INVENTORY AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF MINING WASTE

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pecomines
INVENTORY AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF MINING WASTE
HAZARDS IN CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPEAN CANDIDATE
COUNTRIES Erik Puura, Gyözö Jordan, Marco
DAlessandro and Giovanni Bidoglio, JRC-IES Soil
and Waste Unit
INTRODUCTION Mining wastes rank first in the
relative contribution of wastes in many Central
and Eastern European Countries, thus these
countries are facing more acute problems than EU
Member States. In general, there is a substantial
gap in information on European level, how mining
wastes in EU Candidate Countries are managed and
where the sites generating largest hazards are
located, including those that have been
abandoned. In the frames of the INVENTORY and
IMPACT ASSESSMENT workpackages of the PECOMINES
project (2001-2003), the information already
existing in Candidate Countries on geological
deposits, mining sites and environmental impacts
is collected and analysed using tools of site
assessment and modelling. The main focus is
concentrated on the sites with existing or
potential releases of chemicals that may cause
hazards. METHODOLOGY For receiving
the information, multiple sources are used, as
presented on the scheme. A crucial role is given
to the Steering Group (SG) of the project - 18
experts from 10 Candidate Countries (mainly from
environmental ministries and geological surveys
and institutes), who assist in finding
appropriate information sources and comment on
project deliverables. The first group meeting
took place in Ispra in October 2001, the second
is associated with the Workshop Mine and Quarry
Waste - The Burden from the Past at Lago DOrta,
May 27-28, 2002.

• EARLY RESULTS
• 1. The countries have identified mining waste
  hot spots that are connected with metals,
  uranium or fossil fuels mining and are either
  single tailings ponds, larger mined-out areas
  with high number of waste heaps, or releases from
  mine voids.
• 2. According to preliminary screening, from 10
  Candidate Countries, only 2 - Latvia and
  Lithuania are not facing burdens from the past
  caused by mining activities. The following table
  indicates significance of the problems.
• 3. Detailed study of 4 sites has been carried
  out, contributing to the development of pressures
  impacts classification and finding the
  indicators for qualitative impact assessment.
  These are

The main method for obtaining uniformly
structured information on mining sites is through
a specially designed QUESTIONNAIRE that is
accompanied by a detailed guide.
CONTACTS website http//arno.ei.jrc.it8181/pecom
ines/ project leader giovanni.bidoglio_at_jrc.it
authors erik.puura_at_jrc.it gyozo.jordan_at_jrc.it