Lost but Not Forgotten: Identifying Unmapped and Unlisted Environmental Hazards including Abandoned Mines

Young, KP; Murray, BR; Martin, LJ; Murray, ML

Lost but Not Forgotten: Identifying Unmapped and Unlisted Environmental Hazards including Abandoned Mines

Young, KP Murray, BR Martin, LJ Murray, ML

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Publisher:: MDPI AG
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Sustainability, 2021, 13, (19), pp. 11011-11011
Issue Date:: 2021-10-04

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Young, KP
dc.contributor.author	Murray, BR
dc.contributor.author	Martin, LJ
dc.contributor.author	Murray, ML
dc.date.accessioned	2021-10-27T02:07:51Z
dc.date.available	2021-10-27T02:07:51Z
dc.date.issued	2021-10-04
dc.identifier.citation	Sustainability, 2021, 13, (19), pp. 11011-11011
dc.identifier.issn	2071-1050
dc.identifier.issn	2071-1050
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/151228
dc.description.abstract	<jats:p>Environmental databases play an essential role in the management of land and communities, including mapping and monitoring environmental hazards over time (i.e., abandoned mines). Over the last century, mines have closed for many reasons, but there has been no comprehensive database of the locations of closed and abandoned mine sites kept for many regions of the world. As such, the locations of many mines have been lost from public knowledge, with no way for managers to assess the risks of land and water contamination, as well as subsidence. To address this knowledge gap, we present an integrated framework for identifying abandoned mine sites using a combination of satellite imagery, historical records, geographic evidence, and local knowledge. We tested this framework within the Newcastle, Illawarra, and Lithgow regions of NSW, Australia. We identified 61 abandoned coal mines which are currently unaccounted for in mine registries, with 56% of all mines in the Newcastle region being unmarked (N = 32), 36% in the Illawarra region (N = 22), and 20% in the Lithgow region (N = 7). These findings demonstrate that our framework has promising utility in identifying historic and unmarked environmental hazards in both national and international contexts.</jats:p>
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	MDPI AG
dc.relation.ispartof	Sustainability
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.3390/su131911011
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	12 Built Environment and Design
dc.title	Lost but Not Forgotten: Identifying Unmapped and Unlisted Environmental Hazards including Abandoned Mines
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	13
utslib.for	12 Built Environment and Design
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science/School of Life Sciences
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2021-10-27T02:07:48Z
pubs.issue	19
pubs.publication-status	Published online
pubs.volume	13
utslib.citation.issue	19

Abstract:

Environmental databases play an essential role in the management of land and communities, including mapping and monitoring environmental hazards over time (i.e., abandoned mines). Over the last century, mines have closed for many reasons, but there has been no comprehensive database of the locations of closed and abandoned mine sites kept for many regions of the world. As such, the locations of many mines have been lost from public knowledge, with no way for managers to assess the risks of land and water contamination, as well as subsidence. To address this knowledge gap, we present an integrated framework for identifying abandoned mine sites using a combination of satellite imagery, historical records, geographic evidence, and local knowledge. We tested this framework within the Newcastle, Illawarra, and Lithgow regions of NSW, Australia. We identified 61 abandoned coal mines which are currently unaccounted for in mine registries, with 56% of all mines in the Newcastle region being unmarked (N = 32), 36% in the Illawarra region (N = 22), and 20% in the Lithgow region (N = 7). These findings demonstrate that our framework has promising utility in identifying historic and unmarked environmental hazards in both national and international contexts.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/151228