Risk assessment in the extraction of resources
Risk assessment in the extraction of resources is a critical practice aimed at identifying and evaluating potential hazards associated with resource exploitation. Historically rooted in responses to natural disasters, this scientific field has evolved to address both natural and human-induced risks. The extraction processes, whether through mining, drilling, or logging, come with diverse dangers, including accidents, environmental degradation, and long-term ecological impacts like climate change. This assessment involves estimating the probability of harmful events while considering the societal and environmental costs and benefits associated with resource use.
In examining resource extraction, risk assessment spans three key phases: extraction, utilization, and disposal. Each phase poses unique challenges and potential risks, such as landscape destruction, habitat loss, and pollution from mining waste. Furthermore, the complexity of evaluating such risks is heightened by uncertainties in data and differing public perceptions about acceptable risk levels. For effective management, policymakers often rely on cost-benefit analysis to weigh the economic advantages of resource extraction against its environmental and health repercussions. Ultimately, risk assessment aims to promote sustainable practices that safeguard both human health and the environment for future generations.
Risk assessment in the extraction of resources
Many harmful events, especially anthropogenic hazards, result from the process of resource exploitation. Risk assessment is an essential tool to analyze existing and potential hazards during the extraction of resources, the use of resources, and the disposal of resource products or wastes.
Background
Risk assessment has been practiced throughout human history. Prehistoric civilizations developed methods to assess risks associated with some hazards, especially natural disasters. In the 1970s, risk assessment emerged as a new scientific field to help scientists and public policymakers understand and quantify risks posed by both natural and anthropogenic hazards. Resources have been increasingly impacted by society and the environment. Some local impacts, such as mining accidents, can be devastating. Global impacts caused by resource exploitation, such as acid rain and climate change, can last for many years. Risk assessment has become an essential tool in resource management to protect human health and the environment and to ensure sustainable development for future generations.
Hazard and Risk
There are many definitions for hazard and risk. In general, a hazard is any source of potential harm and damage. In the fields of geosciences and resources, a hazard can be defined as a phenomenon or process that could cause disasters or adverse effects. Most hazards are divided into two categories: natural and anthropogenic. Natural hazards result from events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, droughts, mass wasting, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones. Anthropogenic hazards are caused by human activities such as and habitat destruction, food and water contamination, and air pollution. In many cases, potential natural hazards can be triggered or worsened by anthropogenic activities. For example, mass wasting and land subsidence can occur and become severe if vegetation is destroyed by urban development and human activities.
Many experts debate the meaning of risk and risk assessment. Risk is often expressed as a probability or the utility of harmful events. Most of the debates center on whether risk should be expressed as a probability or utility of the harmful event. A utility of an event is defined by the probability of the event multiplied by the value of the event. However, not every undesirable event has a price, especially in terms of global events. For example, a monetary value for the consequences of or tropical deforestation cannot be determined. Therefore, probability and values are used to express a hazard if the value of harmful events can be assessed. The probability of undesirable outcomes is used to describe a hazard if its consequence cannot be assessed with a value.
Hazards and Risks of Resource Exploitation
Societal and environmental impacts of resource exploitation exist in three categories: the extraction of resources, the use of resources, and the disposal of resource products or wastes.
Solid and resources are normally extracted by quarrying, surface mining, and underground mining. Liquid and gas resources such as oil, natural gas, and water are extracted by wells. All these activities have potential risks that may cause harmful events. Underground mining, especially coal mining, is an extremely high-risk profession. In 2006, in the United States, 72 miners, including 47 coal miners, lost their lives. The majority of these fatalities occurred in Kentucky and West Virginia and include the Sago Mine Disaster. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2023, the number of fatalities from mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction rose from 78 in 2020 to 95 in 2021, a 21.8 percent increase. China accounts for the largest number of coal-mining fatalities, with about 80 percent of the world’s total. In 2006, according to the State Work Safety Supervision Administration, 4,746 Chinese coal miners were killed by gas explosions, water inrushes, and other accidents. From 2004 to 2015, 20,731 mining accidents occurred in China, resulting in 34,729 deaths. While the number of fatalities decreased in the 2020s, it was still significant. From 2018 to 2020, 638 mining accidents occurred, resulting in 1,183 deaths.
