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16 Environmental Impact
of
The Mining Industry
in Poland
E. Helios Rybicka
University
of
Mining and Metallurgy, 30-059 Krakow,
AI.
Mickiewicza 30,
Poland
1 Introduction
Elevated contaminant concentrations, in particular heavy metals, in natural soils
and water systems derived from industrial sources pose a severe threat to the envi-
ronment (Forstner and Wittmann 1981). Biological (microbiological, solubiliza-
tion, biomethylation), chemical (pH and Eh changes, variations in concentrations
and types
of
complexing ligands)
or
physical (river erosion) remobilization
of
metals accumulated in sediments may have very serious effects on river biota
(Krabe 1988) as well as on the quality
of
surface waters and alluvial aquifers
(Forstner 1989). Many studies have been undertaken to ascertain the sources and
in particular the chemical behavior and speciation determining the toxicity and
mobilization mechanisms
of
metals in natural waters (Salomons and Forstner
1984).
~,
..
. IIDI'
c::::::l
'
Fig.
1.
Occurrence of principal
mineral
raw
materials
in
Poland.
(Kozlowski
1983)
.
Hard
coal districts: 1 operating; 2
designed.
Brown
coal districts: 3 operating; 4 designed.
(l
Turoszow; 3
Konin
; 4 Belchatow); 5 petroleum
and
gas
districts, metallic ore districts: 6
operating; 7 designed
(l
copper;
2,
3,
4,
4 Pb-Zn), chemical
raw
material districts: 8 oper-
ating; 9 designed (1 sulfur;
2,
3
rock
salt); industrial
stones:
10 operating;
11
designed
U. Förstner et al. (eds.), Heavy Metals
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1995
272
E.
Holios Rybicka
Poland is relatively rich
in
mineral raw materials (Fig. 1). From about 80 min-
eral commodities exploited recently the most important are:
• hard and brown coals,
• copper, zinc, and lead ores,
• native sulfur and rock salt.
min
mIn
Nil
.3
-
60lIl
1!11
5CIII
1!11
4arJ
111
30lIl
1D
2Il1O
!II
!II
10lIl·
(0) a
Fig. 2
a-c.
Run-of-time output and final production
of
selected mineral raw materials and
elements in 1945-1985 (1990) years. (GuzieI1988). a 1 Hard coal; 2 brown coal; 3 natural
gas; 4 conventional fuel; 5 electric power. b 1 Iron ore; 2 zinc-lead ore; 3 zinc metal; 4 lead
metal; 5 copper ore; 6 electrolytical copper. c 1 Rock salt; 2 salt in brines; 3 sulfur ore; 4
sulfur, underground melting; 5 total sulfur
Environmental Impact of The Mining Industry
in
Poland 273
Production
of
most important mineral raw materials in Poland for the period
1945-90
is shown in Fig. 2 a, b, and c.
Mining activity imposes negative, usually irreversible effects on the natural
environment. The most serious are:
• changes in hydrogeological systems,
• hydrological transformations
of
soils and surficial flows,
• contamination
of
soils and surficial water reservoirs,
• chemical pollution
of
the atmosphere.
2 Hard Coal
Hard coals have been recently mined in Poland in the three districts: Upper Sile-
sian Coal Basin (USCB) (Katowice, Rybnik areas), Lower Silesian Coal Basin
(LSCB) (Walbrzych and Nowa Ruda areas) and Lublin Coal Basin (LCB) (area
east from Lublin). Negative effects
of
mining activity are especially well recog-
nizable in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, as coal has been intensively exploited
here for about 150 years.
The hydrological system
of
the USCB is influenced mainly by mineralized and
polluted waters which originate from dewatering
of
mines, and are discharged to
the surficial flows. In 1989, the 65 operating coal mines in the USCB supplied
about 720 000 m3
of
water per day from 83 discharge points. These waters are
rich in CI- and
sOi-
and contain high amounts
of
heavy metals and radium
(Guziel 1988, Wilk
et
al. 1990). The total amount
of
chloride and sulfate ions re-
leased to the USCB surficial flows reached 8000 Mg per day in 1990, from which
5000 Mg were finally transported to the Vistula River and remaining 3000
Mg
to
the Odra River.
