Project PA n° 42

1. Project PA n° 42 Inventory, Regulations and Environmental Risks of Toxic Mining Wastes in Pre-Accession Countries Introduction to PECOMINES project

2. Inventory, Regulations and Environmental Risks of Toxic Mining Wastes in Pre-Accession Countries • PROJECT TEAM: • G. Bidoglio, Project Leader • National Experts seconded to JRC: • A.-M. Vijdea, Remote sensing applications • E. Puura, Inventory and impact assessment • G. Jordan, Inventory and impact assessment, GIS applications • T. Hamor, Legislation and regulatory aspects • JRC scientific staff • M. D’Alessandro, Impact assessment • S. Sommer, Coordination remote sensing and geo-referenced spatial data • M.Van Liedekerke, Information management and GIS applications

3. PECOMINES Principal Objectives • to 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 • to compare criteria and legislation 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 • to contribute to the assessment of the consequences of emissions and accidents related to mining wastes in a perspective of ecosystem protection, by comparing approaches and measures for impact evaluation to ecosystem recovery and restoration

4. PECOMINES Rationale • 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 • Previous studies have shown that in the EU Member States harmonised and precisely geo-referenced information on active and abandoned mine tailings is fairly limited • Data from EUROSTAT/OECD surveys show that mining wastes rank first in the relative contribution of wastes in many Central and Eastern European Countries • 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 involve the applicant countries during their environmental approximation process from the beginning

5. PECOMINES Rationale • Why Mining Waste? • In general: it differs from other waste • Large volumes of waste in huge areas • Often historic waste covered by soil and vegetation • Long-lasting, mainly diffuse-source pollutant • Catastrophic events are regular • Mining waste (s.l.) is generated throughout the mining cycle • Has impact on all elements of environment • Has long-distance, catchment-scale, cross-border impacts • No existing specific national, international, supranational legislation

6. European Inventory Environment Agency • MoU on Contaminated Sites • TC Wastes Workshop National Regulations Experts DG Environment New Initiative on Mining Waste Collaboration Environmental with National Impact and Regional Workshop Authorities JRC Institutional Links IWES (EI 4;JRC 42); EURO-LANDSCAPE (SAI 4;JRC 39) (ongoing activities at the Aznalcóllar mining site, Spain) PECOMINES Project Structure

7. PECOMINES Methods • The state-of-art study reviews relevant EU and international legislations (environment, water, nature conservation, mining). • The communications for the inquiry are carried out through personal contacts, written inquiries, missions etc. • Through collection of PECO regulations and licency practices, the complete texts of relevant regulations, standards and regulatory authorities licensing practice are obtained.

8. Linkage of different scales Different amount of data is available for the toxic mining waste sites, and different scales have been studied. In addition, different modelling tools have been used for the scales. The linkage between different scales is carried out by developing geo-referenced spatial data interfaces - the type of data, taking into account site-specifity and catchment-specifity. Multi-SCALE MODELLING Catchment scale Site surroundings scale Site scale PECOMINES Methods

9. PECOMINES Methods Learning from studying mining sites: the Guadiamar River Aznalcóllar Mine Accident Integrated approach at watershed level to determine pollutant pathways and impacts on the Guadiamar River basin ecosystem • In 1999 and 2000 Collaborative Field Campaigns were organised together with EI, SAI,Consejeria de Medio Ambiente de Andalucia and the Consejo Superior de Investigacion Cientificas (CSIC). • Achievements : • Characterisation of the residual levels of heavy metal contamination after initial remediation procedures • Establishment of a relationship between soil contamination and spectral response of airborne imaging spectrometry

10. PECOMINES Principal Deliverables Inventory and mapping of toxic waste sites from mineral mining in Pre-Accession countries (document and geo-referenced database) Environmental Vulnerability Indicators in relation to toxic waste sites from mineral mining using DPSIR approach Contribution to DGs on definition of criteria for assessment of contaminated lands Provide input data for an environmental impact assessment of management of toxic mining wastes Technical reports on combined survey and assessment of exposure pathways at contaminated sites • Harmonised and geographically referenced tool to predict the potential risk from mining wastes at local and regional level