It depends, but in a lot of cases, they probably will be flooded and then become rather nice lakes. Coal is usually not very toxic, so this will be fine. Then plants grow around them and it can turn into a rather nice place. If this was not a desert before, nature will transform it into something pretty decent surprisingly quickly.
I live in an area where there’s tons of flooded mines. They’re toxic. They’ll kill larger waterways and everything in them if they breach containment. The creeks here run different colors depending on what mine is leaking into them and most of the coal industry stopped mining a hundred years ago.
It depends, but in a lot of cases, they probably will be flooded and then become rather nice lakes. Coal is usually not very toxic, so this will be fine. Then plants grow around them and it can turn into a rather nice place. If this was not a desert before, nature will transform it into something pretty decent surprisingly quickly.
LOLWUT? Coal tailings are some nasty shit.
I live in an area where there’s tons of flooded mines. They’re toxic. They’ll kill larger waterways and everything in them if they breach containment. The creeks here run different colors depending on what mine is leaking into them and most of the coal industry stopped mining a hundred years ago.