collaborative approach, little effort has been placed on a formal evaluation of how effectively these policies and strategies are being implemented, and what positive, measurable impact, if any, this has had on achieving biodiversity conservation results. Therefore, this research aims to evaluate a select number of companies in the mining sector with whom CI has worked for several years to determine how effective their environmental policy and strategy implementation has been, and identify any linkages to achieving biodiversity conservation results. Research methods included a review of scholarly literature, comparative company research of four mining companies (Alcoa, BHP Billiton, Newmont, and Rio Tinto), and structured interviews of company and CI representatives. While research concluded that it is too soon to evaluate if CI’s partnerships have lead to biodiversity conservation outcomes, they do appear to have contributed to factors that may enable achievement of outcomes in the longer term. Additionally, while companies have identified performance goals and targets as important components of environmental policies and successful implementation, they have not consistently set them for important environmental issues such as biodiversity, water, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Government capacity was also an issue raised as key to corporate environmental performance. Finally, a lack of existing scholarly work on corporate environmental performance and implementation of environmental policies was identified. This paper presents several recommendations developed to address these key findings.Item Open Access Isotopic imprints of mountaintop mining contaminants.(Environ Sci Technol, 2013-09-03) Vengosh, Avner; Lindberg, T Ty; Merola, Brittany R; Ruhl, Laura; Warner, Nathaniel R; White, Alissa; Dwyer, Gary S; Di Giulio, Richard TMountaintop mining (MTM) is the primary procedure for surface coal exploration within the central Appalachian region of the eastern United States, and it is known to contaminate streams in local watersheds. In this study, we measured the chemical and isotopic compositions of water samples from MTM-impacted tributaries and streams in the Mud River watershed in West Virginia. We systematically document the isotopic compositions of three major constituents: sulfur isotopes in sulfate (δ(34)SSO4), carbon isotopes in dissolved inorganic carbon (δ(13)CDIC), and strontium isotopes ((87)Sr/(86)Sr). The data show that δ(34)SSO4, δ(13)CDIC, Sr/Ca, and (87)Sr/(86)Sr measured in saline- and selenium-rich MTM impacted tributaries are distinguishable from those of the surface water upstream of mining impacts. These tracers can therefore be used to delineate and quantify the impact of MTM in watersheds. High Sr/Ca and low (87)Sr/(86)Sr characterize tributaries that originated from active MTM areas, while tributaries from reclaimed MTM areas had low Sr/Ca and high (87)Sr/(86)Sr. Leaching experiments of rocks from the watershed show that pyrite oxidation and carbonate dissolution control the solute chemistry with distinct (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios characterizing different rock sources. We propose that MTM operations that access the deeper Kanawha Formation generate residual mined rocks in valley fills from which effluents with distinctive (87)Sr/(86)Sr and Sr/Ca imprints affect the quality of the Appalachian watersheds.Item Open Access Laboratory Experiments to Evaluate the Potential Mobilization of Contaminants from Hard Rock Lithium Mining(2023-04-26) Saltman, SamHard rock mining of lithium is projected to increase significantly over the next decade due to the demand for lithium in renewable energy. The potential impacts of lithium mine tailings and waste rock from a pegmatite source on water quality are not fully documented. Chemical interactions of lithium mine tailings and waste rock with meteoric water can promote leaching of contaminants from the residual rocks and potentially contaminate associated water. This study utilizes the Leaching Environmental Assessment Framework (LEAF) methods used by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assess the potential of contaminants leaching from lithium tailings and possible impacts on water quality. Groundwater, surface water and waste rock samples from an undisclosed hard rock lithium mine site in North Carolina were collected. The results were compared to ecological and drinking water standards set by the EPA, US Geological Survey (USGS) and World Health Organization (WHO) as well as to the quality of effluents extracted from coal ash through the LEAF methodology. Results of the leaching experiments indicate that interactions between water and lithium tailings can cause the mobilization of metals and impact water quality. In all leaching scenarios, low liquid-solid (L/S) ratios caused higher mobilization of trace elements. The experimental acidity conditions affected mobilization of trace elements as well; under acidic conditions (lower than pH 4), the mobilization of beryllium, manganese, nickel, and cobalt are promoted, whereas under both acidic (lower than pH 4) and alkaline (greater than pH 10.5) conditions, zinc, lead, iron, aluminum, chromium, lithium, and uranium are mobilized into the effluents. Uranium in one sample leached 40.62% in pH 2, below the detection limit in pH 7 and 60.9% in pH 13 in comparison to the concentration of the bulk solid. Lead showed a similar pattern with one sample leaching 6.77% in initial pH of 2, below the detection limit in pH 7 and 3.54% in pH 12. These results highlight the dependence of ambient acidity conditions on the mobilization of contaminants from lithium tailings solids. The LEAF tests indicated that the lithium waste rock samples all had a buffer capacity between pH 6-10 in testing conditions between pH 4-10.5 and produced slightly to moderately alkaline effluent between a pH of 7-10 in deionized water. Both the alkaline effluent and high buffering capacity observed in the LEAF tests suggests