Department of Environmental Management and Toxicology, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, P.M.B. 7267, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria; Department of Forestry and Environmental Management, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, P.
Ogbonna, P.C., Department of Environmental Management and Toxicology, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, P.M.B. 7267, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria; Nzegbule, E.C., Department of Environmental Management and Toxicology, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, P.M.B. 7267, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria; Okorie, P.E., Department of Forestry and Environmental Management, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, P.M.B. 7267, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria
This study determined the views of respondents in Akwuke and Iva mine communities concerning the impact of coal mining activities on animal and plant species, pattern of settlement, pollution effect and health of people living in these two mined areas in Enugu, Nigeria. Data were generated through sample survey using a well-structured questionnaire and personal observation in the field. Khaya ivorensis (mahogany) was the major tree species that had gone extinct (72% of respondents), and Geochelone sulcata (tortoise) was the major animal species that has gone extinct (80% of respondents) in the two mined areas. Sixty-five percent of the respondents said that water pollution was most severe environmental impact of mining in Akwuke. The major health hazard caused by mining in Akwuke (55% of respondents) and Iva (65% of respondents) was blindness. Indeed, 82.5% of respondents indicated that mining affected the pattern of settlement in the two mined areas. Emphatically, coal mining affected negatively some of the socio-economic activities of the inhabitants of the mined area through removal of vegetation to access coal deposit vis-à-vis blasting, quarrying and crushing of coal. © 2015, © 2014 IAIA.