Surface mining and the environment in Europe

Environmental quality must be sustained in areas affected by surface coal-mining. This requires designing and developing environmentally sensitive strategies for coal extraction and land reclamation. It demands a more rigorous control of environmental impacts and more attention to ensuring productive and sustainable land restoration. The greatest threats to the future of the surface mining industry are a lack of public tolerance, a legacy of damaged lands with incomplete or low quality land restoration, and pollution problems – most notably those due to acid deposition from coal-burning power stations. This paper assesses the responses of Europe's surface coal mining industries to these challenges through an analysis of papers presented to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe's symposium entitled "Surface Mining and the Environment".