The influence
of
mineralized mine waters on the end parts
of
main rivers in the
USCB (at average flow rates) is shown in Table 1 (Wilk et al. 1990).
The data prove an increase
of
chlorine and sulfate ion concentrations in the
rivers to over 0.3 gldm3 over remarkable distances: in the Odra River from the
Olza tributary mouth to the town
of
Opole and in the Vistula River between the
mouths
of
the Gostynia and Dunajec tributaries.
The key point for the protection
of
hydrogeological system
of
the USCB ap-
pears to
be
the discharge
of
waters from the two particular mines: Piast and
Ziemowit, which hoist totally 3908 Mg
of
CI-
per day, i.e., 60%
of
the total load
for the USCB.
Mineralized waters in the USBC coal mines show high concentrations
of
natu-
ral radioactive isotopes (Ney
et
al. 1988; Wilk et al. 1990). It is caused by the re-
ducing environment predominating within the coal formations. Under such condi-
tions, some elements (e.g., radium) are selectively leached from the wall rocks,
which result in high excess
of
Ra
over U and Th in the mine waters. Concentra-
tions
of
226Ra
in waters discharged mainly to both the Vistula and Odra Rivers
274
Table 1. Water salinity of upper part of main streams in the
USCB
Stream
Gostynia
Mleczna
Szarlejka
Czama Przenisza
Brynica
Przemsza
Rawa
Bobrek
Klodnica
Bytomka
Olza
Bierawka
Ruda
Load of Cl+S04
ions
in
gldm
3
Vistula catchment area
10.429
9.494
2.029
1.687
0.889
0.588
0.755
0.453
Odra catchment area
2.121
1.380
1.077
1.027
0.740
E.
Holios Rybicka
vary from 0 to 28.1 kBq/m3. Highest Ra contents were found in waters
of
highest
IDS
originating from ten mines.
Another important problem is the pollution
of
both the bottom and flood-plain
sediments with heavy metals (Fig. 3) derived from mine waters as well as released
by ore (mainly Zn and Pb) processing and smelting plants. Highest concentrations
of
Zn (11 580 ppm), Pb (1745 ppm, and Cd (200 ppm) were reported from the
overbank alluvial (Macklin and Klimek 1992), as well as up to 500 ppm Cd,
2500 ppm Pb, and 11660 ppm Zn in bottom sediments
of
the Przemsza River
(Helios Rybicka 1992).
The subsidence affected mining fields
of
43 USCB mines and gave rise to the
formation
of
322 ponds (data for 1987). Total submerged areas reaches about
8 km2, and this land is completely excluded from any utilization.
Mining activities yield a huge volume
of
wastes. Figure 4 (GUS 1991) shows
the highest amount
of
industrial wastes in the USCB and LSCB coal mining
countries (Katowice, Walbrzych), the copper LCD mining district (Legnica) and
the sulfur mining district (Tarnobrzeg).
Two types can be distinguished: spoils and cleaning wastes.
It
is estimated that
production
of
1 ton
of
hard coal is accompanied by an additional 0.4 ton
of
vari-
ous wastes. From this figure, 46% remains underground and the rest (54%, clean-
ing wastes) is dumped on the surface. Petrographically, the wastes are Carbonifer-
ous claystones, mudstones, sandstones, and gravelstones/conglomerates, all con-
taining variable amounts
of
heavy metal sulfides. Ashes and slugs from power
stations constitute a relatively small percentage
of
the wastes (2-3%).
