Open-pit mining creates a large hole in the ground after minerals are removed from the surface. Which statement best describes an environmental consequence of this process?

Heavy metals are released into surrounding soil, poisoning local vegetation.

High salinity of wastewater reduces soil fertility and growth of vegetation.

Billions of gallons of water are pulled from surrounding ecosystems.

Wastewater is contaminated with oil and becomes sludge in landfills.

Explanation: Open-pit mining falls under the surface mining category in the lesson 01.07 page 3/8 under the affects of surface mining the only one that is in the multiple choice questionnaire is "Heavy metals are released into surrounding soil". (don't know how much this helps since I'm 7 days late but hey this is a new curriculum and I've had trouble finding answers on brainy so why not contribute for once ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

Oseni Oseni · Answer 2 · 2021-09-10T18:33:30+02:00

The correct statement that best describes an environmental consequence of open-pit mining is that heavy metals are released into the surrounding soil, poisoning local vegetation.

The large hole left by open-pit mining becomes filled with water during heavy rains with heavy metals dissolving in the water to form solutions.
These solutions percolate the surrounding soil and when they are taken up by the vegetation on the soil, the plants become poisoned by the heavy metals.

In other words, the hole created by open-pit mining serves as an avenue for heavy metals to get into the surrounding soil and gets into the food chain through the plants.

More on the environmental consequences of mining can be found here: https://brainly.com/question/1757425