Coal Superfund sites

The mining and processing of coal requires a large network of facilities such as gasification plants, mine tunnels, and coke manufacturing facilities. Many of these sites were characterized by improper disposal of wastes that allowed large volumes of pollutants (VOCs, heavy metals, etc.) to leak into ground and surface water systems, threatening plant, animal, and human health.  The worst of these sites have been placed on the U.S. Superfund list.