THE IMPACT OF SELECTED DUMPS AFTER MINING AND METALLURGICAL ACTIVITIES ON THE AIR POLLUTION SITUATION.

Abstract

The aim of the work consisted in quantifying the size of the emissions of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their impact on air quality in the region with many remnants of mining and metallurgical activities such as waste heaps (dumps), on which the mining, metallurgical and other waste was placed. On the heaps, chemical and mechanical changes of the stored material occur very often, several of them are even heaps burning (e.g. Heřmanice heap). Emerging and settling dust particles get into the atmosphere due to wind erosion, movement of people and technology as well as by mining the heap waste, and may contribute to the deterioration of air quality in the vicinity (airborne dust, carcinogens). This phenomenon can be significantly involved in the deterioration of air quality in the region and has not yet been explored.

By this time, the exploration works in the area of dumping sites associated with air emissions have primarily been focused on the issue of suspended particles, in particular as part of the EIA projects addressing the use of materials stored in the body of dumps for construction purposes. These works were carried out on a small number of sites; however, it was not a comprehensive study so it is impossible to derive the overall impact of dumps on the region’s air quality.

The emissions of gaseous substances from thermally active dumps represent the second area linked to air quality, on which the surveys have been focused so far. However, the results obtained are burdened with unacceptably high uncertainties that preclude their use for draft regulations concerning the further exploitation of dumps.

The lack of information on the contents of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the emissions into the atmosphere is the main drawback of recent ratings. The influence of dumps on the pollution situation of those pollutants has not yet been assessed.

Considering the smaller (zero) explorability, the proposed project focused on the air pollution impacts of dumps associated with the emissions of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

 Although the content of the mineral phases is considered relatively harmless to the environment [1], an integral part of the research was to determine precisely the mineral phases using X-ray diffraction in a roll of material, which is closely related to his character [2]. All analysis were however focused on PM10, which in recent years the focus of [3]

Own research was conducted within the project CZ.3.22/1.2.00/12.03398 Evaluation of concentrations of PAHs and heavy metals on the surface of dumps and nearby industrial enterprises funded through the Operational Programme Czech Republic – Poland 2007-2013. The Faculty of Mining and Geology at the VŠB - Technical University of Ostrava (hereinafter referred to as VŠB-TUO), namely the Institute of Clean Technologies for Mining and Utilization of Raw Materials for Energy Use (hereinafter ICT), was the project holder, and the Main Mining Institute in Katowice (hereinafter as GIG) a foreign partner.