AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION
FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE

AND

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COAL GEOLOGY PRESENT

COAL FIRES BURNING OUT OF CONTROL AROUND THE WORLD: A GLOBAL CATASTROPHE

AAAS Symposium 1034, February 14, 2003, Denver, Colorado

COGEL Special Edition: Published in July 2004, Volume 59, Issues 1-2

Organizer

Glenn B. Stracher

Division of Science and Mathematics, East Georgia College,

Swainsboro, Georgia 30401

Co-Conveners

Tammy P. Taylor

Chemical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico 87545

Robert Finkelman

US Geological Survey, Coal Quality Activities, Reston, Virginia 20192

Fire is consuming coal seams and waste piles in major coal-producing countries around the world. Although geologic evidence suggests that coal fires are a natural event, coal mining has facilitated the proliferation of these fires, resulting in a global catastrophe characterized by the emission of noxious gases and particulate matter into the atmosphere, perilous land subsidence, and condensation products responsible for stream and soil pollution. Coal fires are responsible for human disease and fatalities and they destroy floral and faunal habitats. Such fires have displaced entire communities, turning cities into �ghost towns.�

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) symposium 1034, Coal Fires Burning Out of Control Around the World: A Global Catastrophe, was held in the Colorado Convention Center on Friday, February 14, 2003 from 8 - 11:30 a.m. The symposium was dedicated to disclosing the severity of the coal fires problem to the scientific and engineering communities and to promoting an interest in the interdisciplinary study of this environmental catastrophe. Specific research issues addressed include: detecting subsurface fires, spontaneous combustion, fire prevention techniques, cost-effective techniques for containing or extinguishing coal fires using the latest technology from computers to aqueous foam injection, the effects of such fires on human health, and the significance of chemical stability diagrams in predicting whether pollutants are absorbed into the atmosphere as opposed to soil and water. In order to satisfy symposium objectives, renowned experts in various facets of coal fire science presented papers addressing the above topics.

The symposium drew international attention and articles about it appeared in newspaper and magazine articles written by reporters from a number of countries. Links to some of these are provided below.

Manuscripts submitted for the symposium by speakers, as well as coal fires experts unable to attend the meeting, were published in a special edition of the International Journal of Coal Geology (COGEL) dedicated to the AAAS symposium. Jim Hower, editor-in-chief of COGEL and winner of the 2003 Reinhardt Thiessen Medal for his outstanding contributions to organic petrology, appointed Glenn B. Stracher of East Georgia College as editor of the special edition. The edition, entitled Coal Fires Burning Around The World: A Global Catastrophe, was published in July of 2004, Volume 59, Issues 1-2.

Meet The AAAS Coal Fires Symposium Participants

Back Row (L to R): Tammy P. Taylor, Donald Coates, Paul Van Dijk, Stefan Voigt, Alfred Whitehouse, Dick Baughman, Steve Jones, Daniel Vice, Gary Colaizzi (absent).
Front Row (L to R): Ann Kim, Robert Finkelman, Glenn B. Stracher, Ed Heffern, Asep Mulyana, Patricia Nolter, Melissa Nolter.

Dinner Photos From the 1515 Restaurant in Downtown Denver

(The food was fantastic and everyone had a wonderful time!)