Environmental impact and toxicological properties of mine dumps of the Lviv-Volyn coal basin

Abstract

To date, the environmental status of mining areas is characterized as critical. The prerequisites for this are the formation of artificial landscapes (waste heaps, mine wastewater, etc.), high concentration of mining enterprises in mineral deposits, inefficiency of measures to maintain mining facilities in a safe state, low level of continuous monitoring of environmental change. The uncontrolled impact of mining areas leads to a general exacerbation of the environmental problems of the region as a whole, as well as to the depletion of surface and groundwater and the contamination of surrounding metals by heavy metals due to their migration from the mine heaps. The article discusses the features of the Lviv-Volyn coal basin as a background for industrial development of Western Ukraine. The characteristics of the dumps of the closed up mine of the basin has been carried out. The toxicological composition of the dumps of the Novovolynska mine has been investigated and their environmental impact has been defined. Waste dumps of mine rocks of Lviv-Volyn area have high acidity, considerable content of various salts and sulfate ions. This high mineralization is caused by the movement to the water-collection points and the interaction of such water with rock dumps besides, and its way waste water is enriched with products of rocks destruction and coal.