Technology in the underground mining industry has made way to many advances in the industry. “During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, American mining engineers…create[ed] an increasingly powerful array of techniques for measuring, engineering, and controlling complex underground spaces” (LeCain 36). These technologies helped miners to visualize the underground mine that they had previously only been able to imagine. Analysis technologies and structural technologies allowed humans to survive in mines better than ever which allowed them to extract materials from deeper and deeper within the Earth, which lead to many environmental consequences that the miners hadn’t predicted. Examples of the consequences of the mining operations described by LeCain include what happened to the ranchers in the Deer Lodge Valley. Their cattle becoming sick, collapsing and dying are just a few of the ecological issues that arise from these activities.
In order for humans to continue and to live and develop the way that they have, mining absolutely needs to be safe for both humans and the environment. Many of the materials we need come from the Earth and we need to address the negative aspects of mining them. This will definitely prove to be a difficult task. Before mining, the direction and location of the mine need to be considered. Avoiding mining around groundwater and concentrations of people is one of the first steps that needs to be taken. During the mining process it’s important to continue to monitor the area around the mine, both the environment and how it’s affecting the people living nearby. After all of this the mine still needs to be monitored because even after it’s no longer in use it can still provide negative consequences such as releasing toxic chemicals into the environment. Although there are temporary fixes to issues such as ways to store these toxins, it’ll be a steep slope to actually solve the ecological impacts that mines have on us and our environment.