Journal of Scientific & Industrial ResearchVol. 62, September 2003, pp 892-902

Status of Air Pollution due to Opencast Coal Mining and Its Controlin Indian Context

Mrinal K Ghose" and S R Majee

Centre of Mining Environment, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad 826 004

Received: 21 October 2002; rev reed: 23 June 2003; accepted: 04 July 2003

The extraction of coking coal in India is increasing in a rapid rate to meet the demand and to reduce the import byexpanding open cast mines. This paper discusses the justification of selecting air-monitoring stations and focuses on themethodology adopted for sampling and analysis to evaluate status of air pollution due to OC mines. Four seasons monitoringdata revealed that SPM, RPM, S02 and NOx concentrations at different locations (industrial, residential and sensitive)exceeded the permissible limit. Dust fall rate was found to be high and percentage of soluble matter was 16-21per cent. SPMand RPM concentration were found to be maximum during winter season. Mixing heights and ventilation coefficients werefound to be minimum in January and maximum in April. Mixing heights were found to be maximum at midday and minimumat mid night. The study reveals that high coal production associated with heavy mechanization led to more air pollutionproblem in the areas. Methodologies for the control of air pollution are also discussed.

Keywords: Air pollution, Opencast coal mining, Mixing heights, Ventilation coefficients

Introduction

Pollutants resulting from coal mining are mainlydischarged in over populated industrial centres and itseffects are locally severe. Atmospheric diffusion ofair is minimum at elevations above 3000 m of theearth's surface. Many pollutants also do not rise above600 m. Surface mining operations can result in therelease of particulates and gaseous pollutants in theatmosphere. The main pollution problem in a miningarea, however, is due to the presence of particulates I,

which find their way into the atmosphere and aretransported relatively long distances from the minesite and poses air pollution problems in thesurrounding locations. Gaseous pollutants can resultfrom blasting operations, burning of coal, mine fireand also released from the exhaust of HEMM andother vehicles used in the mining areas. Theincreasing trend of opencast mining along withadaptation of large-scale mechanization leads torelease huge amount of dust and gaseous pollutants,which will affect the ambient air quality moreseverely'. Since future plans in India envisages largershare of opencast mining" which will worsen already

* Author for correspondenceE-mail: ghosemrinal@liotmail.com

prevailing air pollution problem in rrumng areas" afact finding survey was carried out to evaluate statusof status of air pollution due to the existing miningactivities.

Details of the Project Under Study

The study area was one of the largest opencastprojects of coking coal owned by Bharat Coking CoalLtd (BCCL) in ICF. It has 34.6 Mt of quarriablereserve of coal. The project report was sanctioned inthe year 1982 for a targeted production of 2.5 Mt/yand the life of the project is about 17 y. The quarrywas being worked in two patches through separatebox cuts. Working depth was about 60 m in box cut in3 sections and about 70-80 m in dragline section.Working was going on in X seam having seamthickness 9.62. The project is situated betweenlatitude of 23°46'30"N and 23°47'40"N and betweenlongitudes of 80olO'47"E and 86°J3'3J"E and coversan area of 6.8 sq km. Many small and large opencastand underground mines surround this opencastproject.

Data Collection Methods

Ambient air monitoring stations were selectedkeeping in view the dominant wind directions that

GHOSE & MAlEE: AIR POLLUTION DUE TO OPENCAST COAL MINING - STATUS 893

prevailed in the area. Ghose and Banerjee5 have reported the dominant wind directions of the area as Wand NW as observed from 30 y average data of Dhanbad meteorological station. Thus, one monitoring station, BA I was located at the centre of the OCP. Two stations, BA3 and BAS, at upwind (W and NW') and two stations, BA2 and BA4 at downwind (E and SE) were located . The concentration value at BA2 and BA4 represents downwind concentration and at BA3 and BAS it shows upwind concentration with respect to BA I for most of the time period. The approach was also to see that these should cover the industrial , residential and sensitive areas like hospital to assess the impact in these particular areas as different air quality standards have been laid down by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Government of India. The detail s of the ambient air monitoring stations are given in Table 1 and shown in Figure I . By virtue of the relative positions of the ambient air monitoring stations, stations BA 1 and BA2 come under industrial zone, BA3 and BA4 come under residential zone and BAS comes under sensitive zone.