In the USCB about 140 waste dumps have been located, some
of
them outside
the mining fields. Although land rehabilitation has been completed for most
of
the
dumps, the pollution
of
groundwaters due to the leaching
of
soluble components
Environmental Impact
of
The Mining Industry in Poland
rnJDAH
~
ppm
).000
.oo
-
..J
rORUN
2210
lOOkm
__--
____
.;.jl
~~~~?:-~C4-:PC""b..fI
:
~
~
~~t4
·
1
•
~~~~
4S
'10
ppm VI
SlULA
I1UD
BACKGROUIID
275
Fig. 3. Concentrations (ppm)
of
heavy metals in sediments of the Vistula River and its
tributaries, Poland (fr. j
63
Il)
. (Helios Rybicka 1992)
276 E. Hollos Rybicka
mIn I
IOrulytar
liW
·····:-· 10
counll
..
: . . ' . 0
Walbnycb
Legnica
Kato
wice
Fig. 4. Accumulated industrial wastes (end
of
1990) by counties in Poland. (GUS 1991)
by percolating meteoric waters still continues. Thus, despite their age, the dumps
are classified
as
potential pollution sources for surficial and groundwaters. The
most destructive effects
of
waste dumps are:
• negative changes
of
the landscape,
• partial or complete removal
of
soils,
• pollution
of
atmosphere, vegetation and soils in adjacent areas with gases
(spontaneous combustion) and dusts (aeolian erosion),
• changes in soil chemistry
of
the surrounding areas due to erosion
of
dumps,
• pollution
of
groundwaters.
One
of
the most dangerous environmental hazards caused by waste dumps is the
pollution
of
surficial and groundwaters by soluble solids leached from the wastes.
It
is supported by studies
of
pore solutions derived from the Carboniferous spoils
and
of
waters seeping from the dumps (Twardowska et al. 1988). The results
proved the presence
of
solutions highly contaminated with the products
of
sulfide
weathering/decomposition in the full thicknesses
of
typical spoil dumps
of
various
ages.
In
solutions collected from 7-15-year-old spoils, concentrations
of
sulfate
ion exceed
by
10-80 times the standards for potable waters. Formation
of
espe-
cially dangerous, highly acid waters (PH below 4) appears to be a
commOn
pro-
cess. The leaching time
of
sulfides from fine-grained, oxygenated spoils is esti-
mated to be about
11
years,
On
average.
In
dumps, this process is much slower,
due to the coarse fraction
of
spoils and limited volumes
of
meteoric waters avail-
Environmental Impact of
The
Mining
Industry
in
Poland
277
able. However, some spoils can be persistent sources
of
pollution with products
of
sulfide oxidation which may affect the environment for decades.
Mining activity may result in the formation
of
subsidence troughs, occasionally
or
permanently filled with surficial
or
groundwaters. This leads to the formation
of
large waste lands. Moreover, exploitation causes drainage
of
the surrounding
areas by dewatering
of
mines and excessi ve salinity
of
surficial flows by waters
hoisted from mine workings.
In the LSCB the total volume
of
soluble solids released to the surficial flows
with the mine waters reached 180 Mg per day in 1989. The mine waters are
of
poly-ionic, soi--
HC0
3- - Mg -
Ca
-Na type with local admixture
of
Cl-.
High contents
of
sulfate in ground waters result from infiltration
of
industrially
contaminated, meteoric waters, from leaching
of
numerous spoil dumps, and from
long-lasting residence
of
ground waters in abandoned workings. Potential pollu-
tion sources
of
waters infiltrating into the LSCB mines are
17
dumps collecting
various types
of
spoils
of
various age.
In the LCB the negative effects
of
coal mining are still relatively insignificant
because
of
a short period
of
exploitation. However, discharge
of
mine waters to
the Swinka River caused apparent deterioration
of
water quality although quality
class standards have not been exceeded, as yet. Total load
of
Cl-
and
SOi-
ions
in hoisted waters reached
11.1
Mg per day (Wilk et al. 1990).
3 Brown Coal
The total area affected by damage from brown-coal open-pit exploitation amounts
to 60 000 hectares and is largest in the whole open-pit mining industry in Poland.