that the formation of acidic effluent and the potential for acid rock drainage is low. Alkaline water observed in the two samples taken on-site, i.e., one surface water sample and one groundwater sample, supports this finding. A comparison to the effluent chemistry generated from a LEAF experiment of coal ash reveals that industrial effluent from a lithium mine will have less of an impact on water quality than coal ash residuals. Under expected moderately alkaline conditions (pH 9) of both coal ash and lithium residual rock effluent, results showed that concentrations of coal ash effluent exceeded lithium rock effluent concentrations by a factor of 19 for antimony, 130 for chromium and 440 for selenium. This study highlights the need to monitor and manage the conditions at tailings and waste rock storage areas. There were L/S and acidity conditions in the lab setting where contaminants of concern including chromium, lead, uranium, beryllium, cadmium, antimony and thallium mobilized. Although the results of this study cannot be directly applied to field conditions, environmental managers should be aware of the conditions in which contaminants of concern mobilized in the lab setting. The main conclusions are that acid rock drainage is unlikely to occur given that the lithium residual rock samples all produced alkaline effluent, the buffer capacity of the lithium residual rock can reduce the risk of contamination associated with highly alkaline conditions, and lithium residual rock effluent in expected moderately alkaline conditions will have less of an impact than coal ash effluent on water quality.Item Open Access Límites y Linderos: Una interpretación decolonial de los conflictos territoriales en la Región Norte de Esmeraldas durante los finales del siglo XIX.(2013-05-10) Leon, Evan MichaelThis thesis examines the interactions between Anglo-American mining companies and Afro Ecuadorian communities in the northern region of Esmeraldas province, Ecuador during the late nineteenth century. Specifically in these interactions, the thesis analyzes the territorial conflicts that emerged between the mining companies and communities based on their opposing conceptualizations of land and their different definitions of land use and ownership. In analyzing the conflicts, the thesis aims to provide a decolonial interpretation, meaning it gives value to both Afro Ecuadorian and Anglo-American legal frameworks, philosophies in order to depict the tensions and conflicts between the two groups in a more equitable fashion. Based on primary research at government archives in Ecuador and private document collections in the United States, the thesis recreates a historical narrative in which a mining company’s corporate documents and letters to shareholders are juxtaposed with interviews of community members and oral histories passed down from generation to generation in the community. The thesis also incorporates government maps, public notary entries, land sale contracts and diplomatic correspondence from several major government archives in Ecuador: The Archive of the Ecuadorian Central Bank in Esmeraldas, The National Archive of Ecuador in Quito, The Archival Library at the National Assembly of Ecuador in Quito and the Library of the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Quito. In addition to the government archives, community interviews and recordings of community members’ oral traditions were obtained from the Afro-Andean Document Collection at the Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar in Quito. In addition to research at document collections and government archives, personal correspondence between company executives and original preliminarysurvey maps of the region were obtained from the private family collection of the granddaughter of the vice president of the Anglo-American mining company.Item Open Access Measuring The Effects of Mining on Peru's Public Health: Is The Apurimac Region Prepared To Assess Heavy Metal Exposure?(2016-04-27) Magaña Paredes, JosePeru’s Ministry of Health has approached Duke University because it seeks help with evaluating whether heavy metals exposure (in mining regions) is associated with adverse health outcomes. To aid in this effort, I have proposed a new framework for health monitoring that incorporates new clinical assessment tools and diagnostic tests to begin evaluating whether heavy metals exposure (in mining regions) is associated with human health outcomes. This framework is proposed as a pilot program to be tested in Apurimac by Peru’s Ministry of Health (MOH), following the completion of their current presidential election. Tools developed will evaluate exposure to five heavy metals: lead, arsenic, cadmium, selenium, and mercury. The information generated is anticipated to provide the MOH the ability to identify exposures to environmental hazards and health risks in Apurimac and the possibility of introducing a national surveillance program that identifies environmental health risk factors in other mining regions of Peru. Addition, we expect improved ability to identify public health needs, evaluate program costs, diagnose and treat patients suffering from heavy metal exposure, and increased transparency and awareness of environmental risk factors. The first section of this report provides an overview of the economic contributions that mining makes to the Peruvian economy, the environmental hazards that stem from mining metals, the potential health risk due to heavy metal exposure, and the inability of the Peruvian healthcare infrastructure for linking public health to environmental exposure. It also emphasizes the need to adapt new population health management practices to regions with unique needs based on industry presence, i.e. mining, and likely environmental hazards. The second section provides background and context. It explains how humans can be exposed to heavy metals and what the toxic effects are for each respective exposure pathway and heavy metal. It also explains how copper, gold, and