An air quality survey was carried out twice in a week, covering the premonsoon (May-June), monsoon (August), post-mon soon (October) , and winter (January) periods for four weeks in each season. Ambient air samples were collected6 each day for 24 h in three 8-h shifts, corresponding to daytime, evening time, and nighttime. Micrometeorological conditions were recorded on the sampling days with respect to wind direction , wind velocity, humidity, and temperature? For the collection of samples of suspended particulate matter (SPM), glass fiber

ambient (GF/A) filter paper was used in a high volume sampler (HVS} and for respirable dust particulate matter (RPM) GF/A was used in respirable . , . dust sampler (RDS) at a flow rate of 1.0-1.5 m Irrun that allows the SPM to deposit on the filter paper8. Particulates with size range of 0.1-100 11m were collected by HVS . The cut-point diam of RDS was less than 1011m. Both, HVS and RDS , were manufactured by Mis Envirotech Ltd, New Delhi .

HVS having impingers (bubbler trains) in series with sodium tetrachloromercurate as absorbing solution, were operated at an average flow rate of 0.5 l/min.for collection of S02 for 24 h (ref. 9) . In the case of collection of NOx. sodium hydroxide was used as absorbing solution and collected at an average flow rate of 0.5 IImin for 24 h (ref. 10). The impinger samples were put in iceboxes immediately after sampling and transferred to a refrigerator until analyzed. These were analyzed spectrophoto­metrically using West and Gake methods I I and Jacob and Hochier modified methods for analysis of S02 and NOx, respectively . SPM and RPM were computed after weighing the filter paper, before and after sampling. The filter paper was conditioned in a dry atmosphere before weighing.

The dust fall data , which represents the settleable dusts in the area, was also measured at the ambient air monitoring stations. One month continuous dust fall samples were collected usi ng dust fall kit9

. All the dusts collected in the dust fall jar were transferred to a beaker after carefully washing the inside of funnel and connection tube. The total dust fall quality is the sum of the amounts of dissolved and undissolved matter. Acoustic sounder,

Table I - Locations of different ambient air monitoring stations

Stn No. Station si le

BAI Block II OCP

BA2 Benidih OCP survey office

BA3 Nudkhurkee

BA4 Madhuband

BAS Benidih hospital

Nature of area

Industrial

Industrial

Residenti al

Residential

Sensitive

Direction from Block II OCP

Centre

E

W

SE

NW

Location

On the roof top of the Block II pit office which is about 4m above the ground level

On the roof top of the survey oftice at about 4m above the ground level and 2km away from BA I

On the roof top of a villager' s house whi ch is about 7m above the ground level and 2.Skm away from BA I

On the rooftop ofa vi ll ager' s house at about 3m above the grou nd level and 2 .. Skm away from BAI

On the roof top of the hospital at about 4m above the ground level and 2km away fromBA I

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BA3 o

NODKHU RKI O.CP.

BAS o

BEN1D1H O.C.P.

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COLllERY ;~'"

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GHOSE & MAJEE: AIR POLLUTION DUE TO OPENCAST COAL MINING - STATUS 895

known as SODAR IS a continuous recording technique applied in the region for studying and analyzing various environmental parameters up to 2 km altitude in the atmosphere. SODAR data were collected from a monostatic and Doppler SODAR make M/s Ramtech, France installed at CMRI, Dhanbad. The parameters studied were wind speed and direction, mlxmg height, and ventilation coefficient (VC).