Three mining districts are at present in operation: Belchatow, Mid-Poland (Konin,
Turek) and Turoszow. Negative environmental effects caused by brown-coal
open-pit mining are irreversible and affect waste areas. The common term "moon
landscape" perfectly illustrates the resulting changes.
Apart from geomechanical processes which lead to the complete destruction
of
soils and irreversible changes in the landscape, the drainage
of
open pits influ-
ences hydrological systems (e.g., Belchatow). Both surficial flows and under-
ground (shallow and deep) reservoirs are affected by:
• formation
of
depression cones (Fig. 5), which results in lowering
of
shallow
and deep water tables,
• changes in watersheds and divides.
Dewatering
of
open pits results in a deficiency
of
water in farm lands and forest
districts. Mine waters
of
brown-coal pits are generally uncontaminated and com-
monly meet the standards for potable waters.
Environmental problems caused by brown-coal mining are inevitably linked to
those produced by adjacent power stations which utilize most
of
the output. Com-
bustion
of
brown coal results in mass emission
of
gases
(C0
2,
S02,
nitrogen ox-
278 E. Holios Rybicka
:50
IDOkm
, , '
..
-"-
..
!
Fig. 5. Ranges
of
depression cones in the mining districts in Poland (Wilk 1990)
.•
Local-
ization
of
selected sources
of
contaminated groundwaters. (Blaszyk 1991)
ides) and dusts (composed mostly
of
Si0
2, CaO,
A1
203, and Fe203) with ad-
mixture
of
heavy metals (Zn, Pb, Cd). Brown coals mined in Poland show sulfur
contents between 0.5 and 1.1%. As this sulfur is organic-bonded, its removal be-
fore combustion is impossible. Huge amounts
of
S02
are thus released to the at-
mosphere (Fig. 6) giving rise to acid rains and, consequently, to the degradation
of
soils by acidification.
Fig. 6. Emission
of
S02 equivalent in 1990, by counties in Poland. (GUS 1991)
Environmental Impact of The Mining Industry in Poland
279
4 Base Metal Ores
Two areas
of
metallic ore mining have recently become active in Poland: the Up-
per Silesian Zn-Pb District (USD) (By tom, Chrzanow, and Olkusz) and the Lubin
Copper District (LCD) (Fig. 1).
In the Upper Silesian Zn-Pb District, the principal environmental problem is
the formation
of
depression cones due to the dewatering
of
mines (Fig. 5). In the
By
tom subdistrict, where ores have been worked since the 12th century, the static
waters have been almost completely drained
off
from the mining fields and adja-
cent areas. Although By tom mines have been inactive since 1989, the water is still
hoisted and discharged to the surficial flows (mainly to the Brynica River). This
discharge supplies 100 Mg
of
TDS per day (90% sulfates) and some amounts
of
base metals (up to 2 mg/cm3, mostly Zn and Pb). Mine waters commonly contain
phenols
(1-2
mg/dm3) which originate from infiltration
of
surficial contamina-
tions.
In the Lublin Copper District mine and industrial waters are purified before
discharge to the Odra River, which prevents deterioration
of
the quality class. Pe-
riodically, during high river flows, waters
of
increased TDS (14.5 g/dm3) are re-
leased at the rates below 70 m3/min. The load supplied to the Odra River in 1984
included 66000 Mg chlorides, 21000 Mg sulfates, 3.6 Mg Cu, 3.0 Mg Pb, and
3.2 Mg Zn (Wilk
et
al. 1990).
In the LCD, the ore mines are accompanied by processing plants and smelters
which contribute significantly to the overall pollution. The soils in the vicinity
of
copper smelters are rich in heavy metals. The amount
of
Cu in the upper soil layer
may reach 7400 ppm, and Pb 2000 ppm.
