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Six years ago, the shift in the shaft at the West mine in Kamp-Lintfort was over. But the end of coal does not mean the end of work. Centuries of mining have left traces in the environment in the Ruhr area that are not so easy to remove. On the former mine site, Ranga Yogeshwar investigates for Quarks what consequences mining has had, especially for the groundwater in the Ruhr area, and how we deal with it. In Kamp-Lintfort, Ranga Yogeshwar meets former mining worker Klaus Ruhnau again at his former workplace. With him, he looks back on his last shift, on which he was allowed to accompany him almost six years ago. Together they experience how years of mining, especially the coking plants, have poisoned the soil in many places in the Ruhr area - and how the 2020 State Garden Show is being prepared on these contaminated soils. But the most dangerous legacy that mining leaves behind is the pit water. In order to keep the shafts free of seeping water, it had to be pumped out constantly. But what would happen if the pumps were simply turned off after mining ended and the shafts were flooded? Then an ecological catastrophe would ensue, because deep in the shafts there are toxic and carcinogenic substances that could then get into the groundwater. Quarks shows what concepts there are to protect the water in the Ruhr area. Editors: Max Ostendorf and Andrea Wille Authors: Reinhart Brüning and Georg Wieghaus --- Thanks for watching! Did you like the video? Then subscribe now to the only official Quarks channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Quarks?sub_co... Quarks on Facebook: / quarks.de Also visit: https://www.quarks.de Quarks on Instagram: / quarks.de / beautyquarks Here you can find the clip in the WDR media library: https://www1.wdr.de/mediathek/video/s...