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Mining debate revived by dispute

NEEDS project weighs costs, benefits of coal

By Lisa Nuch Venbrux
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
April 25th, 2007 issue

RENÉ JAKL/THE PRAGUE POST
North Bohemian communities are fighting Mostecká uhelná to protect their environment from coal mining's harmful dust.
By several accounts, mining in north Bohemia dates as far back as the middle ages. Evidence of this lengthy history isn’t hard to find — open-pit mines, common for the brown-coal mining that pervades this region, sprawl across acres of land between scattered towns.
These mines are typically associated with dusty gaping holes in the earth. But a former mine near the town of Horní Jiřetín conjures a different image — lush green wetlands that have flourished since the area was stripped, then revived.
“It is an incredible example of how nature can recultivate itself within decades,” says Horní Jiřetín Deputy Mayor Vladimír Buřt.
Buřt, who has been fighting to expel coal mining giant Mostecká uhelná (MUS) for years, now aims to preserve these wetlands. His town’s struggle fuels the debate over coal mining’s costs and benefits in the Czech Republic, a debate being addressed now by a Europe-wide energy research project.
Evaluating the costs ...
Miroslav Havránek, a researcher at the Charles University Environment Center, is part of a Europe-wide research project, New Energy Externalities Development for Sustainability (NEEDS), that he says aims to evaluate “the real impact [of energy systems] to compare with real benefits.”
Funded by the European Commission, the project compiles research from 66 universities, research institutions, industries and NGOs from 26 countries, and should complete research in 2008. Charles University’s Environment Center, the partner in the Czech Republic, will focus on coal since it “is basically our only domestic source of energy,” according to Havránek.
He is well-versed in the adverse consequences of open-pit mining. He says some significant problems associated with coal mining include noise pollution from machinery and transport, “classical” pollutants such as car emissions, and impacts on water levels and quality as mines are drained of moisture. Release of greenhouse gases is another lesser-known side effect, as changes in pressure caused by extraction make methane leak from the coal.
Windblown dust drifting from the pits also causes health hazards. “[Dust is a] serious air pollutant that affects human health and has a very large impact in terms of morbidity,” he says. Buřt calls dust pollution “extreme” and excessive in Horní Jiřetín.
These effects do not go unnoticed by town residents. Despite a 2005 referendum indicating that three-quarters of voters disapprove of area mining, MUS is opposing the 1991 “ecological mining limits” that govern where companies can mine, Environment Ministry spokesman Jakub Kašpar says. MUS did not respond to requests for an interview.
Lukáš Viktora, director of the Czech Society of Ornithology, agrees with Buřt when he says the unique ecosystems of north Bohemia can fall out of balance from mining. “It’s changed the landscape quite significantly. [North Bohemia] could lose some high-value small habitats such as different kinds of meadows and forests.” The region is home to several rare birds, including the endangered great bittern, which numbers fewer than 100 in the Czech Republic.
Viktora admits that, since mining companies are required to invest in rehabilitating former mines, new ecosystems, such as the ones around Horní Jiřetín, can develop. However, “The damage is much bigger than the benefits from the recultivation.”

… and benefits

Charles University’s research could show, however, that such costs are the price of the Czech Republic’s energy future, which may depend largely on coal.
“Brown coal is the primary solid fuel that is used the country, and it’s actually half of all energy consumed,” Havránek says, listing imported oil, nuclear power and natural gas as the other main sources of energy.
For him, benefits such as job creation do not yet outweigh environmental and social costs. His reasoning, however, is different from that of concerned residents and environmentalists. “What I think is important is not if it outweighs or not. It’s a question of time.”
Havránek notes that some current predictions suggest Czech mines could face depletion as early as 2017, but postponing opening new mines could allow coal supplies to last decades longer. “There will be much harder competition for energy in future years when [China and India] become more economically powerful. … In the future, the benefit from mining will be much higher than it is now. So it’s logical from an economic point of view to postpone it for the future.”
As for the present, MUS claims in its latest available annual report, from 2005, that the company aspires to maintain employment in the area, and to “continue to be a significant guarantee of socio-economic advancement for the whole region.” The company also claims to have contributed to cultural activities, sports events and social services in 12 towns, including Horní Jiřetín.
Buřt disputes this. “Every year it offers some ridiculous gift, so we don’t accept it.” Still, he admits the company may have done some good for the town.
“They may have helped our social life,” he says wryly, “People stick together against MUS.”
Naďa Černá contributed to this report.

Lisa Nuch Venbrux can be reached at lvenbrux@praguepost.com


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