The coal mining companies in Saskatchewan have made tremendous advances in dealing with and lessening the environmental impacts of coal mining. The EIA includes a description of current vegetation, wildlife, fisheries, water resources, soil and hydrogeology an assessment of the project's impact on the environment the company's plans for reducing this impact. At this time, the company must also include a plan for decommissioning the facility and reclaiming lands disturbed by mining. Environmental geologists, engineering geologists, engineers, soil experts and botanists frequently work on land reclamation projects to restore the countryside to its former state. Employment is likely to grow in this area of minimizing the impact of environmental disturbance.
Coal mining can have a profound effect in the land.
At one time, spoil piles were simply left once the mining was completed. Now, reclamation occurs simultaneously with coal mining, and land is generally returned to productive use within a few years following mining. As the overburden is removed in the mining process, it is usually used to backfill the adjacent trench previously excavated by the dragline. The resulting spoil piles are recontoured by bulldozers, and the coversoil replaced. In 1993, SERM released Reclamation and Licencing Guidelines for Saskatchewan Strip Mined Coal Lands .