silver mining is a source of exposure to lead, arsenic, cadmium, selenium and mercury. It also reviews historical case studies of heavy metal exposure near mining sites in Peru. This section also provides an overview of the Apurimac Region’s formal and informal mining industry, its demographic and social characteristics, its daunting epidemiology, and its inability to meet public health needs with its current healthcare infrastructure. The third section explains the goals of the pilot program proposed by this paper. It lists explicit objectives for enabling Peru’s MOH and Apurimac’s health agency the ability to link population health to environmental exposure. Secondary objectives are defined to help evaluate program efficiency, effectiveness, and scalability. The S.M.A.R.T. Goals framework is recommended for refining pilot program objectives. Several challenges are acknowledged and listed for consideration during goal formulation. The fourth section is an overview of methods and materials used to illustrate the various aspects involved in implementing the proposed population health surveillance program. It describes four phases for project rollout, a new clinical procedure, a unique patient and health provider survey tool for environmental exposure data collection, laboratory analysis protocols, and data storage and reporting instructions. This section also discusses limitations regarding data collection and analysis specifically related to literacy, language barriers, and biases. The fifth section of the report describes the anticipated outcomes from the pilot study, referencing the ability to integrate clinical protocols at the National and Regional levels, with newly gained clinical capacity to link public health to environmental risk factors. For example, this section proposes new clinical diagnosis codes, i.e. ICD-10--“Lead”, for associating morbidity and mortality with an environmental exposure to a heavy metal. This section also expands on the benefits of meeting the pilot’s secondary goals. The sixth section dives into the uncertainty of success associated with the execution of such a novel approach to integrate both population health management and environmental health. It cautions against implementing the recommendation brought forth in this report without proper examination from the national and regional health agencies and other pertinent stakeholders. Peru’s mining economy is, and will remain, a going concern and threat to human health because it’s expected to continue for several years into the future. However, by providing political support for the health surveillance pilot program proposed in this report, regional health agencies should be able to identify environmental health hazards and protect the communities they are responsible for. Eventually, the outcomes from the pilot program should be used to identify how the environments in regions with a large mining footprint are impacting human health. Creating a near real-time population health surveillance platform for Peru’s MOH would be an accomplishment not seen even in the most developed economies or health systems. For the sake of Peru’s reported 5.86 million people who are said to be dependents of mining sector employees, I strongly encourage Peru’s Ministry of Health to carefully consider my recommendations and move forward with them.Item Open Access Multi-scale knowledge and knowledge gaps in deep-sea mining regional environmental management planning(2022-04-21) Cook, MeganAs deep seabed mineral mining interest advances in the Area beyond national jurisdiction, many questions remain about how to manage the ecosystem impacts of future exploitation. While the deep ocean remains largely unexplored and uncharacterized, the International Seabed Authority’s Regional Environmental Management Planning (REMP) process is already underway, charged to implement the precautionary approach mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. This analysis examines REMP efforts for the Northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge and North West Pacific Ocean, underway now, to review how unique mineral provinces, presence of vulnerable marine ecosystems, and data clarity or paucity have influenced the suggestion of a suite of management approaches across the seabed. This project develops a data hierarchy to illustrate the precision of knowledge guiding current REMP planning and provides recommendations for future REMPs in other data-poor ocean regions.Item Open Access Radium and barium removal through blending hydraulic fracturing fluids with acid mine drainage.(Environ Sci Technol, 2014-01-21) Kondash, Andrew J; Warner, Nathaniel R; Lahav, Ori; Vengosh, AvnerWastewaters generated during hydraulic fracturing of the Marcellus Shale typically contain high concentrations of salts, naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), and metals, such as barium, that pose environmental and public health risks upon inadequate treatment and disposal. In addition, fresh water scarcity in dry regions or during periods of drought could limit shale gas development. This paper explores the possibility of using alternative water sources and their impact on NORM levels through blending acid mine drainage (AMD) effluent with recycled hydraulic fracturing flowback fluids (HFFFs). We conducted a series of laboratory experiments in which the chemistry and NORM of different mix proportions of AMD and HFFF were examined after reacting for 48 h. The experimental data combined with geochemical modeling and X-ray diffraction analysis suggest that several ions, including sulfate, iron, barium, strontium, and a large portion of radium (60-100%), precipitated into newly formed solids composed mainly of Sr barite within the first ∼ 10 h of mixing. The results imply that blending AMD and HFFF could be an effective management practice for both remediation of the high NORM in the Marcellus HFFF wastewater and beneficial utilization of AMD that is currently contaminating waterways in northeastern U.S.A.