Results and Discussion

The air quality in the project area under study is affected by coal mining operations, which contribute to lot of dust present. Opencast mining activity includes topsoil removal, overburden removal , coal extraction, s ize reduction, and area dispatch of coal to railway siding. The amount of total dust generation was quantified by the use of emission factor data I2.14

•

As calculated l5 by the utilization of emission of emi ssion factor data, topsoil removal generated 69.9 kg dust/d . Overburden removal operation generated 660.0 kg dust/d . Dust generation due to size reduction contributed much more dusts and amounted to 6812.2-kg/d. Thus the mining activities generated dust, which amounted to 7798.0 kg/d . Wind erosion also generated huge dust, depending on the wind velocity, direction and other micrometeorological conditions. An exposed area of 673 ha of the study area caused wind erosion generated dust of about 1568.0 kg/d. Blasting also caused a large generation of dusts but due to the unavailability of emi ssion factor data the actual quantity could not be estimated. Thus, a total of 9.36 t of dust/d was be ing produced, as observed during pre-monsoon season due to different mining activities. The dust generated by differen t mining operations does not dispersed into the atmosphere completely. The larger size particles settle down and the smaller particles become suspended in the atmosphere. The dust generated has its !pai n impacts on work zone ai r with gradual dilution along the downwind locations.

Table 2 shows the ana lyti cal data for SPM, RPM, S02, and NOx concentrat ion, whi ch ultimate ly provides the status of air pollution due to opencast

I .. 161 7 F . . d coa mInIng . . our season mOl1ltonng ata revealed that SPM concentrations for a lmost all the monitoring stati ons exceeded limit specified by Centra l Pollution Control Board (CPCB) during winter, summer, and post-monsoon period except monsoon season (Figure 2) . In monsoon , SPM

concentration fall within the limit due to the removal of dust particle with rainwater. At the industrial location BAl , average SPM concentrations were found to exceed the permissible limit (500 Ilg/m3

)

specified by CPCB during summer, winter and post monsoon period. At the industrial location, BA2 al so exceeded the permissible limit of SPM during summer and winter. At the residential locations, BA3 and BA4, SPM concentrations were found to exceed the permissible limit set by CPCB (200 Ilg/m3 for residential zone). SPM concentration at sensitive (Hospital) location BAS also exceeded the permissible limit (100 Il g/ml for sensitive zone). The values of RPM concentration were also found to exceed the permissible limit at different times . The highest value of S02 at BA I in comparison to other locations was mainly due to gaseous pollutants by fire in patches in OB dump near the pit office. The average NOx concentration at BA2 was found to be highest in comparison to other locati ons. The annual averages of different air pollutants, which provide the status of air pollution due to open cast coal mining, are also shown in Table 2. The data of du st fall rate and their composition are given in T able 3. It was observed that maximum dust fall was at BA I . Dust fall rate both at industria l and res identi al locations exceeded the permi ssible (l0 mt/km2/month) . The pH of soluble matter was found to be slightly a lkaline in nature. The soluble matter was found to be 16-21 per cent.

The monthly vari atIOn of max imum and minimum temperature is shown in Figure 3 and ra infa ll data Figure 4 . The annual rainfa ll was found to be 1622 m. The wind flow pattern during different seasons is shown in Figure 5 and wi nd rose di agrams in Figure 6. The variat ions of maximum mixing heights ranged from 1200-1600 m and minimum mi xing heights from 200-400 m. In January, it was as low as 100 m and maxi mum va lue was 700 m. Highest value was observed in April and that decreased in July . It was also observed that the va lues of mixing he ights were maximum at mid day ( 13.00 to 15.00 h) and minimum at mid night (23.00 to 2.00 h). The maximum VC was observed to be as hi gh as 9000 m2/s in su mmer and in wi nter it was as lowest as 1000 m2/s.

Methodologies for the Control of Air Pollution

On the basis of field data col lected, it has been observed that the main polluti on problem in the area

Samplin g Station

BAI

BA2

BA3

BA4

BA5

BAI

BA2

BA3

BA4

BA5

BAI

BA2

BA3

BA4

BA5

BAI

BA2

BA3

BM

BA5

Table 2 - Ambient air qualities at different sampling stations during different seasons

Winter Season Summer season Monsoon Post monsoon

Range Mean SO Range Mean SO Range Mean SO Range Mean

SPM concentration in f glm3

765.6-986.9 837.15 73.38 533.6- 593.87 53.16 297.8-392.6 336.51 30.89 473 .7-585.1 525.43 650.3