The Polish base metal ores are relatively low grade. Hence, the wastes (mostly
tailings) constitute 90-98%
of
the total run-of-the-mine. The volume
of
wastes
produced allow placing the base metal industry in second position just after the
coal (and power) industry. The wastes are deposited in dumps and tailing ponds.
Especially the latter are sources
of
environmental hazards due to the rise in the
groundwater table in the adjacent areas (in some cases up to several meters).
It
re-
sults in excessive moisture content
of
soils and formation
of
marshes and ponds.
It
must be emphasized that waters percolating from tailing ponds are highly
polluted and, depending on contaminants, may affect the goundwaters and soils.
In the LCD, waters in tailing ponds contain high amounts
of
Cu, Zn, and
Pb
sul-
fates and chlorides as well as organic compounds.
If
it contaminates groundwa-
ters, these cannot be utilized as potable waters and, moreover, can also be harmful
for vegetation. Expansion
of
contaminants around huge tailing ponds in the LCD
(Gilow and Zelazny Most) became a serious problem as pollution affected an area
of
about 12 m2. The industrial waters are commonly discharged to the surficial
flows after clarification in the tailing ponds. Such waters may contain up to
300 mg/dm3 sulfate ion and 3 mg/dm3 Zn and Pb ions. An example is the strongly
degraded Luszowka Stream (tributary
of
the Vistula River) which receives 2.2 Mg
of
sulfates and 22 kg
of
Zn + Pb per day.
280
E.
Holios Rybicka
Table
2. Range concentrations
of
Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Cr, and Ni in the soils in Pb-Zn-mining
regions (Katowice county, Kucharski and Marchwinska
1990)
Metal concentration (mglkg)
Locality Pb Cd Zn Cu Cr Ni
Olkusz
12-820
.X-17
24-1400
.X-46 .x-17 .X-32
Bukowno 46-1520 1-42 90-920 1-19
.X-25
1-29
Slawkow 37-352 2-16
148-2960
10-39
1-15
2-17
Klucze 4-258
1-9
33-540 1-20 .x-24
.X--61
Industrial waters discharged from Zn-Pb ore processing plants as well as mine
waters and meteoric waters infiltrating the waste dumps are principal pollutants
of
the Przemsza River (tributary
of
the Vistula River, see Fig. 3).
Dewatering
of
mines significantly lowers the water table. In the USD hydro-
logical system has been affected in an area
of
about 1000 km2.
Soils in the neighborhood
of
metal mines and smelters show metal concentra-
tions exceeding up to 100 times the background (Table 2). One
of
the vital envi-
ronmental problems in Poland appears to be the contamination by cadmium and
lead.
The metal industry releases noxious gases; sulfur and nitrogen oxides, fluorine,
and others. In the neighborhood
of
the Miasteczko Slaskie Zn-Pb smelter, forests
and other vegetation have been almost completely destroyed.
5 Rock Salt
Exploitation
of
rock-salt deposits causes subsidence and soil destruction due to
excessive salinity. Production
of
a metric tons
of
sodium carbonate yields about
11.3 m3
of
wastes released to settling ponds. The wastes contain
CaC0
3,
CaS04'
Ca(OH)z,
Fe(OHh,
silicates, alumosilicates, and sewage composed
of
KCI, NaCI,
NH
4CI, Na2S04' MgCl2 and CaCl2 (Wilk et al. 1990).
Industrial water carrying fine-grained wastes to the ponds partly infiltrates the
bedrock and percolates through the embankments rising water table and contami-
nating the surficial flows and soils with the soluble solids. High concentration
of
some solids (mainly NaCI and CaCI2) exceeding 12 mg/dm3 damages the struc-
ture and chemical composition
of
soils. In the Kujawy salt mining area, an addi-
tional source
of
pollution are common damages
of
pipelines and leakages
of
brine
which causes expansion
of
pollution and enlarges the damaged areas.