Other potential risks related to mining, quarrying, and excessive logging include landscape destruction and habitat loss, which may impact and ecosystems and trigger harmful events, such as mass wasting. In addition, metallic ores and refining oil may release toxic gases and cause substantial air pollution. Overpumping of wells to extract water, petroleum, and resources can deplete these resources and cause sinkhole collapse and land subsidence. Sometimes oil and gas wells may erupt, causing fire hazards and severe pollution.
The use of resources, especially the burning of fossil fuels, has released toxic and greenhouse gases, particles, and excess heat into the environment. Emission of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides by the combustion of resulted in global acid-rain problems in the past. Carbon dioxide concentration in the has increased dramatically because of increased demand for fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution. Many scientists believe that anthropogenic activities, specifically the burning of fossil fuels, lead to global warming.
The disposal of resource products or wastes poses many potential risks to the environment and society. Large piles of waste rocks from mining may cause slope failure and mass wasting. S drainage and water quality may be affected by waste rocks as well. For example, can occur if iron sulfide minerals, such as pyrite and pyrrhotite, are exposed and oxidized by moist air or water. Acid mine drainage around waste rocks and abandoned mines can eventually cause water pollution and barren soils if the watershed is affected by acidic drainage. All waste produced by extracting or using resources needs to be recycled and properly disposed of to prevent environmental and health risks. For example, some radioactive wastes generated by nuclear power plants need to be safely stored in designated sites for at least ten thousand years.
Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis
Risk assessment is the process of characterizing a risk and involves the estimation of the probability of a harmful event. For example, the risk of sinkhole collapse in karst areas can be assessed by studying sinkhole distribution, geologic and topographic settings, and human activities. Results of this risk assessment can be expressed as the probability of a potential sinkhole collapse within a certain time period per unit of area.
Once a potential hazard is identified and the risk assessment is conducted, the acceptability of the risk also needs to be assessed. Cost-benefit analysis is commonly used to decide the acceptability of a risk. Using this approach, risk assessors or policymakers need to determine whether the benefits outweigh the costs. For example, coal mining has benefits such as economic development and job creation and risks such as mining accidents, pollution, and landscape destruction. If policymakers and the public think the benefits outweigh the costs of these risks, these risks will be considered acceptable. Benefits of resources are relatively easier to analyze. The values of economic development, job creation, and markets can be assessed. However, values of many costs, such as pandemic disease or death caused by water pollution, environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, and change, are difficult or impossible to assess.
Uncertainties and Limitations of Risk Assessment
Risk assessment has inherent uncertainties and limitations. Many US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) programs are designed to develop guidelines on how to regulate metals and how to assess potential risks of metals to human health and the environment. EPA has outlined key principles in metal assessments based on issues such as environmental chemistry, exposure, human health effects, ecological effects, bioavailability, and bioaccumulation. Limitations on data and knowledge exist in almost all these issues.
If a risk assessment is based on empirical experience or historical data, it will be difficult to estimate a probability of a rare event. For instance, earthquake frequency is usually low and irregular in many areas. Prediction of earthquakes remains a challenging problem with many uncertainties.
Subjectivity is another limitation associated with risk assessment. Scientists may disagree among themselves on many risks. Policymakers may have their own subjectivity to manage risks. The public may disagree with policymakers based on their subjectivity. For instance, many scientists believe that one cause of global warming is the burning of fossil fuels. However, climate change and the long-term impact of increased in the atmosphere are not fully understood. The acceptability of this potential risk varies among public policymakers in different countries.
Bibliography
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Chiras, Daniel D., and John P. Reganold. Natural Resource Conservation: Management for a Sustainable Future. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2010.
Craig, James R., David J. Vaughan, and Brian J. Skinner. Resources of the Earth: Origin, Use, and Environmental Impact. 3d ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2001.
Framework for Metals Risk Assessment. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Science Advisor, Risk Assessment Forum, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2007.
"Mining Fatalities Rose 21.8 Percent from 2020 to 2021." The Economics Daily, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 20 Oct. 2023, www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2023/mining-fatalities-rose-21-8-percent-from-2020-to-2021.htm. Accessed 6 Jan. 2025.