552.7-754.5 654.17 64.19 566.7-709.0 618.97

380.9-451.5 414.83 20.18 370.8-423.2 398.79

246.8-342.7 304.29 31.67 342.5-493.1 414.95

207.8-265.6 241.05 50.65 97.5-157 .8 118.76

47.17

18.99

57.04

21.32

158.1-211.9 183 .97 16.31 398.0-295.8 443 .66

93 .0-212.0 152.04 41.9 292.7-367.8 312.48

86.7-212.3 133. 18 46.93 383.1-488.6 441.87

73 .8-96.0 86.18 8.72 102.3-211.7 152.73

RPM concentration in f glm3

155.8-222.5 169.72

110.8-157.3 133.30

80.8-100.9

50.0-67.1

42.3-55.2

69.0-82.4

60.0-88.5

40.3-76.3

38.2-78.1

28.4-66.5

49.8-64.2

54.5-106.7

31.4-79.4

32.5-60.0

29.0-46.9

91.10

61.37

48.14

76.03

77.46

58.34

62.80

46.57

57.46

82.24

55.98

45 .06

30.24

22.57 106.1-128.1

16.65 112.1-147.4

6.40

5.94

5.04

4.60

8.12

13.70

13.54

4.22

4.40

15.70

15.82

7.87

2.93

81 .5-92.1

69.2- 101.8

20.2-31.1

71.0-122.5

67.9-109.3

41.2-101.1

74.6-112.3

38.3-63.5

32.8-68.7

56.2-29.8

48.4-94.2

46.5 -88.1

39.4-56.7

119.50

127.02

86.73

89.37

24.08

12.69

12.27

3.95

11.45

3.76

55.7-77.6

30.3-46.0

20.8-47.3

17.4-28.4

18.7-23 .8

'S02 concentration in J..lg 1m3

101.38

92.18

70.24

89.36

50.17

15 .59

12.28

17.42

11.82

8.86

36.3-70.0

40.3-60.4-

30.1-6\.5

37.2-45.4

24.7-53.4

NO, concentration in J..lglm3

70.77

67.86

50.75

60.41

41.70

10.38

10.17

15.22

13.65

8.92

3\.6-44.2

37 .5-52.6

36.2-62.3

27.4-52.4

25.2-46.3

66.74

37.17

33.48

23.26

21.53

60.91

54.86

43.85

51.83

39.27

41.25

47 .38

45. 16

37.88

34.46

7.55 89.0-117.9 100.91

4.51 85 .8-108.5 96.52

8.88 62.3-8\.4

3.69 76.9-103.6

1.84 21.4-41.5

10.68 69.9-105.3

8 .. 05 64.2-94.6

10.14 46.0-84.7

7.78

8.54

4.55

4.37

8.68

9.24

6.33

39.0-89.3

34.2-65 ,9

45.0-56.1

46.4-77.2

39.6-68.3

32. 0-7\. 5

34.2-5 1.2

68.45

92.45

30.68

80.08

72.70

64.22

59.61

44.91

50.88

60.81

54.20

55 .82

42.29

SO

43.3

29.67

27.43

34.63

33.03

11 .07

7.64

6.25

8.55

6.26

10.82

9.63

15 ,19

17.05

10.39

3.68

9.94

9.56

12.93

6.09

Yearly average

572.74

476.69

319.53

323.57

149.68

114.66

98.50

69.94

69 .1 1

31.10

79.60

74.30

59.17

65.90

45 .23

48 .87

64.57

56.89

50.56

39.17

00 \0 0\

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til tIl

~ 3: c::I tIl ;tI IV

8 w

GHOSE & MAlEE: AIR POLLUTION DUE TO OPENCAST COAL MINING - STATUS 897

600 120

500 100

.... E ,., -- .. 00 ~80 C7I ~ C7I c =t

360 S c 0 c :;:; 0 10

300 :;:; 60 '- 10 .....

t... C ..... C1I C u C1I

SO c u 0 C U 0 u

l: 200 40 a.. l: VI 0-

a:

100 20 70

BA1 BA2 SA3 BA4 BAS BAl BA2 BA3 BAt. BAS

100 100

80 BO ... E .... ...... E 0'\ -- ::t. 01

:::l C c 60 60 c c 0

:;:; .'? 10 ..... '-10 ..... t... C .....

