PECOMINES

1
PECOMINES
Inventory, Regulations and Environmental Impact
of Toxic Mining Wastes in Pre-Accession Countries
A JRC Project in Association with Central and
Eastern European Pre-Accession Countries
Project Leader Giovanni Bidoglio
Recent events have brought back to the attention
of the media the issue of toxic waste lagoons
connected to mining. The Baia Mare and Borsa
accidents are just the latest of a series of
accidents involving toxic mining waste. In 1998 a
similar accident occurred at the Aznalcollar mine
in southern Spain with an estimated cost of over
100 million Euros. Data from EUROSTAT/OECD
surveys show that mining wastes rank first in the
relative contribution of wastes in many Central
and Eastern European Countries. For instance,
mining activities in the former Czechoslovakia
generated ten times the amount of waste produced
by the industrial sector (EEA, 1999). In general,
however, there is a substantial gap in
information on the management of mining wastes in
Pre-Accession countries and on the location of
toxic waste lagoons, including those that have
been abandoned. Mining for resources to satisfy
energy and raw material requirements can
seriously alter the composition of the landscape,
disrupting land use and drainage patterns,
contaminating soil and water resources, and
removing habitats for wildlife. With respect to
mining wastes, Pre-Accession countries are facing
more acute problems than EU Member States. Agenda
2000 highlights the need for these countries to
meeting the requirements of the environmental
acquis in respect of Directives. DG Environment
is currently taking the initiative for the
preparation of a proposal of a EU regulatory
framework on mining waste, either as a separate
piece of EU legislation or as an annex to
existing Directives. Given the widespread nature
of toxic mining waste in Pre-Accession countries,
DG Environment attaches a particular importance
to prioritisation in this area, in order to guide
the applicant countries during their
environmental approximation process.
Objectives
Compile an inventory of toxic waste sites from
mineral mining in Pre-Accession countries in
relation to sensitive catchment areas, by
combining an indicator approach according to the
DPSIR framework and an analysis of satellite
remote sensing
Compare criteria for safety disposal of mining
waste and for assessment and remediation of
contaminated areas in candidate countries with
regulations adopted by EU Member States and with
the existing EU legislative framework in the area
of waste
Contribute to the assessment of the consequences
of mining accidents (e.g. Baia Mare) in a
perspective of ecosystem protection, by comparing
local approaches and measures for impact
evaluation with similar activities at the site of
the Aznalcollar accident in Spain where the JRC
is also involved.

• The main objectives are
• to create Inventory of toxic waste sites (old and
  existing mineral mining operations in
  Pre-Accession Countries
• Identification of the areas with
• pollution hazards to the public health and
  ecosystems in catchment
• risk of accidental releases of the toxic
  substances
• Methodology
• Information from existing data sources in each
  country (e.g. national geological surveys, mining
  companies, national Institution for environment
  protection)
• Information derived from satellite imagery
• Inventory data will be harmonised and combined
  with various ancillary geo-referenced and
  non-spatial data to derive regional indicators on
  the vulnerability of soil and water resources to
  toxic mining waste. These indicators will be used
  to highlight areas that are most at risk from
  toxic waste sites and therefore assist decision
  makers define or target possible remediation
  strategies.
• Main deliverable
• geo-environmental maps of the PECO area, showing
  different levels of risk imposed on the related
  catchment areas

Inventory (Marc Van Liedekerke, Stefan Sommer,
Gyozo Jordan, Anca Vajdea )
Environmental Impact Assessment (Marco
dAlessandro, Erik Puura )
Regulations (Marco dAlessandro, Tamas Hamor )

• The main objective of this work package is to
  establish the links between the physico-chemical
  character of different mining wastes and their
  environmental impacts using modelling concepts
  and tools.
• The methodology involves an analyse of 6 case
  studies of different operating mines in PECO to
  screen and visualise the main pollutant pathways
  followed by an assessment of environmental risks
  and consequences on catchment scale. The
  experiences of the on-going modelling of toxic
  Aznacollar mine spill (Spain) are integrated, as
  well as application of the remote sensing tools.
  The possibility to perform in-situ monitoring
  campaigns is a backup in the case of general lack
  of data in assessment endpoints.
• According to the workplan,
• the final selection of the modelling sites in
  addition to already selected pilot sites at
  Banská tiavnica and Smolnik (Slovakia) is
  compiled by September 2001
• the submodels of the conceptual model are
  accomplished in 3 stadiums source
  characterisation (February 2002), reactive
  transport (June 2002) and ecosystems response
  (October 2002)
• the later stadium until April 2003 includes
  verification of the model indicators with
  site-specific data, different scenario and
  uncertainty analyses, extrapolation to other
  sites and inclusion of socio-economic
  considerations.
• The main deliverables are
• a conceptual model for mining waste sites
  impacts on catchment scale, verified by 6 case
  studies
• an applicable environmental impacts screening
  method for site-specific cases, establishing
  which physical and chemical processes are
  relevant and how these can be followed in the
  field according to the assessment indicators
• a methodology for model application to other
  sites through extrapolation.

• The ecosystem protection from toxic mining waste
  requires a comprehensive legislation, which take
  full account of the vulnerability of the
  environment within the catchment area downstream
  of mining sites. Differences exist between PECO
  countries thereby hindering preventive and
  remedial actions, especially in the case of
  trans-boundary accidents.
• Objectives Comparison of existing PECO
  regulations and exploiting the opportunities
  offered by relevant measures of Community
  environmental legislation. This should contribute
  to the development of criteria for safe
  management of waste, and for environmental
  rehabilitation measures at active and abandoned
  mines at a Pan-European scale.
• Methodology
• State-of-Art review of relevant EU legislation
  concerning environment, water, nature
  conservation, mining.
• Collection of complete texts of relevant PECO
  regulations, standards and regulatory
  authorities licensing practice.
• Compilation, filling and interpreting of a
  questionnaire for mapping the state-of-art in
  PECO countries in co-operation with national
  experts.
• Comparative analysis of EU and PECO regulations.
• Discussion of the achievements through a workshop
  of national experts.
• Deliverables
• Catalogue and inventory of the regulations/practic
  es on mining waste management in PECO countries.
• Publication of workshop volume with questionnaire
  data set.
• Report of recommendations to the target
  countries.
• Contribution to the EU mining waste directive and
  associated BREF.