Environmental Impact of
The
Mining
Industry
in
Poland
281
6 Sulfur
The destructive effects
of
the sulfur industry on the natural environment are well
known and can be classified into the three groups:
• atmosphere pollution with dusts (native sulfur, superphosphate, cryolite),
• atmosphere pollution with gases (sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, sulfuric acid)
released during technological processes.
• contamination
of
surficial flows by mine and industrial waters (total volume
of
89.4 x 106 m3 in 1986, from which 10% are potable waters).
Limits for these substances have been exceeded over the distance
of
15
km. The
Sulfur Company Siarkopol succeeded in significant reduction
of
pollutants, e.g.,
dust emission dropped from 11904 tons per year in 1980 to 2667
tJa
in 1986 and
hydrogen sulfide emission has been lowered from 86
tJa
in 1980 to only 2 tJa in
1986.
Contaminants
of
surficial flows are: suspension (3243 tonnes in 1986) and
chlorides (131410 tonnes in 1986). Mine waters originating from Machow and
leziorko Mines along with industrial waters and sewages produced during sulphur
refining are discharged to the Mokrzyszowka stream (tributary
of
the Vistula
River) and cause complete degradation
of
water quality. In the Vistula River, con-
centrations
of
sulfate and chloride ions raised at the rate
of
dozen to some tens
of
mg/dm3 (Wilk
et
al. 1990).
Sulfur mining and refining decrease groundwater reserves due to dewatering
and consequent depression cones and contaminates Quaternary water aquifers
which are the main sources
of
potable waters.
As
destruction affects aquifiers in
the highly urbanized areas, the new water intakes must be made far distant from
the pollution sources, which raises costs.
Flotation
of
sulfur ore produces troublesome suspended tailings which are de-
posited in the ponds, which at present occupy over 400 hectares. The planned area
of
waste land (including tailing ponds, dumps, open pits) is estimated at 4000 ha.
Native sulfur is the main contaminant causing destruction
of
soils. Rapid oxi-
dation produces sulfuric acid, which reduces the
pH
of
soils to 1.2-2.5. The sulfur
content in topsoil measured in mining fields, and commonly in surrounding areas,
exceeds 0.1 % and may reach even 5% in the Grzybow Mine.
It
is estimated that complete destruction
of
soils caused by exploitation by the
underground melting method may finally affect an area
of
5-6000 ha.
7 Summary
The mining industry causes tremendous devastation
of
the natural environment.
The main problem appears to be the destruction
of
the hydrologic system. Impor-
282
gel-'m3
1600
1400
1200
1000
1000
_____
I:!,!i!!or
J!LClUQJi,!y_
c!olL
____
_
_ _ _ _
I..~it
'IF _
!J
_ \uglity.
C.!Clp_
- - C
max
200
E.
Holios
Rybicka
YtClrs
19..a
1945 1950 1955
1960
1965
1970
19'7S
19«)
1985
1990
1995
Fig. 7. Concentrations of
CI-
ions
in Vistula River water (1940-1984),
in
Bielany/Krakow.
(Kurbiel and Rybicki 1987)
tant factors are, e.g., formation
of
depression cones around dewatered mines and
an increasing number
of
pollution sources for groundwaters.
The
mostly endangered surficial flows are the upper course
of
both the Vistula
(and its Upper Silesian tributaries) and the Odra Rivers, where the increase
of
contaminants (especially in the last years) must
be
regarded as alarming.
Most
of
the polluting substances originate from highly mineralized waters hoisted from the
Upper Silesian coal mines. An example
of
a drastic increase
of
pollutants is the
distribution
of
chloride concentrations in the Vistula River near Krakow in the
years
1940-92
(Fig. 7)
Both
the Vistula and Odra Rivers are simultaneously important sources
of
wa-
ter for domestic and industrial purposes.
The
Vistula River supplies about 0.5 bil-
lion m3
of
water along the 550-km long upper and middle courses (to the mouth
of
the Bug River) which covers nearly 35%
of
the total water consumption in Poland.