C OJ u C1I

"0 c 40 u 0 C

0 U U

N >< 0 0 VI z

20 20 15 15

BA' BA2 BA3 BA.. BAS BAl BA2 BA3 BA4 BAS

Figure 2 - Status of air pollution in the project area (Annual average concentrati on of air pollutants under study)

898 J SCI IND RES VOL 62 SEPTEMBER 2003

Table 3 - Settleable dusts and its composition

Sampling Dust faIl rate Dust fall ratestation mglm2/d tlm2/d

BAI 800:43 24.0i

BA2 716.80 21.50

BA3 420.83 12.63

BA4 479.00 14.37

BA5 328.21 9.85

pH Per cent of totalsoluble matter

7.6

8.0

7.1

7.8

7.5

Per cent of total insoluble matter

20.80

18.06

19.28

18.35

16.51

79.20

81.94

80.72

81.65

83.49

~r------------------------------------

40 -..-....

30 ._.- ..-.-

70

o~~--~--~--~~--~--~~~~--~~May June .My Aug. Sept Oct. Nov. 0«. Jan. Feb. Mar. April

--<)- Max.Te~. -0- Min. Temp.

Figure 3 -Variation of maximum and minimum temperature

is due to the dust. A control plan has been formulatedfor abatement of air pollution problem. It involves theplanning and implementation of a series of preventiveand suppressive measures in addition to the dust

• 18extraction system .

Dust Extraction System

The dust extraction system envisages wet type ofdust extractors. This includes network of suctionheads and ducting connected to wet wall cyclone forseparating dust from the air stream. Air outlet ofcyclone collectors will have to be connected so as todischarge clean air to atmosphere collected dust fromthe cyclone shall have to be disposed off suitably. Itshall include the following:

-

0 n n 11 0Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jut. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Fed.

400-·····

200 .--_ - -

300 f---.-----.-.------.-.-.

-100 .-- .....-...-.- .._-- ...--

-

............--. -_ ..- ..-. 200

......-..-... 400

- ..- ..--------- 300

~.jl~N- - - -.- - _ -.-- - 100

Figure 4 -Variation of monthly rainfall

o RainfaU in mm

(i) Wet Wall Cyclone Separators: FThe wet wall cyclone separators ..should be

completed with its all required accessories like, waterspray nozzles headers, water piping hydraulic scales,solenoid valves, isolating valves~>~t;c. to ensuresufficient separation of coal dust from diist laden air.

(ii) Air Exhaust Fan

This should be of centrifugal type with radialbladed impeller. The fans should be of robustconstruction. This fan associated with 'dust extractionis to be designed for adequate duty keeping of approx.25 per cent on pressure rating. This should bevibration free in operation and designed to limit noiselevel of 90 dBA. The fan and motor should be noted

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"0 r:? (b ..., :l 0.

5. I Hazaribag :l ~

0. ...,

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9

WINTER N

t

20 40 V I I 1 1

Scale

MONSOON N

I

o 20 40

Scale

Haz~ ribag

/ 0 20 1 ,

Scale

POST-MONSOON

HaZaribag~ """ '. __ ._1

Damodar river baSin

o 20 40

Scale

N

t

40 \J 1

N

~ t

-........ y

Cl :c 0 en trl Re :;: :> ...... trl rn ::: ;:0

"0 0 r r c::: -l (5 z 0 c::: trl -l 0 0 "0 trl z ("l ;J> en -l ("l 0 -l> r :;: z z Cl

I en -l :> -l C en

00 \0 \0

900 1 SCI INO RES VOL 62 SEPTEMBER 2003

WINTER SEASON

N

SUMMER SEASON N

W ~t==:}-----i SA 1 SA2

(837 JJgJrriJ) (654pg/m3) W ~--~ BA1 BA2

( S94}J9/mJ) (61 9fJ9/mJ)

BA3 SE (399pgjmt) SE BAIt BAIt

SW

S SW

MONSOON SEASON POST MONSOON SEASON

r---C~E BA2

SW</ w S

Scale :1 em= 5%

~ 1 - 7 - 14 - 28 Km/hr

Figure 6 - Wind rose di agram during different seasons

N

E BA2

SE SA4

__ (442 J-l9/m3)

GHOSE & MAlEE: AIR POLLUTION DUE TO OPENCASTCOAL MINING-STATUS 901

for continuous operation. Relevant I.S . code of engineering practices should be employed for the design and construction of impeller, and shaft bearings.

