The Spree River region, located in Eastern Germany, is a major tourist destination known for its meandering tributaries. Large quantities of rust chemicals are flushed up and turning the river orange, killing wildlife, and scaring away visitors and settlements. This is a result of over five decades of brown-coal mining in the Lusatia Mining District located 80km southeast of Berlin.
Lignite Mining
Lignite
/lig-nahyt/
also referred to as brown coal;
a soft brown type of coal mined in opencast operations and used exclusively as a fuel for steam-electric power generation
Lignite Mining in Germany
The three largest lignite mining countries in the world from 1980-2015. Since the 1980’s and until to date, Germany is the largest lignite producer in the world, followed by China and Russia. The Lusatia Mining District, being one of the largest lignite mine area in Germany (with 35,000 hectares of land), accounts for approximately one-third (59 millions of metric tons in 2015) of the country’s lignite production.
Germany is an exporter of electricity. 98% of Germany’s export volume is from lignite generation. In 2016, Germany has exported 6 million metric tons of lignite, which was 3% of the total output volume. Due to the nature of lignite coal with difficult handling characteristics, it is not economical for long distance transportation. Therefore, Germany mostly exports lignite to its neighbouring countries, namely Switzerland, Austria and Netherlands.
Impacts
Lost Settlements
In contrast to mining for hard coal which requires deep underground mining methods, brown-coal mining requires opencast (or open-pit) mine operations. This is an intensive process where it requires a drastic degradation of the ecosystem. To date, these operations have altered 179,490 hectares of countryside lands in Germany. Lignite mining sites is distributed over four main areas in Germany – Lusatia, Central Germany, Rhine, and Helmstedt. Since 1924, approximately 300 settlements and communities have been lost to lignite mine expansions. In particular, 136 villages had to be resettled in Lusatia alone.
Water Pollution
As lignite coal is found relatively closer to the surface of the earth, opencast mining methods is used for extraction. In opencast mine operations, extraction often occurs below the normal level. In order to prevent flooding, the underground water level needs to be lowered which means constantly pumping out of water from the mine for its operations.
For every production of 1 ton of lignite, 8 tons of water needs to be pumped out the mine sites. When this happens, the surrounding rocks in the mine gets exposed to air and water, causing it to rust. As a result of this natural oxidation process, rust chemicals, scientifically known as iron ochre and sulphate, is created.
As these mines closed down and pumping operations ceased, the water level climbs back to its normal levels and floods the mines. These abandoned pits are refilled with groundwater along with the rust chemicals resulting in very acidic water. With the help of rain, the contaminated water runoffs into the Spree River nearby. This process is known as the formation of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD).
Impacts on Tourism
The Spree River, with an area of 10,000km2, runs through the south-eastern part of Germany. The river is best known to flow through the government city center of Berlin passing by the Berlin Cathedral (Berliner Dom). Running north from the Lusatia region and before arriving the Berlin city center, the Spree River flows through the Spreewald region.
UNESCO Spreewald Biosphere Reserve, situated 100km south-east of Berlin in the Lusatia region, is a popular tourist attraction. The large wetlands area consists of 1,300km of small channels within 48,400 hectares area was created in the last Ice Age where Spree River was split into networks of waterways. The area attracts 4 million tourists every year with 7,700 jobs depended on the tourism industry.
Impacts on Wildlife
At Spreewald, brown sludge is filling up the biosphere reserve, killing all the wildlife in the area. Water contaminated by AMD can affect aquatic life in many ways. A thick layer of mud on the surface of the water blocks sunlight thus destroying the habitat of plants. Being the lowest form of the food chain, this largely affects the ecosystem. Acidic water with a pH level as low as 2.5 is toxic to most forms of aquatic life, impairing their respiration systems.
Impacts on Drinking Water
In the medium term, the presence of lignite mining remnants in the Spree River poses a threat to the drinking water supply for Berlin. Drinking water contaminated with organic compounds from lignite can damage kidney tissues causing “Balkan Endemic Neuphropathy”, which is a kidney damage syndrome that eventually leads to renal failure. High occurrences of renal pelvic cancer are found in settlements near water contaminated by lignite mines.
Considerations
Employment
Since the mid-19th century when lignite was discovered in the area, the Lusatia’s economy has been solely depended on the lignite mining industry. A 2018 Rhineland-Westphalia Institute (RWI) publication indicates that in Germany, there are up to 32,000 jobs directly or indirectly depended on brown coal sectors. Out of this number, 13,245 jobs belong to the Lusatia district. In particular, the energy company LEAG, operating all four opencast mines in the Lusatia area, provides 8,000 jobs for its mine sites and power plant businesses.
According to data in 2015, two-thirds of people currently employed in the lignite sector are older than 45. Another study conducted for the Federal Environment Agency states that 63% of these employees will be retiring by 2030.
Number of employment in Lusatia from 1980-2015. A significant drop of employment in 1990 reflects the unification of East and West Germany.
Energy Sources
Close to 90% of lignite production is used for power generation. In 2018, Germany’s gross power generation output is 648.9 TWh, with 23% from burning lignite coal, making Germany the world’s leader in the mining and burning of lignite, according to the International Energy Agency.
Actions
Legislative Actions
A number of legislative policies directly or indirectly impact the lignite mining industry in Lusatia. Click below to learn more.
Industrial Actions
Clean Energy
The common types of renewable energy sources are solar, wind, hydroelectrical, biomass, and geothermal. There are both environmental and economic advantages to using renewable sources. These energy sources do not produce greenhouse gas emissions, reducing carbon footprint and air pollution. While fossil fuel indsutries relies on mechanical tools, renewable energy industries require more labour which on average, creates more jobs for the economy.
Post Production Treatment
A mine-water cleaning plant is in operation placed near the town of Vetschau in attempts to filter the Spree River water. The process of water treatment plants cleaning the water is relatively slow as iron ochre needs to settled to the bottom of the pools, then collected. Post-production treatments require costly investments, are difficult to manage and may in addition, generate more waste by-products, producing long-term undesirable effects.
AMD Prevention
A more viable and cost-effective option for reducing AMD is to prevent sulfide oxidation at the source. Classified into five major types of methods – physical barriers, bacterial inhibition, chemical barriers (passivation), electrochemical protection and desulfurization. These options can prevent the oxidation process to successfully eliminate the formation of AMD.
Mine Reclamation
This is the process of restoring mine sites into its natural ecosystem environmentally and economically. This process occurs after mining activities. To ensure feasibility and cost efficiency, mine reclamation activities need to be planned prior to mining activities. Mine reclamation processes are included in most modern mining practices to minimize and mitigates the environmental effects of mining activities.