The Coal Authority`s Mining Reports Service and HMLR,s Local

37th Annual Conference on the NAAMLP
Santa Fe, NM, September 2015
Chief Operating Officer
The Coal Authority – Mining Legacy
Management in Britain
Simon Reed
Chief Operating Officer
The Coal Authority, UK
Coal Authority UK
Public Body, sponsored by the UK
Department for Energy and Climate
Change.
Established 1994 upon privatisation
of Coal Industry
Manage the Impacts of Mining in
the UK, Regulate the industry and
provide information on mining.
Funding streams from Government
and sales of mining reports.
$75m/year.
170 people based in Mansfield,
Nottinghamshire, UK.
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Coalfield areas
The Role of the Coal Authority UK
Minerals and
Industry
Owners of the Mineral
Regulate coal mining
operators - subsidence,
rents, mine closure
Bonding Advice for
Planning Authorities
Manage physical coal
industry closure for
Government
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Information
Environment
Holders and
managers of
mining information
Manage safety
issues to give peace
of mind to the public
Risk information to
Property
Developers
Address Mine Water
Impacts (coal and
metal mining)
Due diligence
reports for house
buyers
Advise Planning
Authorities
Repair subsidence
damage for land and
property owners
Innovation
Coal Production
Coal Production from 1700 to 2015
Coal industry
re-privatised
1994
© Coal Authority
The Extent of Legacy
Long history of coal mining some of
which is unrecorded.
7 million properties (25% of all) lie within
coalfields.
1.5 million coalfield properties sit on
shallow coal workings (<30m deep).
170,000 recorded mine entries.
130,000 properties lie within 20m of at
least one mine entry.
Coal mining legacy affects the public,
planners, developers and landowners.
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Mine shaft collapse
The COAL Authority
Risk based inspection regimes
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Provision of Coal Mining Information
Dynamic GIS system providing
automated mining reports
Bespoke data manipulation and
mapping
120,000 abandoned mine plans
now digitally captured
300,000 mining reports per year
Risk Assessment reports
Coal mining surface risk mapping
© Coal Authority
Improving The Nation’s Rivers
The Effects of Ferruginous
Minewater
– Six Bells, Abertillery, Wales
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Taff Merthyr Mine Water Treatment Scheme
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The Remediated River
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Protecting Drinking Water, $10m
capital investment
Dawdon Active Mine Water Treatment Scheme
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Metal Mines
Abandoned metal mines responsible for
50% of all metal loading into watercourses
in England and Wales – same as all other
sources combined
Cadmium, Nickel, Lead, Iron, Copper, Zinc,
Aluminium, Manganese,
Defra Report WT0969, Jarvis and Mayes 2013
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Programme to date
70+ coal schemes constructed
3 metal mine schemes
400 km rivers cleaned or protected
30 Blowout risks have been mitigated.
100 Billion Litres water treated pa
£23 Million environmental benefits
delivered since 2011 (excluding
preventive schemes)
Aquifers protected for 0.5m people
valued at: £30.5 Million pa
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So we have challenges:
Future Government Funding versus a
£1bn balance sheet liability.
Required to hold operating costs flat
over last 5 years.
Need to demonstrate economic and
social benefits as well as environmental
We have delivered a lot of efficiency savings, e.g.
electric usage - voltage optimisation – tariff opportunities
Pump optimisation
cascades to remove CO2, reducing chemical usage
gravity desludging to drying beds as opposed to pumping
further savings harder to find.
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Some Challenges
Some schemes currently failing cost benefit ratios and need innovative
approaches. Deferred costs of sludge disposal are significant
Land availability and costs – we need smaller footprints
Managing Consents - seeking appropriate levels for receiving water
body – e.g. minimal treatment and discharge to sea
Potential tightening on environmental consents
Rising power costs
A passive strategy that leads to in perpetuity liability management
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“Managing Liabilities” into “Creating Assets”
We need to develop technology and also use our imagination to do
this.
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i)
through finding commercial opportunities we can exploit with our
schemes.
ii)
through R&D with partners will develop our knowledge
Reducing Costs/Creating Opportunities for income
Energy
Wind, hydro and solar energy at existing schemes
Power generation sold into grid at peak
Heat (63MW in our schemes)
Water related
Opportunity for local sales of water – industry, irrigation
(100bn l/year)
Sludges
Ochre for phosphate and metal removal
Other opportunities
Total catchment management approaches
Flood alleviation and compensatory flows
Biomass, Community opportunities
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Research and Development Focus
Areas
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Our web presence
We know our
challenges are not
unique. We believe
that collaborating with
others will drive all our
innovation. Please talk
to us.
www2.groundstability.com,
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