(iii) Dust Collection Hood

Necessary dust collecting hoods and MS sheet ducting of adequate size and design shall be provided for guiding dust laden air from the generating points to wet wall cyclone separators and dust-free air from cyclone to atmosphere via extraction fans. The clean air from the fan should be taken to a suitable height (not less than 2 m or 1.5 m above height of roof in the vicinity, which ever is more) before discharging into atmosphere. The following considerations should be taken care of while designing hood and ducting system. Centre line of hoods should be located at the points of generation of maximum pressure. The hood connection should be designed for collecting the dusty air from various dust generation sources. The hoods should be adequately sized to collect all dusty air generated at the point. Velocity in the hood should not be so high as to draw the large size particles. The ducts for conveying dusty air shall of round shape and streamline appearance.

(iv) Dust Arrester

The dust produced during drilling and blasting can be minimized by arresting and filtering the dust­laden air before it is thrown into the working environment. Dust arresters are commonly used with down the hole drills at the collar of the holes being drilled.

(v) Dust Extractors with a Filtering or a Porous Layer

The filtering unit may be made of solid and continuous consisting of paper, which gives high efficiency. The filtering layer may also consists of friable material such as loose powder, sand or granular material, in a horizontal or vertical bed, cotton, wool, glass cloth with silicon, and other synthetic fibers.

Dust Suppressive Measures

(i) Water Spraying

By regular spraying of water over coal, which increases the free moisture content of the coal and also provides quantity of water needed to bind the dust and to agglomerate into a semisolid condition.

(ii) Water Spraying by Ultrasonic Dry Fogging System by Means of Service Nozzle

In this system, water droplets are set in a range from 0.3 to S.O-mm diam with the help of compressed air. With increasing fineness of droplets the surface area affinity for dust increases along with the number of droplets per volume unit. It is due to the fact that the droplets roughly have the same size as the dust particles and as they are charged the affinity required for wetting the dust particles are agglomerated and suppressed at the source. This requires no wetting agent.

(iii) Chemicals for Dust Control

Water spraying requires huge quantity of water but due to the scarcity of water it is required to reduce water consumption for dust suppression . It is possible if suitable chemicals, which act as wetting agents are added to water. It helps in proper wetting of the finer sizes of dust and increases the efficiency of wetting.

Surface mine haul road is the most prolific source of dust in surface mines ' 9

. Watering of the haul roads is the most common method of controlling dust emission. The frequency of watering has to be related to the climatic condition . Various products are available in the market for consolidation of haul road dust. Hygroscopic salts extract moisture from the atmosphere and keep the road surface dumped. Surfactants/wetting agents can reduce the surface tension of water helping wetting of dust particles and thus economize the watering costs. Monitoring of SPM was done with the help of high volume air samplers. SPM was measured before and after application of the chemical (Filset 50) and found that SPM level of 2631 Ilg/m' came down to about 780 Ilg/m' after one month of application.

Conclusion

Main air pollution problem due to OC coal mining is due to the dust. Ambient air quality data revealed the high pollution potential in the project area as well as in the surrounding locations . Settleable dust concentration was also found to be appreciably high which was causing damage to the vegetation. Seasonal variation of air pollutants revealed that SPM and RPM concentrations were found to be maximum during winter season which may be attributable to cooler earth surface, lower mixing height and lower ventilation coefficient and other micrometeorological facts. The present study has also revealed that high coal production in OC coal mines led to more air

902 J SCI IND RES VOL 62 SEPTEMBER 2003

pollution problem in the area. Abatement measuresshould be taken at every step of mining activity toreduce the air pollution problem2o

,21. The methodo-logy adopted for this study has formed a guideline toevaluate the statu.s of air pollution, which may beapplicable on an industrial scale for various sites.

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests, Government of India forfinancial grants for infrastructral facilities at Centre ofMining Environment, Indian School of Mines,Dhanbad Financial support in the form fellowshipreceived from University Grants Commission to S. K.Majee is gratefully acknowledged.

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2

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