The
Odra River yields an additional 300 million m3 downstream to the mouth
of
the Nysa Luzycka River (i.e., about 2%
of
the total consumption). Progressing
overmineralization
of
both rivers (and their tributaries) is a real peril, and
may
lead to an ecological catastrophe.
From
the surficial flows included in the water quality classification, about 50%
do not even meet the standards for third quality class (Fig. 8).
The
total load
of
domestic and industrial sewages transported to the Baltic
Sea
by rivers from Polish drainage basin includes among others (averages in tons
per
year estimated for 1988-89, data from State Bureau
of
Statistics, 1991):
Nitrogen
Phosphorus
Zinc
Lead
207326
15584
3331
448
Environmental Impact
of
The Mining Industry in Poland
283
Fig
. 8. Quality classes
of
stream waters in Poland in 1988. (GUS 1991)
Copper 515
Cadmium 40
Mercury 90
Chromium
443
Nickel 284
Other important sources
of
pollution are the wastes produced by the mineral in-
dustry. In 1990, the volume
of
such wastes included (data after State Bureau
of
Statistics, 1991) 660.5 million tons
of
spoils (from which 31.3% was dumped) and
490.7 million tons
of
tailings and cleaning wastes supplied
by
coal, barite, native
sulfur, and base-metal processing plants (from which 69.3% was dumped).
The hard-coal mining yields the largest volume
of
wastes. It is estimated that
in the period 1984-2000 about 900 million m3
of
spoils will be dumped in the
USCB area alone (Witczak and Szczepanska 1987). The annual load
of
chlorides
in these spoils reaches 40000 tons. Such a volume is sufficient to contaminate 133
million m3
of
water at concentrations exceeding the quality standards.
Most
of
the pollutants originate from the weathering
of
sulfides contained in
spoils, precisely from their decomposition into sulfates and/or sulfuric acid. Under
284 E. Holios Rybicka
full oxygenation, the decomposition
of
sulfides may yield 450 000 tons
of
sulfates
per year (Twardowska et al. 1988) - a volume high enough to pollute 2300 mil-
lion m3
of
water
(Le
., twice the annual consumption
of
the whole Katowice
county) at a level exceeding quality standards. Many dumps may produce highly
acid waters
of
pH below 4.
1,
SztZC(:i
n
2.
Gdan>
k
.l
Poznan
4.
Bydgoue:z.
S.
lnowroclaw
6. Konin
7.
Wloe;
l
..
"
.'t.
K
S. Pl
ock
9.
Ll=
c.niea
10. Wroclaw
11
.
Bel
c
ha
tow
12.
Lodz
13
.
Toma.u.o
w
14
, P
ulawy
IS
.Chelm
16
.
Turoszo
w
11.
J
elenia
Qo
ra
18.
W.l
hOZ)"'h
If
1
00
1
!f
2110
no
0
SIlO
1
000
1500
2000
2S11O
19.
Czeuoch
O'o'\
~
. . •• '.' .
..
20
. Kklcc
2 I, T
uno
brzeg
22.
()po
le
23
. R
ybni
k
24.
bwi
ercic
25
. Upper
Silc:sia
~
.
~~~;;;:;:;:;;:$::;;;;;::;F::J
26.
K.rU.ow
27
.
TItTIO\
¥
J ,
ln
durui~
\IIo'Jstes
.lEla
tl\:.m-
Fig. 9. Ecologically endangered areas in Poland (data for 1990). (GUS 1991)
m
Environmental Impact
of
The Mining Industry in Poland 285
Taking into account the volume
of
sewage which should be purified, the emis-
sion
of
dusts and gases (in
S02
equivalent), and the volume
of
dumped wastes
(per km3
),
27 ecologically endangered regions have been distinguished (Fig. 9).
Almost half
of
this figure corresponds to the mining districts.
Acknowledgments. I wish to thank Profs. Z. Wilk and S. Witczak, and
Dr
A.
Adamczyk (Institute
of
Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology) for helpful
comments and discussion during the writing
of
this chapter.
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